Kayla Carter
Champaign Central should return to virtual instruction during the Omicron surge for the safety of all students. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been at home since spring 2020, and believe it or not, it wasn't the best. I didn’t love online learning. I missed my friends, wanted to get out of the house, wanted to feel, see and be able to touch people. I missed actually sitting at a desk and accepting homework from a teacher in person. However, all these things are just not worth getting sick or spreading COVID to your family. It isn't just the students getting sick due to COVID, there are adults and teachers here at school that are sick. So many things could happen when getting COVID, not even just death. There are long term effects for some people that we don’t yet understand. If we can avoid getting COVID, we should. COVID has caused so many deaths over the past 3 years and is still going around. I just think that it would be best if we go virtual, just to be safe, at least until some of the COVID cases go down.
Some people argue that we should stay in person because students weren’t keeping up with their homework in online school. Although it’s true that not everyone got their work done, people need to realize staying healthy is more important than doing all your schoolwork. Hanging out with friends at school is not worth dying of COVID. There have been even more COVID cases going around. It feels like we can't do anything about it. Even though we have the vaccine, people are still getting sick. Not sick enough that they have to be hospitalized, but the vaccine is only 5 and up, what about the children under 5? Many students live with young children and people who can’t get the vaccine. What if we bring something home? We can't just keep a mask on and expect COVID to go away on its own. This is real life, these are real people dying. As many COVID cases that are going around, at this point it's not even about whether a student wants to hangout with friends at school and skip class, it's about safety.
I’ve lost friends and family due to COVID, because they felt that they didn't have to wear a mask. This isn't a tv show, this is reality, wake up people! The sooner you realize that we are in a serious crisis the better you'll understand that we can DIE at any moment at any time due to COVID. Many students get kicked out of class everyday because they don't want to keep their mask on. Germs are already bad enough, but in classrooms with kids all in one place at once is DEATH! Especially when these overgrown adults and teens don't know how to keep their mask over their nose. COVID isn't going to stop until it sees everyone's body drop dead to the ground. This isn't a cartoon show where you can just die and come back to life.
Being at home is better than catching COVID and dying. Yes, you’re in the house, but you are in the house and safe! That's all that matters. Think about the people who have serious health conditions and what they would have to go through if they catch COVID. Some people can’t even take care of themselves if they catch COVID. They’re stuck at home and can't have family help them because they are contagious with COVID. Nobody wants to die sad and lonely.
Social distancing and virtual learning can make it harder for the virus to spread, as the particles are unlikely to travel very far. You can be around family and friends that live in the home with you, but you should be aware and look out carefully for your surroundings at all times. Also, make sure you keep a mask on to decrease your risk of getting and spreading COVID.