Editor’s note: The Denver Post asked Colorado teens to write about the return many schools had made this month to in-person learning after what for some school districts was almost an entire year of online classes to attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Out of about 60 submissions, three were selected for publication. The other two can be read here and here.
Chloe Waskey, 15, is a sophomore at Lakewood High School.
On March 13, 2020, the world of Jefferson County Public Schools began a two-week school shutdown initiative to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Almost a year and many COVID spikes later, schools have developed a clever hybrid formula to find a way around those pesky COVID regulations.
Right now, students are on a staggered schedule, minus Friday (because COVID is extra frisky on Fridays), with two-way traffic hallways in schools (because COVID can only travel in one direction at a time). However, in spite of these and other precautions, the fact remains that hundreds of students are meeting up regularly in a closed area that loosely conforms to COVID regulation during a time that should be filled with caution. But, if there is one thing Jeffco has, it’s tenacity.
Amid the straggler students who are forced to break social distancing due to small classroom sizes, the sheer number of masks hanging below the nose, and the crowded hallways during passing periods, I must say I have felt safer as far as COVID protection is concerned.
Of course, there are rules put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the classroom, but you cannot honestly expect these rules to have an impact in a land of high schoolers.
Yes, we are supposed to stay 6 feet apart at all times, and we are supposed to know how to wear a mask, but we, the invincible teens, have much more pressing matters than COVID. Administrators try their darndest to keep us in line, but in reality, no amount of barking and pointing will help.
The Jeffco COVID-19 dashboard shows spikes in COVID that correlate with school reopenings, even showing a significant rise in cases just last week. On a daily basis teachers are forced to bend the rules in order to function, which should be noted as no fault of their own but the fault of the unrealistic expectation that there should be “business as usual.”
Business is not usual when the last remaining students have to sit on the ground to maintain social distance. Business is not usual when the only allowed group projects are over an awkward zoom call. Business is not usual when the only safe activity teachers can really do is a long lecture. I dare say it is almost impossible for high schoolers to safely go to school right now, even though on paper it appears as if COVID doesn’t stand a chance. Choosing to leave the safety of schools in the hands of noncompliant teenagers was not an effective decision. Based on what is happening in hybrid, I am terrified for the day we go back to full in-person learning.
Now, if there is one thing Jeffco is very concerned about, it is our mental well-being. This is a very nice sentiment, considering their consistent changing of plans with less than two-weeks notice coupled with their haphazard determination to get us back in the classroom has indeed influenced our mental health. However, a mandatory survey and weekly checklist aren’t exactly doing the job. When much of our anxiety revolves around uncontrollable factors, school counselors can only do so much.
Many of us have drifted from our best friends, lost half of our friend groups, watched others become entirely different people and become different people ourselves. Now, we are trying to adapt to a whole new learning method while socially isolated. The only true remedy to our social lives is a safe and steady reimplementation into school and society — not an abrupt reopening that forces another shutdown.
I have no doubts that Jefferson County will have little trouble opening all schools before even teachers are fully vaccinated because school is what’s best for our mental health, right? In the end, I am not sure there is a right answer to all of this, but Jeffco sure tried anyway.
Chloe Waskey, 15, is a sophomore at Lakewood High School.
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