In-person school: instruction or destruction?

By Auden Koetters, Copy Editor

Dear Samo, 

I hope you are unwell. Let me get one thing straight: you couldn’t figure out how to open school when I was doing a chemistry lab which involved lighting stuff on fire, but you magically figured it out just in time for me to take my AP exam? Thanks. I mean, I just figured out how to bookmark my Zoom classes on my computer! But, I guess all that work was for nothing, seeing as we are going back to in-person instruction for the last SIX weeks of school.  

I recommend using the bombastic term in-person “instruction” lightly in the emails you continuously send out, as this “instruction” you’re referring to primarily consists of students taking tests. The things it would be most beneficial to be at home for! 

Don’t get me wrong here, I love spending my days seated in a too-small desk, inside an unairconditioned room with a bunch of stinky pubescent boys as much as the next girl, but is it really worth switching my whole daily schedule for? I’m just not sure. I’ve adjusted to the online learning environment quite well; I lie in my bed during passing periods, do “homework” (better known as TikTok) during class without getting caught and play with my dog during lunch. Do you really want to be the one to look into those puppy dog eyes and tell her she’s being deprived of her mid-day snuggles? I think not. In all seriousness though, how am I supposed to get through third period without my snacks? Or first, or second, or fourth, or fifth or sixth for that matter! 

I guess I can see where you’re coming from with the whole “get back to normal” and “allow the students to socialize” thing, but high school can be a cruel place… I think I might be happier with my dog. Honestly, sometimes I feel online school is more productive than in-person school ever was. Students no longer pull fire alarms to get out of class, we don’t have to sit through monotonous hour-long earthquake drills, waste significant chunks of time watching cheerleaders take feminism back a few steps during pep rallies or listen to self-proclaimed students attempt to stall class with irrelevant interruptions. Without these disturbances, teachers are able to more effectively move through lessons, thus creating a better learning environment for students.

I understand everyone wants to return to some sense of normalcy. I wish it was possible to simply turn back the clock to before the pandemic and make everything all right again. If I could I would, and I’m sure you would too, but, unfortunately, no one can. Everyone is looking for ways to get back to the lives they had, and I recognize that returning to in-person instruction is part of going back to normal. However, as a people, we are just beginning construction on the foundations necessary to build ourselves back to the world we once were. Much like trying to start the first story of a house without creating a proper footing, fast-tracking a return to school will only crack the walls we are attempting to raise.   

Sincerely, 

A Samo Student 

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