Virtual schooling was once the dream. When I was a kid, like so many others, I always wanted to do online schooling so I could stay at home and play outside when I was done with my work. Nothing sounded better to me than not having to get up and go to school, I could go at my own pace on schoolwork, and again, I would be at home. Unfortunately, my opinion on online school has completely changed and now virtual schooling has a completely different meaning.
Since early 2020, most (if not all) students had to go online during the Covid-19 pandemic. All over the nation, college to elementary students were being forced out of schools and in-person classes and for the first time ever, normal school was put on an unprecedented pause. At first, most students were excited to have an extended break and were excited to be home and not have to worry about school. Things were still new and lots of people were unaware of what was going on. Eventually classes went online. People had zoom classes and homework through an online classroom, or some just finished their school year early. It wasn't until the summer of 2020 when people were finally noticing that online schooling and quarantining wasn't just a short-term mandate. The 2020-2021 school year was one of the hardest school years for everyone. Personally my virtual/distance learning experience was awful, and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for teachers and secondary and primary students globally.
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| Online classes lead to lack of socialization and social-emotional habits. |
Some of the worst effects this whole process has had on children have to do with their social-emotional habits and of course, their academic learning loss. Children have suffered greatly from the lack of socialization from the past two years. Isolation and poor mental health have hugely affected adolescents. People need social interactions to help develop "language, communication, social, emotional, and interpersonal skills" and it is extremely taxing to have your school environment and home environment be the same spot. Many children, especially those who were in kindergarten through second grade through all of this have had many academic stresses. Many of those Kindergarten students missed critical developmental milestones or if they didn't miss it, it is not implemented as well as it needs to be.
The negative effects of virtual learning are some that will leave a scar in history and in the lives of the kids who had to struggle through all the hardships, but realizing that these consequences can be dealt with should be enough to try and fix it. Learning from mistakes and unfortunate situations can be what helps everyone out in the long run and hopefully, make them stronger.
