Why March Break Shouldn't Have Been Cancelled
Why March Break Shouldn't Have Been Cancelled
by Sabia I.
March Break: our beloved one-week holiday has been postponed to April 12 - 16 by Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce. Here’s why it should never have been cancelled.
Lecce claims that March Break was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic, commenting that it was "an important way that schools can help to limit community transmission" – a valid concern as Ontario hosts more than 303 thousand cases. COVID-19 is transmitted through airborne infection and physical contact, designating schools as disease epicentres packed with hundreds of students. Yet masks, hand sanitizer, and organized coordination between classes are constant. Additionally, as of September, 58% of students have remanded to virtual school, while another 18% receive a combination of remote and in-person instruction. More are expected to arrive in both as the school year progresses. In accumulation, schools are protected with significant decreases in students and health precautions in place.
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Lecce’s second piece of supporting evidence is the behaviour conducted during March Break. "It is of the utmost importance that we do not travel at this time," prioritizes Lecce. It's universal that students and teachers tend to mingle with friends and travel during holidays. In the past Christmas Break, there was a catastrophic spike in COVID cases due to these reasons. Thus, long-lasting vacations like March Break would instigate Lecce's concern. However, Ontario has taken more than enough precautions to improve the situation post-Christmas with Ontario regions in the Orange Zone - enhanced COVID constraints to limit the spread.
The mandated restraints include counted participants in outdoor and indoor meetings, the social distancing of at least two meters, and consistent face coverings. Concerning travel, any COVID-19-symptomatic travellers are not permitted to enter Canada. Most importantly, there is the revelation of a Coronavirus vaccine that Health Canada and many other neighbouring countries have approved. The vaccine was designed to strengthen the user’s immune system should association with COVID-19 arise. The present probability of becoming infected is slim. Lecce’s supporting justification contradicts the vastly corrected situation and indicates a lack of faith in Ontario to behave competently under Coronavirus circumstances.
The Ontario government shoving March Break does not demonstrate understanding towards the OCV. March Break is one of the most significant highlights of the school year. Last year, the hectic clash of tests and projects awoke a teenager for school. He smiled broadly and returned to sleep; it’s March Break! Now every student is deprived of this relaxing experience.
In virtual school, students are striving to maintain their education with piled hardships. Students learn isolated from the outside world with the sole interaction of a screen. The working atmosphere is a bustling household of parents, siblings, and responsibilities, replacing concentration with a noisy distraction. Courses have been compressed into two months of lessons, resulting in daily evaluations and tremendous pressure to maintain a high academic performance. The solution is to attend summer school and approximate missed classes through an extra month in a classroom. “March Break shouldn’t have been moved! We earned it!” furiously states an OCV student. No one is more deserving of a well-earned holiday like March Break to recuperate from the challenges of 2021 than the Ottawa-Carleton Virtual School.
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March Break permanently moved to a week in April wasn’t thoroughly thought through and punishes students. Teachers are equally suffering from scheduled lessons and courses added to their blustering timetables. The government should consider long-term goals that can be agreed upon with all parties to ensure public appeasement and security.
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