Bye-Bye Snowdays…Hello More School!

Public schools in New York City no longer have snow days as officials say that students are more than capable of learning remotely via Zoom.  Zoom was put into place when school was shut down due to the Coronavirus.  Zoom allows teachers and students to interact through their computers and allows teachers to teach their students like they would in classrooms.  As a result, people feel that if we could be on Zoom for numerous months while school was shut down, then we should be able to eliminate snow days so that students can continue to learn regardless of the weather conditions.  Students and even some teachers are extremely unhappy with this new recommendation made by state officials.

However, students have trouble staying engaged the whole time on the computer and have a hard time concentrating on the teacher throughout the whole lesson, especially since they have to sit through numerous classes throughout the day.  This means that students are on their computer for over 5 hours with slim to no breaks. This contributes to mental health issues as it significantly stresses students out.  Students are also unable to talk to their friends throughout breaks like they would be able to in between periods during in-person school.  Similarly, teachers may find it frustrating to teach their students through Zoom since some students get distracted by their phones along with other things around their house.  Therefore, the teachers are teaching, but no one is giving them the respect back since they aren’t paying attention.

Not only does remote learning drain students and teachers, but it also makes students miss out on much needed childhood experiences.  Snow days allow kids to take a break from school, focus on themselves, and make memories that will last a lifetime.  Snow days don’t happen too often, therefore, when there is a snow day, there is no harm in letting the kids enjoy themselves for the day, allowing them to feel free and just take it easy.  “Playing and taking it easy satisfies basic human need to express imagination,” says UNICEF.  Using your imagination helps build onto your knowledge which leads to skills that are necessary as you get older.  The workload from school, especially in high school is extreme and the material we learn is complicated as well hard to understand right away.  Therefore, if the work is hard in school, it is unfortunately much more difficult on Zoom.  According to Jena Lee, MD in Psychiatric Times, Zoom causes fatigue for students, meaning Zoom causes people to feel tired, burned out, have a hard time paying attention, and experience muscle tension (November 17, 2020).

Driving while it is snowing or icy is very dangerous as it can cause numerous fatal accidents.  Also, according to The New York City Pedestrian Safety Study & Action Plan, they said that during the winter, there are 20% more car accidents than other months.  This exemplifies that driving while trying to get to school is extremely dangerous and could take someone’s life.  That is why one may argue that zoom is beneficial for students and teachers, so that they can stay safe while still getting an education.  Additionally, you typically don’t officially know if school is canceled for the next day due to the snow until the day of, very early in the morning.  That can be a major issue because it is hard for parents to find help at the last minute for their children, especially if the parents need to go to work since they can’t just leave their kids at home all alone.  Also, if parents work at home, they can’t entertain their children all day.  Therefore, one may say that snowdays give parents a tough time because they have to work to provide for their families so they can’t just take time off for their kids which is why one may argue that if the kids were on zoom, they would be able to receive much needed structure and wouldn’t be bothering their parents.  Overall, while these few statements are valid, the cons of zoom most definitely outweigh the pros of no snow days because students and teachers work so hard and need a break especially to make sure their mental health is good so that they can remain happy and healthy.

Is getting one more lesson of learning really that important if it is going to harm students and teachers both physically and mentally? – The answer is no!  Nothing is more crucial than the health of students and teachers which is why no more snow days is only going to cause harm and no good to students of all ages and teachers.  Teachers and administrators work so hard every single day to ensure that their students are getting the best education they can provide and with all of their hard work, they deserve a day off and a snow day is the perfect time for them to take a break.  Snow days are vital for everyone and without them it causes kids to feel isolated, exhausted and, mentally drained.

Photo from National Snow and Ice Data Center