Fredericton High School going back to in-person classes
On the first week of March, the New Brunswick School District posted on their official Twitter account the return of regular in-person classes for all Fredericton High School students, starting on April 12th. However, most students feel worried about this decision because they still don’t have the vaccine, and they know some people don’t follow the rules, believing the virus doesn’t exist or it’s harmless.
Fredericton High School student Ally Alders considers the school hasn’t been handling the situation correctly since the beginning of the pandemic. Moreover, some people aren’t taking the pandemic as seriously as they should be. Alders mentions even when there are rules about wearing a mask 24/7, she usually sees students and teachers talking off their masks because they are tired of using them and they need to ‘breath’.
“The rules definitely have to be enforced more if we are going to be all together,’ said Alders.
The 18-year-old considers the government is trying to satisfy everyone’s needs instead of focusing on the most important ones. They aren’t thinking about the consequences of having lots of students and teachers in the same building for several hours. In addition, they rushed to make this decision, since there are only approximately two months left of classes.
“I would definitely prefer to stay with online classes,” said Alders. “It’s been a whole year like this and most of us have already adapted to this way of learning.”
According to Alders, the government chose to implement this decision because some students don’t have the facilities to participate in every online class, they don’t feel motivated, or simply find online classes more difficult than in-person since they don’t have a teacher in the same room to answer their question in real-time, which means their school performance will drop and they will lower their grades.
Emma He, another Fredericton High School student, agrees with Alders about the situation. She considers the school provides a structure for students, creating a routine they can follow and feel organized with it. However, being in online classes, some students had a hard time trying to adjust their schedules to this new way of learning, especially in the first couple of months.
Even having in-person classes as a preference, He believes the best choice was to remain with online classes since she is aware that some people won’t follow the rules, which means exposing not only that person to the virus but also her and other students’ families.
“There is always the possibility of having a big spread because of how contagious COVID is,” said He. “In a few days, we could go back to red phase.”
Both Alders and He are hoping to get the vaccine as soon as possible in order to prevent risking their health while going to in-person classes. As Alders said, it is their education and, even if they don’t agree with the School District’s decision, they can’t refuse to go because it’s something they really care about and will impact their futures.
“The thing I am most scared about is that if we go back to in-person classes and one person gets infected, we all have to stay home for 14 days,” said He.
Most of the school staff, including several teachers, are already getting the COVID-19 vaccine in order to start with the in-person classes. According to Alders, students are the next ones on the list of vaccination after the teachers, as stated by the government’s system.
Alders and He consider this decision pretty smart because they are prioritizing teens, who are one of the main targets who need the reinforcement the vaccine provides. As He said, when someone gets the vaccine, they are protecting not only themselves but also their families, friends, and society in general.
“A lot of the decisions that are made from our School District are because of the pressure of the government,” said He. “They want to go back to normal and the next step […] is making the students go back to school full time in-person.”
