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Issue 1

September 27th, 2019

Zoom school potentially harms student growth

TUES. | 04-27-21 | OPINION

     With Zoom classes coming to an end for most of the children in the county, it’s important to think back on what online school was like for all of us. There were ups and downs, but I for one, am very happy to be back in school full time.

     In early March of 2020, COVID-19 hit America and the world fell into chaos. Schools were closing left and right and education systems were struggling to stay afloat. Schools were searching for a new way to teach the kids and it was very difficult to find a solution for a while. Zoom was the savior. In the beginning, it was a random application that hardly anyone had heard of or used before and all of a sudden, it took over the world. Almost everyone in America was using Zoom for school, work meetings, Bible studies and just about anything else. The application currently has over 300 million users worldwide. The video chatting and screen sharing capabilities were high quality and it was free and easy to use. Everyone accepted this unknown new application and it became a normal part of our daily lives.

     Was Zoom good for schools, though? It’s a very tough question 

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Photo by Jake Bradsher

to answer. It was good as a substitute for real school during the initial lockdown, but in my opinion it simply did not provide the interaction and communication needed to get a good education. It had its perks like providing a less stressful school environment and not having to get dressed or worry about appearance. However, it also made it very hard to get motivated or even care at all about school; I know I’m not the only student who experienced this. Doing all of our school from the comfort of our homes without any of the restrictions or expectations of real school made it incredibly difficult to care about the classes we took.

     It’s interesting to consider whether or not Zoom will still be around once the vaccine is distributed everywhere and everything goes back to normal. Will it still be available as a school option or will it become entirely obsolete? No one can truly know what the future of Zoom holds. It is entirely possible that Zoom has changed the way schools and jobs work forever.

     Zoom school has a lot of potential to be a great learning alternative for kids who prefer to stay home because of COVID-19, but in my opinion, using it for school is just not the best solution. In my experience, it was so hard to actually do my work and the whole system was just discouraging. Doing school in your house provides a very bleak outlook and has brought a lot of students anxiety and stress and everyone that I have talked to about Zoom classes has said a similar thing about their mental health from online school.

     I think Zoom classes have some pros, but the cons outweigh them far too much. It is hard to focus and stay motivated about school. In the long run, I am very glad that Pitt County Schools are going back to all in-person classes and I hope it can be the start of the world returning to normalcy.

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