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Schools all over the world are learning to adjust to the virtual world, and so far, virtual learning has had a significant negative impact on the mental health of students and teachers alike.
Students are struggling with managing online assignments and staying engaged in school. The virtual world makes it hard for students to connect with teachers and peers, which is an essential part to learning and comprehending information. Students feel more alone and isolated doing school at home, which results in lack of motivation and exhaustion. Phones are an unavoidable distraction. When doing asynchronous schoolwork, it's hard not to grab my cell-phone placed next to my computer and delve into the black hole of social media - where twenty minutes can quickly turn into two hours - and then important information is missed during class. After spending an entire day staring at a computer screen, it is understandable that it's hard for students to complete their additional homework, and being cooped up inside - often imobile for hours - certainly doesn't help. Students aren't receiving a deeper understanding of what they're studying, and across the globe effects of online school will be shown throughout declining grade point averages and test scores.
Now, that is not to say it isn't necessary. This is where the well-being of students challenges the well-being of the world as a whole. Personally, I believe all schools should be virtual as of right now. Possible exceptions being teachers and students in early education - virtual learning is significantly more rough on parents of young children, and even more so on full-time working parents with young children. We are in a world-wide pandemic. Schools opening back up would certainly be beneficial for students and teachers, but would those benefits outweigh the consequences that would come with it? Elementary, middle, and high schools are all germ infestation sites. Even with a smaller school population, illnesses travel fast within schools, and it is impossible not to realize that virtual school would avoid that issue completely. If all schools everywhere were completely virtual for at least three months, we would see remarkable improvements in the amount of cases linked to school transmission. Universities most importantly.