We currently live in a time where it seems like we can’t catch a break. With a global pandemic, social justice riots and an unnerving presidential election, the last thing students should have to worry about is getting sick by going to class.
I understand the appeal of going to back to campus and having everything return to normal.
It was a long summer that wasn’t fun for a lot of people. A lot of us lost our jobs, family members or got sick ourselves. The idea of heading back to school and putting all that behind us sounds great. But is it worth it?
Schools are trying to figure out the best ways to keep students safe. But it isn’t enough. Wearing masks and having students take their temperature before heading to class helps, but it doesn’t completely prevent anyone from getting sick.
It’s easy for a student to lie or be asymptomatic.
As Central Michigan University showed, it’s almost impossible to stop the spread once it starts.
Other countries have also shown us how easy it is to get the spread under control. We live in a nation that’s currently under poor leadership.
Having everyone wear masks when leaving the house and making sure people respected the stay at home order would have slowed down the spread months ago. How are schools expected to keep up with something not even the government could?
Not to mention all the other things that students should be giving their attention to, like the Black Lives Matter movement. Students should be spending their time supporting causes like that, not worrying if they’re going to get sick from attending a math class.
We’re living in a very pivotal moment of both American and world history. This is something history classes will talk about in 20 years.
Students shouldn’t have to choose between staying home to be safe, going to class and going out to protests to make their voice heard. Schools should be taking the responsibility to protect their students.
Schools going back to in-person classes so fast is giving students the idea that the pandemic isn’t as bad as everyone’s saying it is. It makes it look less serious when they start taking it less seriously.
While online classes wouldn’t be fun, they would protect immunocompromised students and students with immunocompromised family members.
I understand the want to go back to class. I miss getting to interact with classmates, too. The transition from inperson to online was hard and caused a lot of people stress, as well as not being able to interact with peers as often.
However, a new study from John Hopkins shows that younger people are
now just as at risk as everyone else.
Young people tend to have a superman complex, thinking that absolutely nothing can harm them, but that just isn’t true.
This pandemic is serious and should be treated that way by both students and schools.
A lot of people forget that it’s not always about protecting ourselves, too.
Maybe you will be fine going to classes in person, but that doesn’t mean all your classmates will, or all of your professors, many of whom are already at risk.
But since some classes are returning to face to face, there’s only so much we can do. Avoiding parties is a big one.
No one’s life is worth a fun night out. Avoid larger gatherings or meetings and limit whom you let in and out of your dorm. And of course, sanitize your hands and wear your mask everywhere.
We can’t control what the school does about classes, but we can control how much we care about others and what we’re willing to do to protect them.
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