"YES" TO IN-PERSON LEARNING

By Camden Akers

As the number of covid cases rises heading further into 2022, so do concerns about staying in-person for school. While student safety is incredibly important, transitioning back to virtual learning’s lower quality of education will have a serious impact on students. During the 2020-2021 school year, the majority of students either completely ignored their education, or cheated their way through the year. This year, teachers have seen significant gaps of knowledge in the students who have supposedly “completed” the necessary learning for continuing their education. This makes it difficult for students to move forward and harder for teachers to keep up, which will heavily impact the level of education students have when they leave highschool. While some may argue the importance of safety over education, this broadly ignores the fact that all Edsel Ford High School students were given the opportunity to get vaccinated. Some may point to the fact that some students are unable to get vaccinated and may be immunocompromised; however, if the rest of the district is vaccinated and follows DPS mask mandate guidelines, it creates a safe environment to continue quality education for everyone. Also, considering the cryptic nature of students dealing with questionably incessant internet issues, the students who argue for “safer learning” could likely have ulterior motives. Online learning also eliminates important social aspects of being in school, and while some crowds might not be affected by a lack of in-school interaction, those who rely on school for social aspects will be heavily impacted. There's a reason why a majority of students aren’t homeschooled, and resorting to remote learning takes away all the positives of attending school and being a student. With virtual learning, students are left with a subpar education through a computer screen—without any of the rewards or fun benefits.