Would students benefit from taking online classes from home?

Modern technology has made tremendous leaps of growth in the past two decades, regarding accessibility to class work and instruction over the Internet. Within school systems, controversy has emerged over whether students would benefit from being able to attend school from home, through an online program or video-conference calls. Although some view online classes as a source of increased procrastination and growth of anti-social tendencies, online classes would effectively help students to reduce stress, allow them to also prioritize hobbies and passions, as well as compel the students to develop skills and traits to succeed.

Ability for students to take online courses would firstly, help students reduce their stress and academic burdens. High school students must wake up quite early in the morning (typically before dawn), prepare for school,

and drive through several minutes of traffic to arrive early: just to sit in various classrooms for ninety minutes at a time, completing classwork and receiving additional homework. How much more convenient it would be for some students to wake up whenever their body indicates it is adequately rested, get a healthy meal for breakfast, and work at their own pace in the comfort of their home. Such a relaxed schedule would be beneficial, especially for senior students in high school. Throughout the year, their minds are focused on completing college applications, applying for financial aid, sending in SAT scores and college transcripts. Taking online courses from home would allow those students to attend to their other responsibilities and manage classwork at their own convenience. In addition, some students, unfortunately, get bullied in school by their classmates. Studying at home would allow victims of bullying to be in their safe haven, away from those who oppress them and ridicule them for being different. Often times, high school students worry that colleges would view their decision to take online classes as lazy or careless, however, I have heard that colleges value how challenging the class is, the effort put in, and how well-rounded the student is. Furthermore, enrolling in online courses would improve the mental and physical health of students.

Additionally, students would benefit form being able to attend school classes from home because it allows them to also prioritize their hobbies, passions and fulfill duties for the family. In the novel,

Educated,

by Tara Westover, Tara's family did not allow her to go to public schools that were endorsed by the government. Instead, Tara was home schooled, inconsistently, by her mother, through her middle school years; but she primarily worked with her brothers and father in a junkyard. Westover and her family lived a simple, somewhat poor lifestyle in the mountains of Utah. Some families suffer from the same burdens and need their children to work on the farm or in the shop with them. Rather than quitting school altogether, the children could take online courses to receive the education required to build a better life for themselves, while at the same time, helping their family.

In the same way, not only would online courses allow students to fulfill duties to the family, such as working, students can also prioritize their hobbies and ambitions;. For example, in this generation, common teenagers gain fame and fortune from becoming social media influencers. This requires them to travel for meet and greets with fans, have tours, always take pictures, make videos and advertise products. Additionally, some athletes are apart of extremely competitive travel teams that require them to travel often for tournaments and competitions. Such extracurricular activities should not be given up because it interferes with school. Those activities are the passions and hobbies of some individuals and online schooling would allow them to get their education and participate in events they love.

Lastly, online schooling would compel students to develop valuable traits and skills. Taking online courses is different from physically going into school buildings because in the buildings, students sit at a desk and are instructed by a teacher, versus, online classes require communication via email or conference call. As a result of this, online students must develop initiative and independence. They cannot rely on constant reminders from teaches and classmates about when assignments are due, additionally, because they have the freedom to complete assignments at any time prior to the due date, they must have time management skills so not all tasks are left undone until the last minute. The students must also acquire mental and emotional strength, as they will always be studying alone in their homes without the comfort of their peers. When the students learn to acquire these traits, success in their online courses and beyond would be inevitable.

In conclusion, there are many benefits from being able to attend school classes from home through online school or video conference calls. Some examples include: reduced stress, ability to fulfill other responsibilities and prioritize hobbies, and finally, develop valuable skills that will assist with success in the online course and life after high school. Generic_School is very aware of the damage some students suffered from because they were compelled to attend school away from home, so they instituted the Hybrid Program and Virtual Generic_School, which allows the students to take either all their classes from the comfort of their home, or just a few so they take a few courses in the building and others at home. This gives the students the power to control their schedules and make their high school experience and academic load less stressful.           