As PHS enter its eleventh week of e-learning many of the students have developed strong opinions on the experience. Many of these students have found e-learning to be troublesome and stressful, and many would prefer returning to the traditional classroom setting.

“I think school is a lot better in person because we have been so conditioned to learn hands-on with teachers and having a drastic change makes learning through a computer harder for some people,” Olivia Klepacz, senior at PHS, said.

When at home you’re not offered the individual one on one support, face to face conversations, and access to help from your teacher that is offered in the normal classroom setting. A large sum of students have been taught and feel most comfortable learning this way, which causes a massive learning curve and finds students falling behind. Many of those students are the newer underclassmen who are still adjusting to high school.

“Without a doubt, it’s their first year of high school,” Klepacz said. “High School is very nerve-racking and intimidating”.

Transitioning from middle school to high school is already tough enough for every teenager. Klepacz mentions that stress can already make it hard enough to learn, but now they also have to deal with figuring out how E-Learning works. Additionally, it doesn’t help that learning at home offers a lot of external distractions that affect both underclassmen and upperclassmen.

“Kids only have a certain amount of attention over an iPad all day,” Mitch Larkin, a junior, said.

This is one of the biggest problems with E-learning. Not only do kids have trouble with the actual material they are being taught, but most students can only pay attention for a certain amount of time. Especially with the younger students, they have no instructor or guide to stop them from going on their phones, watching YouTube, etc. Overall these circumstances create a difficult learning environment for the student. For this reason, a large majority of students and parents wish to return to standard in-person learning.

“The only real solution is to get back in the building,” Larkin said.

As the Government has started to revoke restrictions on schools. Everyone is eagerly waiting to see what the schools choose to do in these unprecedented times. While many people hold their students’ education at a high standard and would prefer the kids to go back to school, they also know that the schools must do whatever is necessary to ensure the well being of the students and staff.