As Governor Gretchen Whitmer shut down the state Nov. 18th, Ovid-Elsie High School, among other schools shut down, switching to online learning. Some kids prefer online school, but others are struggling.

Most kids at Ovid-Elsie chose to go face-to-face at the start of this school year, so when students heard the news of the lockdown, they weren’t so happy. Students report that they like the social environment of going to school and being with their friends. In fact, according to Beyonddifferences.org, social isolation can cause “loneliness, increased anxiety, depression, headaches, stomach aches, and worse physical health” and many more effects in teenagers. So online learning may be harder mentally than just the learning part without being with peers.

Also, many students agree that it is easier and less distracting to learn and do work in a classroom with a teacher. After asking 10n students if they get distracted frequently while at home learning, nine of them said that this is true. 

Junior Allyson Pokorny says, “It’s hard to stay motivated while being online and I don’t get as much beneficial learning.” Kids would rather be watching Netflix, playing video games, and going outside rather than sitting on their computer doing boring homework. It’s easy to get distracted with all of these things to do at your reach, but in school, students reported that they feel more obligated to do their work. 

Additionally, while being at school, if a student needs help with something it is easy to ask for help. Another answer from the survey said that “…it’s difficult to get help when you have to email teachers and wait for a response.”

Another problem that comes with online school is internet connection. Out of the 10 students I surveyed, six said they have frequent internet/chromebook crashes and two said that they have to leave their house to get a better internet connection. This frustrated students because when their internet doesn’t work, they just feel like giving up.

However, some positive things the students say about online learning is that they don’t have to wake up super early for school and can still get stuff done, and if they finish work early they don’t have to sit and wait for school to be over. Plus, students of the survey say that “…Google Meets and instructional videos help do online school.”