The beginning of a new school year can be stressful for both students and teachers. But it’s especially confusing when you are not actually at school. What are some of the positives and benefits of having school online? How do our students feel about this?

When the coronavirus sent almost all schools into an emergency quarantine in March, most people didn’t expect it to continue into this year. However, now that schools have had time to properly prepare to have school online, many things have changed including administering tests, the length of classes, and using new online resources.

Although online school allows students to be as relaxed as they want, they’re also missing out on what makes school fun. Rebecca Kam (11) says, “I really miss being able to see my friends, being around people in a school environment, and the normal school activities that would be going on right now.” Of course, shorter school days and fewer tests are nice, but when can students be teens just having fun?

Students often complained about having to go to school every day. But now, many are realizing what a difference being at home versus at school makes. Aaric Duong (11) says, “I like that I can get extra sleep and get up right before 1st period starts since I would usually have to wake up earlier to drive to school. But overall, I’m not a big fan of online school. Personally, my environment makes a big difference especially when I’m trying to focus.” 

Obviously, being at home has many benefits, but when it comes to sitting down and doing what needs to get done, focusing is a little hard when you have so many distractions. The urge to reach for your phone during a lecture is extremely tempting! Since many teachers at YLHS use zoom, students can mute themselves, turn their cameras off, and take a nap with little to no consequences. 

A positive of online school is that students have much more time outside of school. Some students like Rebecca feel like “online school gives more flexibility to do the things that I enjoy since school ends earlier. Overall, I don’t really mind online school because I know it’s for the best but I’m still looking forward to going back to school when everything is safe again.”

As students and teachers settle into the new school year online, things are bound to look different. Whether we like it or not, this is what YLHS will look like for now. Both students and teachers need to do their part to make online school work. On the bright side, we can all look forward to getting more sleep before we go back to normal.