What is the most difficult thing about doing school from home right now?
• Finding motivation and staying focused
• Time management and demanding workloads
• Lack of social interaction and one-on-one interaction with teachers
• Not having a consistent routine
• Technical issues including Wi-Fi connection and printer issues
What is the most difficult thing about going to school in person right now?
• Not being able to socialize with friends because of restrictions
• Adjusting to and abiding by the new restrictions, like physical distancing and wearing masks
• Uncertainty about potential school closures
• Concern about getting COVID-19 and transmitting it to family
• Transportation to and from school
• Long classes with few or no breaks
• Keeping up with the new pace of the semester
Has your identity affected your access to or experiences in education? How? (for example, your ethnicity, gender, language, location, migration status, disability, etc.)
• Lack of access to opportunities including AP classes, university prerequisites, extracurriculars, or facilities due to language, migration status, or location
• Recognition of positive impact of privilege in education
• Academic challenges associated with disability or mental health
• Discrimination from teachers and peers on the basis of gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, culture, and race
• Feelings of otherness, being misunderstood
Thinking about the start of the school year, how is this year better or worse than last year for you?
• Harder to adapt to a new school/ new phase of life because of remote learning and cancellation of extracurricular activities
• Restrictions on socialization make it hard to meet new friends, and resulting isolation has a negative impact on mental health
• Regular stress of school is compounded by concerns about COVID-19, confusion about rules and restrictions, and uncertainty about the future
• For some people, positive aspects of this year include the one-course-at-a-time model, less anxiety around going to class in person, and less pressure to socialize
What is one thing you’d really like your school to do to make this experience better right now?
• Clarify and enforce safety precautions and reduce class sizes
• Share clear plans/procedures for potential school closures
• Reduce workload, shorten class time, and lower tuition fees
• Provide better/increased mental health support and support with planning for the future, such as help with university or scholarship applications
• Understanding, empathy, and flexibility from teachers
• Provide opportunities for socialization with other students, like study groups, student clubs, or social activities (in-person and virtual)
• Some say there is not much their school can do to improve the situation
