Community Voices by Morgan Pemberton: Online learning presents challenges
In-person learning is a lot easier because you feel free and not cooped-up, so kids tend to ask more questions.
Photo courtesy Esmeralda Owen
Students learn in safety during the pandemic in a Pacific Point Christian School classroom.
By Morgan Pemberton
Morgan Pemberton
My name is Morgan and I’m a sixth-grader at Pacific Point Christian School in Gilroy. Recently, we’ve returned to in-person learning.
School online was hard, especially for those who are not good with computers. We could not hear our teachers sometimes because of the Internet. One time, so many people were using Zoom that it completely shut down. We could not have school that day. This affected our learning. The background noises also affected our learning. Teachers also cannot give kids detention for when they act out. Bullies will not be punished, so they will never learn that bullying is wrong. If you have siblings at home, you might also get sick of them. My friend, Manuela, hates online learning so much that she actually said, “I will never complain about going to school again.”
In-person learning is a lot easier because you feel free and not cooped-up, so kids tend to ask more questions. Kids also get to talk and collaborate. This leads to better learning. In-person learning lets you exercise. You can do P.E. and sports camp. If you are at home on the computer all day, you will be storing your energy. You will not be able to sleep at night because you will have so much energy stored in your system. You could also eat a lot of food/sugar and not burn it, so there is a possibility of you getting fat. Being in front of a screen all day affects your eye-sight and brain, as well.
I enjoy being able to see people again. Being able to laugh with my classmates and talk with my teachers just makes school a little easier. If all you ever see is the few people you live with, life will get pretty boring. The same thing will happen over and over and over. It would be horrible.
We take precautions all day, every day at school. We wipe down our desks, stay with only our class (we call these “pods”), we social distance ourselves, and we wear masks. There are strict rules for when we are allowed to use the restroom, and we are not allowed to use the drinking fountain at all. There are touchless filter water dispensers for us instead.
Morgan Pemberton wrote this column for Gilroy Life.