Virtual School and Outdated Rules, The Need For Change

By Chris Justin Lopez-Henriquez

 We are taught in school that staring at a screen over a period of time can have a negative impact on our brains and overall health. However, the school system is having us stare at a screen for eight hours  because of  COVID-19 since that is the safest option. 

Keep in mind, I said the “safest” option, not the most perfect.  In addition to school hours, let’s not forget about our school-related extracurricular activities because if you don’t have more than one or two, colleges will look down upon you; therefore we’re looking at around 10 to 13 hours of daily screen time. Where blurred vision, eye strain, and possible long-term vision problems, like that of nearsightedness,  are potential issues that somehow go unnoticed among our school population. 

While  online learning may be “the safest” option as opposed to in-person schooling during COVID-19, it has  plenty of downsides. Blue light, for example, which screens emit, disrupts our circadian rhythms at night, when we are trying to fall asleep. 

That tells us we should subtract “enough sleep” from our equation because most of us are sleep-deprived—but apparently that doesn’t matter. The school board will just reach out to our parents because it’s their [parent’s] fault, right? Teenagers should be getting eight to 10 hours of sleep. Well, that’s not happening. School is for learning, but it sounds to me like there hasn’t been much learning in our district, has there?  All the research that has been taught to us over our  lifetime says otherwise, am I wrong? 

Students are failing to learn because they are not learning one-on-one and instead  are having to be resourceful—which makes us smart since that’s how we are surviving. 

Others have completely given up on achieving the best grades, and I don’t blame them. Who wants to do school online at home when there are a thousand better things to do? There’s a reason why most of us are not homeschooled. But let’s force it on us! 

Why bother teaching Psychology and Sociology if the school won’t take its research and facts into account? Why are we blamed for being more alert before bed, taking longer to fall asleep, and reaching a restorative REM state, or the fact we are exhausted the next morning? But that’s a great sign, according to our schools, since it hasn’t changed. I thought school was the advocate for learning and changing. Got me there!

If you have depression, or suicidal thoughts, the school will assign you a therapist, but it doesn’t matter because they still won’t change our school rules or tradition. I mean, think about it. Students have committed suicide over this, and yet, the school system still changes nothing. In California, an 11-year-old shot himself during a zoom class, where his microphone and camera were turned off, taking his life just after 11 a.m. according to an article in the New York Post, by Amanda Woods on December 3rd, 2020.

Maybe the school system is like that of a military one? You aren’t allowed to build an emotional connection, because we are serving a “higher cause,” for the greater of our country. But, what “greater” are they talking about? People die in war, but almost none of us know who they are. A war that never ends. In this case, the school system clearly doesn’t recognize these kids who have died. Maybe, we are just another number in their data books. Survival of the fittest, perhaps? Maybe, the world thinks it’s moving forward, but it’s instead walking into a mirror. An illusion, possibly. 

You expect us to do all this work, which is nowhere near exciting, and pretend to learn when we  students are faced with advanced technology, much more exciting topics by the way, on a daily basis? I think I seem to believe I must be in the wrong system, wrong time, and wrong generation because we’re doing the opposite of what’s best for us as developing teenagers and young adults—but we blame kids for doing drugs? Yeah, ok. Don’t expect change if you’re not putting in any work, district. 

 If you are, however, having any suicidal thoughts, or thinking of taking action, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255) or the crisis center at (920)-436-8888, where you will find the help you need.