Written by Sydney Weber
“This year has been hard; we have had our world turned upside down by a pandemic, members of our community have died, the biggest election in history, lockdowns, curfews, protests, riots, etc.” This is a quote from an email sent by a senior at East Ridge High School, Helena Dowler, on January 11th to teachers and administrators voicing the concerns of herself and her peers during COVID and distance learning.
In her letter and interview with the newspaper, Helena Dowler addressed many of her concerns about distance learning and how students are being affected. She voiced her concerns about the stress students are experiencing with heavy workloads and a lack of support from peers and adults alike. In her interview, she addresses the fact that “Teachers are still strict on deadlines, but students don’t have enough time.” Not only are students experiencing stress from the amount of work given to them, but she feels that students are not being supported enough as many students are overlooked and do not have the motivation or confidence to reach out and try to get that support.
Helena addresses a lack of support from teachers and administration in her letter as she writes, “We have barely received any support, empathy, or compassion and what we do receive is vague and very routine.” She believes that while everybody is struggling with COVID, a support system for students is crucial to their mental health and well-being. While counselors and teachers have been attempting to reach out, some students still feel overlooked as emails from their counselors and efforts to reach out feel repetitive and generic.
Students have been displaced from normal life as COVID has forced many to participate in classes from their homes, which has resulted in a sense of isolation in teachers and students. Distance learning has posed many challenges as students struggle with motivation and communication online. Not only do students have to deal with a change in routine and normality, but also the lack of communication and a feeling of seclusion that has followed distance learning.
While COVID has affected everybody, Helena argues that it is more important now than ever to prioritize the mental health of students and to reach out. “Reach out – check up on us, organize counselor setups, call homes, and talk to us. Give us those small things. We need it,” says Helena in her email. She recognizes the struggles that teachers and students alike are experiencing, but she believes that support for students is lacking and that it could be improved with better communication, mental health prioritization, and addressing these subjects and feelings.
These subjects and concerns were discussed with a member of the administration and a teacher of East Ridge High School and will be further addressed in the second and third parts of this series.