To many, myself included, March feels like it was decades ago. The last time life was normal, before schools closed and the pandemic really started to take over everyone’s lives. Finding out school was coming back this Winter was exciting for everyone, finally getting to see friends and talk to your favorite teachers. I was especially thrilled, I’d just moved halfway across the country and I didn’t know anyone, it would be the perfect opportunity to make some friends and finally get to see what Colorado is like.
But, as much as I wanted to get back to the closest thing to “normal” I could find, I decided to stay home.
“I don’t want to end up catching Covid and getting my grandma sick.” Lucy Daniels from Osbourn Park High School said when I asked her why she wasn’t planning on returning to in-person school this fall, or any time in the foreseeable future. “People probably won’t wear their masks or even try to social distance.” Unfortunately, she isn’t wrong. There have been numerous videos and posts of students not complying with any of the Covid regulations, and instead going to parties and going out without masks.
But, even in a perfect world where everyone wears masks and washes their hands, students are still concerned about catching the virus. Hermela Tadesse, a student from the same school, still doubts the effectiveness of the school’s safety procedures. “I don’t think there is any safe way to open schools, even with all the new rules. The desks aren’t being sanitized between classes and even with masks everyone is so close together that they won’t really help.” Osbourn Park, a large school with around 2500 students, would still be suffocatingly crowded despite the current plan to start with a 50/50 hybrid model for the second quarter. Tight hallways, hundreds of students, and a notorious lack of windows don’t mix well with viruses, even with the most delicate precautions.
Rebecca Kerr, another OP student said that, “Going back to school at all is a bad idea.”- then adding, “online school sucks, but it’s better than getting sick.” To my surprise, everyone I interviewed seemed to agree with her. Returning would be nice, but it wouldn’t be worth the risk.
Even though Coronado and Osbourn Park may be thousands of miles apart, concerns are generally the same among students, and now more than ever since Coronado has started hybrid learning again. But, despite these fears, reopening schools is just another step towards life getting about as “back to normal” as it can, and the only way it can continue is if everyone continues to follow the Covid guidelines. Be careful, wear a mask.