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Kylie Stiles

Mrs. Cramer

Comp I Pd.8

15 May 2020

Losing Grip of Ordinary Life

2020; the year face-to-face learning comes to a standpoint. As students of all ages

transition to cyber learning, they are beginning to feel lost. Online schooling is a substantial

change in instruction and daily schedules. Although there is an opportunity for flexibility and

self-direction, after years of being enrolled in public education, students starting their journey

online are losing social interaction and are out of routine.

Classrooms on the web exclude live discussions and lectures where a relationship cannot

be built. While surviving in a pandemic, children and teens are only interacting with whom they

live with. In young children, interaction with classmates is important to learn life experiences

such as sharing and social skills. Without social skills, people are likely to overwhelmed and

obtain mental health struggles. If school is all technology based, it may be hard to ask for help

where it is due, which can put weight on the shoulders of the children. As a student that can

reach out and ask for help or help another with schoolwork, the sudden change has been

challenging for those who did not expect it. Teachers in brick schools are essential to kids who

usually have a relationship there. Students’ are affected and molded into the people they are by

going to school where they can see their friends and teachers that they remember forever. Online

schooling is only receiving information, rather than being able to interact and process what is

given to them. Not only is the school day lost, athletes in quarantine are missing their
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extracurricular activities that are enriching and educational as well. Outside of the classroom,

student athletes are learning how to be a part of a team. Teammates hold a substantial position in

people's lives because they bond over similar interests and learn from each other.

Both synergies are absent in all students’ lives, which others may say frees up time in all

their schedules. When students are not given a typical schedule, this allows time for them to have

flexibility when to do assignments and other things they may have to do. The study environment

is limitless if classes are held online. Work could be done from a cozy bedroom to the great

outdoors, at any time. For some students, a different atmosphere can be full of distractions. . At

school, the cell phone time is limited since students are focused and busy, while at home it is

easy to lose focus. Instead of doing school for hours, students can watch television, play video

games, play with their pets, etc. Flexibility gives the chance to get up and get moving away from

a class if they become frustrated or directed to do another task, such as household chores. Classes

can be completed in any order and lunch could be at any time when at school there is a daily

routine the student is used to by this time in the school year. There are students that may handle

their time well, others must learn how to direct themselves.

Some may think another positive to online schooling is growing responsibility. Students

are accountable to make sure all work is done on time. They can do work at any time if they

would like, but some students are not able to think in that type of way. However, if students in

cyber classes tend to get behind and it takes a diligent person to get back on task. If children do

not have any self-direction online schooling would be challenging to excel in. If students do not

have a routine it may be difficult for them to complete schoolwork.

Although the new way of life may not affect all students’ mental state, those built on a

routine have a life that may feel flipped upside down. A routine is how humans’ minds know
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how to operate and work efficiently. At this point kids’ bedtimes do not all exist. They can stay

up all night and sleep all day, different than when they must wake up and be ready for school in

the morning. Grades can begin to slip with an alternative, poor sleep schedule. At home, classes

can be completed in any order at any time. This may affect grades if the student is not zeroed

into their work and rotate subjects on their own time. The typical school day consists of eight

class periods and one lunch. They may spend only twenty minutes in one class and an hour in

another, rather than an even amount of time in each, which school does for them.

There may be an opportunity for flexibility and self-direction, but after years of being in

public education, students starting their journey online are losing social interaction and are out of

routine. Online schooling is inferior due to what students miss out on and they suffer from the

responsibility of staying on track. Fall 2020; when the students get back into school to make their

last memories.