The Struggles of Online Learning

From getting disconnected from the Internet to not having enough motivation, I am having a hard time getting used to virtual learning.

When virtual learning first started in March 2020, I thought it wouldn’t last long; I was even excited for it. But as time passed and we were still doing online classes in May, the hopes of going back to school in August started to fade away.

I am a junior now attending Tranquility High School virtually in rural Tranquility, 45 minutes west of Fresno, California.

When the 2020-2021 school year started, a lot of things had changed.

We were told we had to log into Google Meet meetings every day, and some teachers made it mandatory to have our cameras on. If we didn’t, we’d lose participation points, which would affect our overall grade, or they would mark us as absent for the day.

We are now on a block schedule, spending an hour and a half online in just one class and, while it’s not that different from meeting in person, having these classes online is a different story.

Staying connected for an hour and a half is difficult for two reasons. One, staying connected for that long makes the Chromebook very slow and hot. Two, there are days when my Internet will completely disconnect halfway through a lesson.

I figured this was because my little brother was also in school, and multiple computers were connected to the WiFi. We have a really cheap WiFi plan, and because of this, it can’t handle multiple devices connected at the same time.

While I can log on to my phone and watch videos, it takes a long time to get a document loaded during class. Because of this, I started to do the work after class. This caused me to not pay as much attention in class as I would like to and to lose motivation.

There have been multiple days when my WiFi didn’t connect at all, and I had to use my mobile hotspot. It worked for the first few days, but it just wasn’t as fast as having the WiFi connected.

The digital divide is just one problem of virtual learning; trying to learn from home is another. Living in a Hispanic household, there is a lot of noise; there are many distractions while I’m attending classes online.

Not having a separate place to work and relax has also affected me more than I thought it would, which ties back into my lack of motivation.

When attending school in person, I would get home and start working on my assignments. But being at home, there isn’t much separation between schoolwork and housework. I would put assignments off until the last minute because I’d be doing other things like cleaning the house or babysitting my siblings.

If I’m not doing that, I’d be working in my room where my bed is right in front of me. Instead of doing my work, I’ll either be lying in bed going through my phone or napping.

With the lack of reliable WiFi connection and lack of motivation to do my schoolwork, I’ve come to realize that virtual learning isn’t something that works for me, and I look forward to the day when we are meeting in classrooms again.

by Hazel Ventura

When Accessibility Is A Problem

Being a teenager growing up in the Central Valley, I have found that alcohol is widely the youth’s chosen drug of choice.

Young people in the valley have grown up in an age where alcohol ads can be seen everywhere. Whether it be parties, sporting events, weddings, backyard barbecues, concerts, brunch… It’s hard to think of any social event that doesn’t at least offer it. Drinking has become an integral part of the way adults spend time with their friends and family.

Our beliefs about alcohol are established very early in life, even before the start of elementary school. Evidently, when your community and the rest of the world views drinking alcohol as a social activity, perspectives can change in favor of alcohol quickly.

This, paired with the endless alcohol advertisements all around us, can easily reel a young person into drinking, oftentimes putting themselves in danger in the process. Access to alcohol can come from friends, family, and even strangers on the street. It was common practice in my hometown to find an adult, (usually an older sibling or young adult family member), outside of a party that would be willing to buy alcohol for paying minors. According to the 2018-2019 Fresno County Student Insights Survey, 67% of youth found that alcohol was the most available amongst their friends and family.

Students from the Fresno County Youth Advocacy Leadership League (YALL)

The YALL team consists of a group of community leaders that are also involved in their local Friday Night Live (FNL) programs. FNL is a youth development program that helps young people grow and advocate for their rights.

In 2019, the YALL team constructed their “I Won’t Provide Campaign,” which aims to reach adults in their early 20s who are a means of access to alcohol to minors. The campaign was launched along with an online pledge through Change.org which asks young members of the community to drink responsibly — which includes not providing alcohol to minors. Over the course of the year, the I Won’t Provide pledge accumulated over 50 signatures.

In the fall of 2020, Selma High’s FNL chapter also launched our Positive Social Norms Campaign surrounding party culture. We sent out a schoolwide survey collecting data surrounding party culture and peer pressure in our community. The survey was sent in conjunction with Casey’s Pledge, which honors Casey Goodwin, who was a strong advocate for positive lifestyles and against drinking and driving.

Our chapter found the data from this survey to be incredibly alarming, with a total of 356 responses. About 30% of those who took the survey reported that they have felt unsafe at parties, with violence and alcohol abuse being among the top reasons.

Both YALL and FNL teams across the valley continue to urge young adults to not provide alcohol to the minors in their lives and strongly encourage young people to make healthy choices for the safety of their communities.

by Isabella Porras