The Virtual Reality

By: Serene Hwang

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly shifted the lives of everyone. From working adults to young children, there is not one person whose lifestyle has stayed the same since the beginning of 2020. Suffering from dangerous working conditions and decreasing incomes, essential workers, who do not have the luxury to work from home, have been hit the hardest. A multitude of financial packages have been released by the government to ease the pressure placed on them. However, there is another large group of Americans who have yet to receive sufficient aid during these times: the students. 

Students of all ages make up about 25% of our country’s population, yet their education has always been severely underfunded. To put into perspective, the government invests over $600 billion into the military, but less than $80 billion in primary and secondary education. This has strained America’s capability of providing its students with a quality environment for learning. In one of the “most technologically advanced” countries, students are still not provided with enough Chromebooks and iPads, and when they are, the gadgets malfunction too often for the students to be able to focus on their studies. Moreover, school lunches lack the sufficient nutrients to be considered a full meal. Schools preach on the importance of the food pyramid, then proceed to feed their students nothing but a couple calories to suffice for seven hours of rigorous schoolwork. It is clear that the lack of resources negatively impacts our students in many aspects.

Chronic underinvestment has terrorized our educational facilities for years but the situation has been worsened by the pandemic. As schools were forced to shut down, students were suddenly expected to keep up with learning via lagging Zoom meetings. The circumstances were already harsh but a lack of funding led to many students not having proper access to the internet. A large gap formed between pupils from lower income families and their education. However, providing laptops to these students was not the magic solution that everyone had hoped for.

A laptop requires a stable wi-fi connection to ensure smooth sailing, something that not everyone in our country is able to afford. Many students and teachers alike experience issues with their internet and this transfers into the class setting. When one person starts to lag in a Zoom call, the entire class is slowed down; virtually, it is impossible to efficiently teach a subject. Finding a new way to teach our students is currently very urgent if we want to lessen the damage before it is too late, but this will not happen unless the nation funds its schools with the proper resources. 

What can we do to change the system? In this case, we must advocate for adequate funding for our children’s schools. Signing petitions and organizing events is essential in bringing about positive change in our society, and our younger generation depends on it. With collective effort, we may be able to create the environment that our students need to pursue their dreams one day.