Struggling to stay afloat
March 1, 2021
Home used to be a place for junior Anna McCarthy to unwind after a long day. However, as a consequence of distance learning she must retreat to her room each day for school—a place of relaxation demoted to one of work.
“Working at home was really hard because that’s the place we used to go after a long day of school to relax, but now that’s just your life,” McCarthy said.
Students like McCarthy have struggled at home for a number of reasons including lack of motivation and in-person connections, as well as technology issues. Assistant Principal Jessica Busse said students struggle to find motivation in part because they don’t have a designated work area in their homes.
“I need to feel like I’m in my own workplace and have that disconnect of like at school, I do schoolwork and at home, I do home stuff,” Busse said. “That’s hard for kids to create, and also finding the motivation when you’re not constantly reminded of what homework is due, or what you should be working on.”
Along with some of her peers, senior Casey Hunter said she has struggled with keeping her grades up when she has little motivation to work.
“I’ve definitely had to work harder to maintain my grades,” Hunter said. “I did go on a streak of not having much motivation and they all kind of plummeted a little bit. Luckily, I found that motivation again (and) was able to get them back up, but it’s been like that for a few people too.”
Students have also struggled with gaining accessibility to internet, according to ninth grade counselor and Student Services department chair Barb Nelson. For some students, reliable internet is not always guaranteed at home.
“Many kids are living in apartment buildings where their internet is horrible. Even in my own house, I have five people on the internet on any day. I can be like in the middle of a call (and) it just goes out, so that’s definitely a big part of it,” Nelson said.
For students, the internet access was also a main factors in their grades due to the distractions that come along being online, according to Michelle Rennie, licensed marriage and family therapist.
“One of the things that I heard both from teachers and from parents, was the difficulty of having some kids on screen when they were supposed to be learning, the kids were savvy enough to know how to go play Roblox or Fortnight on a split screen,” Rennie said.
Busse said students have also missed the in-person bonds that are usually made between teachers and students in the classroom.
“We don’t have the relationships that we used to have, for the teachers who are just meeting kids for the first time it’s really hard, especially with cameras off and people not engaging, you don’t have the ability to make the relationships,” Busse said.
According to McCarthy, the lack of guidance and relations she has with her teachers has stressed her out.
“(It’s hard) not having a bond and connection with my teachers,” McCarthy said. “I don’t think (school) was ever easy for me, but now it really feels like it’s all on me, it’s all up to me and there’s less motivation.”
While Rennie said she acknowledges the difficulties that teachers and administrators face, she feels that many are falling behind because the classes have not been adjusted accordingly to help those students.
“I haven’t seen a lot of support given to kids who are struggling. It’s better than it was last spring. I think they’re better at scheduling, formatting,” Rennie said. “But in terms of really adapting lessons and curriculum online, I’m not really sure that happened.”