On April 5th, we’ll all be at school all week.

I know we complained about hybrid learning, but this isn’t what we wanted. We said we wanted a normal life back, but this IS normal now.

We want to see each other, but we want to do so safely. Something about everyone in one building at the same time doesn’t sound safe to me.

Why even bother trying to be full time when the school year is almost over? Some classes already have 17 kids when divided in half, we don’t need anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my friends, but you have to understand, teenagers are irresponsible. I don’t blame us for being irresponsible. We’ll get excited to see people we haven’t seen in a year, and we’ll go see them during passing periods. This is expected, it’s been a year. On the downside, this will spread germs. It’s nearly impossible to trace who I see in the halls. 

A main issue is that we have already adjusted to hybrid learning. There are challenges, but there are also many benefits.

With hybrid, we have the chance to get personal help from teachers during office hours. This has helped me when I get confused and don’t want to ask questions in class. Another benefit is that if we have to quarantine, we only miss 4 days of in-person school. Teachers are already recording videos throughout the week, so it’s almost like we’re in school.

If we went back to five days a week, we would miss 10 days of school if we have to quarantine for two weeks. We’re allowed to be sick and it is easier to catch up on what you missed. Also, why should we spend a day in the middle of the semester redoing seating charts?

We will have to find new seats in almost every class and we will have to find new seats at lunch. After break, we only have about nine weeks of school, so why should we spend time redoing everything? Being at school five days a week isn’t worth trying if it’s only for a small part of the year. 

Hybrid also brings more safety with Covid. Teachers can keep us spread out if we only have a few students in the classroom. Some of my classes already have a lot of people, and we don’t need to be adding anymore.

Going back full time means that we would be closer together in the classroom. Teachers will have to move students closer together. With people leaving over spring break, they may be getting exposed and not know. They’ll bring back germs and spread them to other students. Other states have different Covid guidelines, so students may have a higher risk of exposure. Coming back to school all week right after students are on vacation isn’t safe.

Another concern is that schools may close down again. Bringing everyone back together may increase the spread of Covid and leaving us fully virtual. Last semester, we didn’t get to stay open for the full semester, so why are we ready to bring everyone back together? You can’t spread people out if the class is full of students.

It’s almost spring break, so what’s the point of even trying to go back? If we go back full time, we will only have a few weeks left of the school year. Going back to five days a week for a few weeks isn’t worth the risk of being shut down. 

Please hear me out. I know I’m some random student, but this isn’t what we want. Listen to the students, aren’t we the priority? We want to be safe, and we need to be heard. Full time sounds nice, but it isn’t worth it if the school year is almost over.