Remote School Means Serious Screen Time for RMHS Students
October 16, 2020
As RMHS completes one month of remote school, students are wrestling with the monotony of spending an entire school day in front of the computer screen.
On October 15th, Reading will complete one month of remote learning. Remote learning has presented challenges and been an adjustment to everyone. However as we near one month, remote learning brings a new challenge: how to deal with being confined to their home in front of a screen all day. Everyone who has been doing it knows that everyday seems like the last and being in the same surroundings 24/7 is tiring. So to understand how students handle the monotony I interviewed a handful and asked them what they thought.
I began my interview by asking students how tired they felt at the end of the school week on a scale of 1 to 10 ( 1 being not at all and 10 being extremely). Overwhelmingly the answer was a 10. This would come as no surprise, knowing that students have 2-4, 80 minute classes every day, 3-4 hours of homework every night, some have sports or work, and seniors have college applications. But students said that their responsibilities were not the only reason for their tiredness. They added that while a regular school week is also extremely tiring, there are small things, like driving to school or having friends around that make it better. But when they are confined to a desk and chair, the tiredness is amplified.
Several studies have said that getting exercise or going out on a walk help people feel less tired, when they are at home all day. When I asked students if they get out, Senior Rachel Staffier said “All the time I get outside is walking to and from my car”. Senior Ally Tesoro added “I literally can’t leave the house because of school”. With all the responsibilities students have, they find it impossible to have the time to go out.
I then asked students if they take breaks and do they help them feel less tired. Senior Jenni Wheeler, said that she doesn’t take many breaks. Tesoro said she takes a couple, and Staffier said she takes several. Most students take a break during lunch and one right after school ends. They added that their breaks tend to be less than an hour long. I also asked if there was anything they did on the break that made them feel more energized. Tesoro said that she has a snack on her breaks and tries to not look at any screens during her break. Staffier and Wheeler both said that they also have a snack, but said spend their breaks on their phones. I ended the interview by asking if there was anything they did in particular to help with the monotony of spending an entire school day in front of a screen. Everyone answered no.
While there is monotony in a regular school routine that makes students tired, there are little things that break it up for them. But with being confined to their homes, and little face to face interaction with friends, the online learning set up is making students more tired. However students are hopeful that they will return to school soon, and while it won’t be the same, they feel that seeing friends and not being in front of the screen all day will help them feel less tired.
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