On March 12, thousands of schools around the country were closed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, including the school that I attend. I’m speaking from personal experience when I say that most students were thrilled. School isn’t exactly the most thrilling part of a kid’s life. Having a routine of going to school to learn for 7 days a week for 7 hours can be a bit tiring. So when the school closed there were many people that were excited to sit around all day doing nothing. This quickly didn’t turn out to be the case. The virus has impacted many kids around the world in many ways. The virus has taken a toll on kids socially, mentally, physically, and school life has also taken quite a hit. It turns out that being stuck at home not being able to visit your friends for 2 months can be quite the rough patch.
It has been more than two months of quarantine and we’ve all had time to do some self-reflection. Almost nobody quite expected the coronavirus to have taken our world by storm quite like this. How has coronavirus impacted kids?
Social impact
One of the ways it is affecting students around the country is social. When I say that the Corona Virus impacts us in a social way I’m talking about how we interact with others around us. I’m speaking on behalf of most kids when I say that we miss our friends. While I miss my friends, it seems as though they aren’t as eager. With all this free time with being home all day, you’d think that my friends would be excited to face time. It turns out that teenagers will find any way to avoid all contact because of the coronavirus even if it is talking through phone. Who knows, maybe they think the virus can be contracted virtually. At first, I was hurt and confused about why my friends didn’t want to talk to me. I then had a realization that the coronavirus has brought out the lazy in people. It seems like when you have almost nothing to do, the natural reaction is to just start binging a bunch of shows on Netflix. But if there is one thing to thank the virus for, it’s that we finally know who our true friends are.
The way students learn
The coronavirus has impacted students by changing the way that we have to learn. Homeschooling or online school hasn’t been fun for me, and many other students. You miss having that interaction with classmates, or even hearing that melodramatic teacher drone on and on about math while you take a nap on your school desk. This transition has especially been tough on students like me that need someone to explain a concept to them before they understand it. Online school has sort of just been like, “Read the textbook and answer some questions.” Because of school being closed, students aren’t able to be hands-on learners. Another thing is that there is practically no motivation anymore. Cobb County announced previously that you couldn’t receive a grade in a class that was lower than the grade you had before school ended. If a student like me had already been doing well in that class, where was the reason for me to still try? Thankfully, the summer is here, because the week before online school was officially ended I was slowly losing it.
Mental / Physical impact
When I say that the coronavirus brings out the lazy in people I truly mean that. If you don’t know what I mean, just think about the number of times you’ve thought the statement, “I’ll just do it tomorrow.” Even I have had to remind myself that there is no time like the present. Having to be stuck in a house all day has given people the excuse of not going outdoors to exercise. So quarantine hasn’t exactly been the time of productivity that I thought it was going to be. Being stuck in a house all day also takes a toll on you mentally and not just physically. Exercising gives you endorphins which translates to good blood flow in your brain. When people aren’t getting exercise, not having any human interaction, and not having their daily schedule, it can really take a toll on a person’s mental health. Just the fact that you might have to go through this for an even longer time is rough.
The Corona Virus had definitely been one of the scariest pandemics that this world has ever seen. We all just need to remember that everyone in this world is being affected by it in some way. Though it may be tough, we’ll come out of it so much stronger. The world will have a new sense of community, and what it means to do something great for this world. We can all be heroes by just staying at home to stop the spread of the virus. My motivation for staying at home is a big box of chocolate that my mom said she would get me after the virus.