You wake up and roll out of bed. In just a few steps, you reach your computer, where you sit down and turn it on. With a few clicks, you’re at school. This is how it is for most kids, currently, who are at home doing online schooling. But is it as easy as it sounds?

There are a number of positives when it comes to online schooling, one being that you can do your work from anywhere. It is good for students who have a lot of things going on at home or can’t stay still in class. But even more than that, it is a good alternative for students who don’t do well under a traditional school environment.

But when a virus makes it necessary for us to go into safety measures such as online schooling, it is a different situation. Teachers and students have been essentially forced into a situation that nobody is familiar with. Kids who were previously doing in-person classes are now in an online school with faculty simultaneously teaching both online and in-class students – something they have never done before.

Unfortunately, that situation has created a mess. Teachers are unfamiliar with the programs, they don’t know how to adjust lessons to online students, and they are doing way more work than they’re getting paid for. Then we have the students, who at times don’t have WiFi or computers in general, have problems with technology, are unfamiliar with the programs or need more help than the teacher can give because they are managing both online and in-person kids.

Furthermore, online studies require a lot of self-motivation, which many students lack. There is a reason there are so many kids going to in-person schooling. Online school requires students to be more responsible and independent, which in reality are qualities a lot of students don’t have.

Is online school convenient? Yes. Is it needed for the climate we are currently in? Yes. But is it really helping students’ education? Not really. Don’t get me wrong. I understand why the county chose to implement online school while having in-person learning at the same time. It satisfies what the governor wants, and it makes it as safe as possible for students. I also understand that in-person schooling compromises the health and safety of students.

Despite the difficulties, the whole process has done some good, in showing students what they’re more suited for and different ways to learn. Once we work out the kinks of online and in-person school, we can move forward in a way that that school once again makes sense.