In Person vs. Virtual: Which Is Better?

Story and photo by Marcellus Peters-Jackson.

Everyone who’s been going to school recently knows that we have to follow Covid protocols in order to actually stay in school and not get the COVID-19 virus. For instance, before schools were getting deep cleaned, we had to stay online for school.

But does working virtually actually do anything to students' grades in general? Let’s find out.

In virtual schooling, students tend to be more prepared for school because all of their materials are at home. But the effects of sitting in the same place at your house all day seem to be mostly negative. Typically, grades dropped during virtual classes. I theorize that these grades dropped due to the inability to pay attention and the anger students felt of having to stay at home. For example, people disliked the little amount of movement allotted, the sitting in a chair all day, and the physical inability of socializing with friends during classes due to not being able to move around in a classroom during virtual classes.

A majority of students believe that virtual classes weren’t exactly fit for them, and that in-person school holds you accountable more often. What I mean by this is that teachers are there to push students past their limits instead of accepting the bare minimum. They push students to excel and be scholars. 

As Covid continued, more and more students were failing.

Studies show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, grades for students dropped severely. Hatch High School in Hatch, Mexico reported 79% of students received a failing grade during the pandemic. In contrast, Harvard’s average GPA was 4.15 in 2019. In 2020, it increased to 4.18. I believe this could mean either they raised their GPA due to failing grades in 2020, or they just raised to increase their standard. All in all, everything shows that in virtual school, most students lose. And that in-person, face-to-face school works with more students, allowing them to learn AND master classes.

Now, what do you think? Virtual school or physical school?

Marcellus Peters-Jackson is a 7th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.