Still, students like Isabella Brenneman, a junior at Kit Carson International Academy in Sacramento, have concerns about reopening schools — though no one has really asked her or her peers what it’ll take for them to feel safe returning to school.
“It feels like the people who aren’t being affected are the ones that are making all of the decisions,” Brenneman said.
In this episode of The Bay, host Devin Katayama talks with three high schoolers about how distance learning is going, what it’ll take for them to feel safe going back to school, and how they’re coping in the meantime. Below are highlights from their conversation.
Katayama: How does that feel to have a condensed form of classes in such a short period of time?
Brenneman: It is really exhausting having to go and learn on a Zoom. I don’t know why it’s exhausting because you would think being in physical class would be more tiring, but I feel so much more exhausted and like burned out with homework and all of that. It all kind of blends together. Like all my classwork just feels like homework. At the end of the day, it’s I’m usually scrambling to get it done because I have too much to do.
Katayama: Do you feel like you’re learning at all?
Cheng: I think it’s really challenging, honestly, because there’s a lot of self studying going on.
Kritikopoulos: I definitely agree with the fact that I don’t feel like I’m learning. I feel bad for the teachers, so I have my camera on in every single class because I feel bad when it’s just a black screen. So I always get my camera on, but then it makes me hyper aware of what I look like, which means I’m not paying attention. My phone is always right there, which means I’m not paying attention. So it’s just really hard to have self control in a way. And on top of that, teachers are likely very tired. So I feel like they’re putting in less effort. It’s justified, but they’re putting in a little less effort, some of them.
Katayama: So there have been a lot of conversations about reopening schools lately. And I feel like a lot of the people who we’re hearing from are the governor or are the school district officials. And I’m just wondering, has anybody ever asked you your thoughts?
Brenneman: No, weirdly enough, no. I don’t think anybody has. My mom was a teacher for a while so she asked me personally how I was feeling about it.
I haven’t heard a lot about at-risk students, how they’re feeling. I’m not at risk. I know my sister is, which is why I think about that a lot. But I haven’t heard any students who maybe have lung problems or autoimmune disorders, anything like that. I haven’t heard any voices from them, which I think it would be interesting to hear that from them.
Kritikopoulos: We’ve all just kind of accepted our fate, that it’s up to the adults to figure out what’s happening. We don’t really have a say in it.
Katayama: Well, let’s actually ask you then. How do you feel about reopening and going back to to school in person? Like, what are you thinking about?
Kritikopoulos: We don’t trust our fellow classmates at all. We see on Instagram and Twitter or whatever every day. Nobody follows precautions who are our peers. We all follow each other on Instagram and there’s one group of friends who’s like in Santa Cruz every other weekend and we’re like, do you not go to school? And none of them are wearing masks ever, and they’re all posing next to each other. So we don’t trust our fellow classmates, even if they’re all wearing masks and socially distanced from us. We just don’t trust that.
Brenneman: No, I’m definitely worried because none of us students are vaccinated or anything yet. And it seems like we won’t be getting vaccinated until the summer. I have a sister who’s at risk. So going to school is really scary for me and her going to school is really scary too, because I don’t want her to get anything.
Katayama: What do you want people to know about what you and your peers are going through right now?
Kritikopoulos: Especially since we’re teens and people probably think ‘You’re already on a screen all day anyways. Like, how different is it?’ It is just as hard for us as it is for you, potentially even harder because a lot of teachers have not changed their curriculum to be more compatible with this system. They’re even doing more sometimes. And schoolwork is just as hard as whatever job you have.
Brenneman: Mostly for parents, I wish they would understand how difficult it is to get up and get into your Zoom. They might think it’s really easy just because you can roll over in bed and get on it. But it’s just really tiring. It’s really difficult to have any motivation to do homework and that sort of thing. And I also wish teachers would understand that I’m trying my best and it is really difficult to get everything done whenever you want it. And I know it’s hard on them too. So I wish we would have some communication where we each understand that both of our jobs is really hard at the moment.
Cheng: Above all, I’d ask for understanding, especially for the seniors this year. A lot of us aren’t eighteen yet. And even if we are eighteen, that’s just a part of being a child and just becoming an adult. And I think having that year like having memorable times taken away from us, like prom, graduation, those things which are like keys to adulthood, I guess some would say we didn’t get. So I think it would be really nice if people could see that just beyond like us not liking online school. It’s also a part of our life.
