Many schools around the world offer long distance learning as an option for students to attend classes from home by way of online or video conferencing. Schools will offer this if school has been temporarily shut down or if the student wishes to take a course the school does not offer. While a few number of people believe online school is unhealthy and wrong for students, in reality, online school provides many benefits and programs not offered by regular school. Online school has changed education for the better and made learning more accessible to people across the world.

In case of emergencies, schools have been known to close school and have the students learn online and do their work at home. If any diseases are running rampant or the school has a internal issue, schools tend to rely on new technology that will allow teachers to teach their students while they are in the safety of their home. Recently, the corona virus has been a problematic issue in my school area. The schools have closed one day off school to teach the teachers that if an emergency arrives and the students are not able to go to school, they will be able to teach from long distances and classes can resume as normal. Instead of a natural disaster or disease closing down school and stopping schools from functioning, educating students would continue without fear. The new age of technology not only increases the amount of information, but makes it more accessible.

Online school students also take online classes to get credits for classes their local schools do not provide. Current public schools do not offer every single class to satisfy every single student. A way of students going around that issue is online school. Online school provides almost every single course a student would want to take, from culinary classes to advanced mathematics. For example, my friend Generic_Name, a member of my school's Cyber Security Club, had just passed Cyber Security Fundamentals and was looking to move on to the next unit. However, my school did not offer Cyber Security 1, so Generic_Name talked to his councilor and was able to take the class at home using an online course and receive credits on his diploma. Online school provides more information, classes, and options to students who seek a broader education.

Critics argue that online school takes away from the personal experience of school and offers a way for kids to not go to school. While online school does take away party from the personal experience you would get at a public school, online school makes up for that with video conferencing and direct communication with the teacher and other students. Critics say online school kids use online school as a way to get out of going to real school. That statement is false, most students that take the online courses do this so they can work at their own pace and learn things not offered by his or her public school. Online school widens the range for students to learn and provides an alternative method to taking classes and learning in general. Students learn at different paces and online school gives students the power to work at their own pace without fear of falling behind in a class.

Over the past five years, online school has had a huge impact on learning and accessibility of information. It has become detrimental to a great number of students and a beneficial resource to schools across the world. It helps schools in crisis, provides more curriculum, and lets students work at their own pace. Without this resource our education system would be crippled and our students would suffer. Some may believe online school is anti social and negative for students, it is undeniable that online school provides millions of benefits and programs not offered by regular school. 