With daily advances in technology, the education system is shifting towards a more modern approach: going online. Students are no longer opening their textbooks, but now it's their laptops that are cracking open. While online school seems to be full of positives, the negatives such as the social aspect of school missing, the escape from at-home problems that students rely on school for, and the inconsistency of technology are some big red flags opposing the switch.

Generic_Name's school has turned completely online. She is halfway through high school, and the new and sudden change is drastically effecting her. Now that her curriculum is online she is not able to see her friends during school, and the lack of social interaction is starting to effect her mental health. She feels depressed, but does not want to draw attention to herself for ask for help because she feels like she has no one anymore. School is more than math class, and English projects. School is a way for students to connect with other people.

Generic_Name spends most of his days out of the house away from his computer. Since Generic_Name has no one to check up on him to make sure his assignments get done he simply does not complete them. Generic_Name is now in danger of not graduating. He has an IEP plan, that, while he physically went to school, granted him a teacher's aide in all of his classrooms. He formed a close bond with that teacher and the teacher helped keep him on task. Generic_Name now spends his time on other things, like leisure activities and seeing his friends. Students who need extra help would not find online school beneficial, and it would be difficult for them to keep up with their intrinsic motivation to learn without that extra push from an outside source. School itself is mentally taxing, but can provide a physical escape for students as well.

Generic_Name is the oldest of five , and has to share a room with her younger sister. They often fight and bicker and sometimes Generic_Name just needs a break. She often will go to a friends house, but her biggest escape is school. Being away from all the drama at home for hours at a time really helps Generic_Name, and helps her reset before spending the evening with her siblings . She is calmer and more patient with her siblings when she goes to school. But Generic_Name's county has shifted all the schools to online, and all day Generic_Name has to help her siblings with homework questions and looking after them all. Whether their home life is great or not so great it is a way to just leave the house and expel energy.

Generic_Name and his father do not get along very well. Generic_Name is an only child, and his mother is not in his life. His father takes out a lot of his frustration out on Generic_Name, ad Generic_Name loathes being at home. Normally he would spend as much time as he could away from his house, participating in after-school clubs, coming into school early, and just going places with his friends. But now his school is online. So he is constantly inside of the area that gives him his stress and anxiety and it is not good for him. Generic_Name feels as if he is walking on pins and needles all the time. School is a get away for students. Having school online does not work for every family dynamic.

Problems at home are not always with another person, rather they could be with technology.

Generic_Name spilled creme soda all over his laptop. His computer is out of commission for a week and he has no way to complete his assignments or email his teacher to explain what is going on. Generic_Name has a test this week that is worth a very large percentage of his grade, and he needs to have his laptop to be able to do it. This problem will cause Generic_Name's grade in the class to drop dramatically if his laptop is at the repair shop. Technology is too inconsistent to rely on outside of the classroom on a large scale.

Generic_Name's family cannot afford for her to have her own personal laptop. Her schooling is now being conducted only online however, and she is having difficulties keeping up with her schooling. She relies on the public library for computer access, but it isn't always open when she needs it to be, and she cannot video chat with her professors there. Generic_Name's grades are plummeting but she feels like she has no control over the situation. She has decided to get a job in order to pay for her own laptop, but her job drastically cuts into her schooling. She needs the hours to acquire the laptop but her balance between work and school isn't working and she doesn't know what to do.

Switching to online school can cause new stress on students.

Some could argue that online school could be beneficial to students by ways transportation. In climate weather, over crowding in schools, and just day to day traffic causes back-ups and problems in students getting to school on time. Students wake up late, and are caught up with adults trying to make it to work or miss the bus and must ask a parents for a ride. However making it necessary for children to come to school teaches students independence and self-reliance, clears all distractions away from students by having them sit in a classroom, and allows time for students to ask teachers questions about topics that they do not understand before class begins, giving the student one-on-one time. Having students stay home, gives them no accountability besides to themselves, which does not guarantee attendance to school. Students can sleep in, not turn on their computers and no one is there to check them.

Having school online would not be beneficial to students. Children's needs are to diverse and learning styles so drastic that to conform the millions of students in the U.S. alone to one way of learning is unrealistic and unhelpful. Children need the peer-to-peer interaction, the escape from their households, and the constituency of resources that school provides. Personal learning tailored to every student works best for equal education for every child, not having them stuck behind a screen.