OPINION: New Bedford student frustrated with how the public school system is handling teaching

How are your kids handling schooling during the pandemic? These are unprecedented times and what our youth and teachers are going through while trying to maintain grades is something we’ve never gone through.

There is not only stress and anxiety about contracting COVID-19 but for students, there is a significant amount of stress about how the educators are teaching and about staying focused and undistracted so that they can get grades good enough for higher education in the future. Their grades today will be taken into account when they try to get into a university later and this added stress is highly frustrating as one young lady attending New Bedford High School has expressed. Here are her thoughts and feelings:

______________________________________________________________________

“I absolutely hate having to go to school with this whole COVID thing.

First of all, no matter if you are home or whether at school they are not teaching you anything. They have you copy whatever the video says into a word document and have you send it in. HOW am I learning?! I’m not!

When I ask teachers for help it’s like my brain doesn’t even grasp what they are saying. I have ADD which makes it hard for me to stay focused and I basically can do whatever I want in the classes and not get yelled at.

I’m pretty sure that high school teachers before COVID would have yelled at you to do your work. NOPE not anymore! They just ignore what you are doing.

I understand we need to stay safe and protected with the COVID going around so easily but it’s not hard for a teacher who stands 6ft away from a desk to say ‘Look at the board.’ and teach us, Am I being ignorant?

These are my thoughts about the education system from the viewpoint of a 15-year-old student in New Bedford High School).”-Anonymous.