What kinds of things happen at your house? Is it loud or quiet? Is there a lot of people at home or almost no one? Some schools offer distance learning as an option for students to attend classes from home by way of online or video conferencing. While this may be helpful to some students at specific times, it is not beneficial for them. Students are children who are still in the process of learning and are still adapting to the world around them. Distance learning is not beneficial for students because they can be easily distracted at home, they could have electronic complications, and they could develop little to no social skills.

Distance learning is not helpful towards students because they can be easily distracted at home. Within a person's personal area, people have a tendency to relax and forget about the things that need to be done. Personally, I have forgotten about many assignments that were due the next day simply because I was relaxing in my room. I was aware that I needed to do my homework, but I had thought that I could watch YouTube for a few minutes and still be able to complete my work. After I watched one video, I saw another that I was interested in, and soon I had forgotten about my assignments that were due the next day. I forgot about my work because I wasn't in a suitable environment for me to focus on my work. Another example to show how easily distracted students are at home would be their family. While I was trying to work on an essay for English, my sister was being rowdy and playful. She had came into my room for a split second and ran back out leaving my door open in that same moment. This allowed for the sound of my mother's T.V. to come into my room and I wasn't able to concentrate on the topic of my essay any longer. Families are distracting when you are trying to work on things like homework, essays, and projects. A home is not quiet enough for you to focus and there are too many distractions that your family can cause.

Seeing as distance learning is through online or video conferencing, students may have electronic complications. Computers can do various things but they aren't without faults. My friend, Generic_Name, had tried to do an assignment that needed to be done online but the weather wasn't exactly favorable for her. The rain had caused some neighborhoods to lose electricity and Generic_Name's neighborhood was one of them. She wasn't able to finish her assignment on time and had gotten a lower grade than she would have liked. Technology can't be relied upon to do work when the weather can destroy your efforts and make it seem like you didn't try at all. There are also malfunctions that could happen to the technology that the student is working on. My friend, Generic_Name, had tried to type up his summer reading project when his computer had suddenly shutdown. Generic_Name soon discovered that his laptop had a virus and he needed to get a new one. As he was setting up his new laptop, he had tried going back to his project but it hadn't saved his progress so he had to start from scratch all over again. Electronics can have faults at times like getting viruses or there might not be any service where the student is at. This leads things to be difficult and the situation can get worse over time. The internet isn't safe and technology isn't always the best option to use to work on things.

Students could develop little to no social skills if they were to take distance learning. Distance learning is an education gained through a computer rather than being lectured and helped in person. Learning through a computer doesn't give you the necessary social skills you need to go through life. When I'm in class with a teacher, I'm able to ask that teacher questions. While you can also do that online, the interactions are completely different. You are behind a screen with possibly no one around you. Getting an education this way will damage your social skills unless you are socializing with people outside of your home and neighborhood. Online learning doesn't allow you to interact with your classmates or your teacher. You need to be able to talk properly to people you don't know because once you graduate you have to speak to the people around you to understand current situations or to get a job. Every job includes some interaction with a person face-to-face, and if your social skills aren't good then you will struggle until they get better. I'm a shy person but being able to interact with people in person has improved my social skills. You don't have to talk to someone for long periods of time, but don't stay behind a computer screen. Go out in the world and talk to someone you haven't before; you may even become close friends in the future. The people you interact with are going to be important to you in some way, positive or negative, and without them you are going to be lost in life.

Distance learning is good for when a student is sick or out of town, but it isn't good as an option to fully learn online. There are many issues that can happen like you won't get the grade you are working for or you broke your computer so now you can't learn until you replace your old one. In order to get by in life, you need to be able to talk to people in person and be able to understand what you are doing. Are you going to get by in life by being behind a screen? Are you going to travel around and explore new places and talk to new people? What are your plans for the future?