JANUARY EDITORIAL

Students back at school but participation still lacking

Posted Jan. 28, 2022

By Highlander Staff

With half the school year done, teachers and students have noticed a lack of participation among students.

During distance learning, teachers reported students not turning on their cameras and stepping away from their screens. Attendance dropped along with grades and participation. Many attributed this to the difficulties of being quarantined, the lack of social interaction and the chaos of life at the time. But even with classes now having returned to in-person learning, the problem has remained. Attendance has remained poor and grades are suffering. Due to the lack of hard deadlines during CDL many students are struggling to return to the classrooms that implemented those policies.

Teachers are also struggling with students being on their phones during class. Students now feel entitled to their phones and are no longer following the district rules forbidding them during school hours. Many students, even if they’re not actively on their phones, will be listening to music through headphones, thus disengaging from class. In classes that don’t require constant attention, students are able to work on assignments by themselves, making it easier for teachers to get the needed information across to students. But for classes that require diligent note-taking and constant attention, phones have become detrimental to students’ learning, thus to their grades.

Through the first half of the year, teachers have tried a gentle reimmersion into school. Many teachers plan to continue doing this, understanding where students are coming from and how this is still a hectic time for many, but some are running out of patience with students leaving classes, not paying attention, and not doing work.