If schools close, the chance of teenagers getting into college will plummet. Not
everyone can handle online school, especially people with ADHD. I took my first online class today and I was struggling. I don’t even have ADHD and I could not focus if my life depended on it. Everyone is so accustomed to face to face interactions at school that we won’t know how to function when that aspect of learning is gone. It’s great that you get to learn in the comfort of your own home, let alone your own bed but online classes aren't for everyone. I’ve seen some youtube videos where people talk about their experience with online learning. They wake up 5 minutes before their class starts and sit there for 3-4 hours, depending on what class they’re taking. I cannot sit in front of a computer for hours on end without losing focus every few minutes. Also, teachers can’t test students because everyone will cheat so their only choice is to evaluate them based on their homework and “classwork”. I’m not going to lie, I only put in about 50% effort on homework because I don’t find it helpful for learning. I won’t know if the information I’m putting down is accurate until my teachers tell me so. It’s almost impossible to learn on your own, which is basically what online school is. If you’re not actively paying attention at all times during the class, you’re screwed.
New York can’t even shut down all the public schools because about 100,000 out of 800,000 students who go to public school turn to free cafeteria meals as a source of food. Those kids will starve if their school closes. Some even do their laundry there so if their school closes, they won’t have clean clothes to wear. Some schools are staying open to provide food to the kids in need and there are organizations running food drives and grab-and-go services for them. However, that only takes care of food. What about their education? It’s not like they can afford an iPad or a laptop if they can’t even afford to feed themselves. Closing schools and staying at home will prevent the spread of the Coronavirus; however, their lack of education during this time is a risk. In my opinion, COVID-19 is like the flu. The death rates are so low, yet the media is blowing it extremely out of proportion. Only those with weaker immune systems are being affected by the virus so they should be the only ones staying at home. If the government actually paid attention to countries who, so far, have been successful in preventing the spread of the virus, they will see that all they need to do is to force everyone to wear face masks for about a month and the virus will die. Instead, they are closing schools, businesses, restaurants, (e.t.c), and the economy is going to shits. Because they’re closing schools, our education is going to shits as well because a lot of people can’t learn through online classes. That’s the whole fucking reason why we all go to “tangible” school. If everyone could handle classes in an online setting, there would be zero people attending an actual school. In the following year, when all the juniors of this year are applying to colleges, there will be a drop in the number of people who will get into “good” schools because of this pandemic. In simpler terms, there is a shit ton of cons to closing schools.
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