Virtual students deserve to participate in extracurricular activities
A
ANDREW CHRISTOFFERSON REPORTER
fter school, in-person and virtual students alike meet up for their extracurricular activities. Despite not returning to school, virtual students are able to play sports, participate in clubs and join student organizations. Many reasons could play into a student’s decision to choose an extracurricular activity over attending in-person learning. But these factors are ultimately the student’s choice, and students who choose to stay home should still have the opportunity to participate in inperson sports or clubs. “There are a myriad of reasons why students are choosing to stay home for school that have nothing to do with their participation in sports,” varsity baseball head coach John Dowling said. Just because someone is comfortable with going outside and playing sports, it does not mean they are comfortable sitting
36 | OPINIONS | APRIL 2021
in classrooms for up to seven hours a day. Sports and other activities are presumably safer since the number of participants in a specific activity is less than the number of people roaming the halls.
OUTDOOR SPORTS ARE, WITHOUT QUESTION, MUCH SAFER THAN BEING IN SCHOOL.” - JOHN DOWLING SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER & BASEBALL COACH Wrestling, for example, seems unsafe since wrestlers are constantly in contact with others, yet the wrestling team was able to restrict the number of interactions to just two people, with strict contact tracing and
pre-practice requirements that ensured the safety of the wrestlers. The regulations for attending in-person school are not as strict, which has caused some concerns. “[My] biggest [concern is] the uncertainty,” junior Atticus Gore said. “I have yet to get COVID or be exposed, and I have safety concerns [with] returning to school.” The school building is an enclosed environment with minimal movement, but sports and other extracurriculars often meet outside. With sports, students are constantly moving around and spaced apart, and most fall and spring sports train outside, which is much safer than staying inside. “Outdoor sports are, without question, much safer than being in school,” Dowling said. “Outdoors, we have virtually unlimited space to utilize for social distancing and are never really in a confined space where the air is not circulating.” Even with all the safety concerns and uncertainty surrounding in-person school, for most students, safety was not necessarily the most important factor to consider. Many students decided to return to school because they do not enjoy learning in a virtual setting. Others returned to just get out of the house. And some were coerced by parents to return. “I returned to school because I focus so much better when what I’m learning is physically in front of me,” junior Kylee Majkowski said. For those who continued with online learning, most have adapted to the virtual classroom setting and would not like to return to in-person school for the time being. “I have gotten into a really good routine with my school day,” Gore said. “I know how to get my work done, be productive, learn the content and get good grades.” Students who are acclimated to the online learning environment deserve to have the same opportunities as in-person students. It’s unfair to consider placing requirements that restrict a student’s ability to participate in anything they want to and are comfortable with doing.
