Crossfire: In-person extracurriculars for virtual students?

Virtual students deserve to participate in extracurricular activities

ANDREW CHRISTOFFERSON REPORTER

After school, in-person and virtual students alike meet up for their extracurricular activities. Despite not returning to school, virtual students are able to play sports, participate in clubs and join student organizations.

Many reasons could play into a student’s decision to choose an extracurricular activity over attending in-person learning. But these factors are ultimately the student’s choice, and students who choose to stay home should still have the opportunity to participate in inperson sports or clubs.

“There are a myriad of reasons why students are choosing to stay home for school that have nothing to do with their participation in sports,” varsity baseball head coach John Dowling said.

Just because someone is comfortable with going outside and playing sports, it does not mean they are comfortable sitting in classrooms for up to seven hours a day. Sports and other activities are presumably safer since the number of participants in a specific activity is less than the number of people roaming the halls.

OUTDOOR SPORTS ARE, WITHOUT QUESTION, MUCH SAFER THAN BEING IN SCHOOL.”

- JOHN DOWLING SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER & BASEBALL COACH

Wrestling, for example, seems unsafe since wrestlers are constantly in contact with others, yet the wrestling team was able to restrict the number of interactions to just two people, with strict contact tracing and pre-practice requirements that ensured the safety of the wrestlers. The regulations for attending in-person school are not as strict, which has caused some concerns.

“[My] biggest [concern is] the uncertainty,” junior Atticus Gore said. “I have yet to get COVID or be exposed, and I have safety concerns [with] returning to school.”

The school building is an enclosed environment with minimal movement, but sports and other extracurriculars often meet outside. With sports, students are constantly moving around and spaced apart, and most fall and spring sports train outside, which is much safer than staying inside.

“Outdoor sports are, without question, much safer than being in school,” Dowling said. “Outdoors, we have virtually unlimited space to utilize for social distancing and are never really in a confined space where the air is not circulating.”

Even with all the safety concerns and uncertainty surrounding in-person school, for most students, safety was not necessarily the most important factor to consider.

Many students decided to return to school because they do not enjoy learning in a virtual setting. Others returned to just get out of the house. And some were coerced by parents to return.

“I returned to school because I focus so much better when what I’m learning is physically in front of me,” junior Kylee Majkowski said.

For those who continued with online learning, most have adapted to the virtual classroom setting and would not like to return to in-person school for the time being.

“I have gotten into a really good routine with my school day,” Gore said. “I know how to get my work done, be productive, learn the content and get good grades.”

Students who are acclimated to the online learning environment deserve to have the same opportunities as in-person students. It’s unfair to consider placing requirements that restrict a student’s ability to participate in anything they want to and are comfortable with doing.

Should REMOTE LEARNERS BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES?

If you can attend sports practice, you can attend school in person

MAYA AMMAN NEWS & COPY EDITOR

After experiencing online learning at the beginning of the school year, a large percentage of students switched from inperson to online learning, using COVID-19 safety as an excuse to just stay in bed all day.

Virtual students shouldn’t be able to participate in in-person activities. If they believe it is too unsafe to return during the school day, then they shouldn’t be involved in in-person activites after school.

“At least half of the students are not coming back because they are concerned about their health. The other half I would say has gotten comfortable with being at home this year, and at this point in the year, they just don’t feel like changing,” Director of Student Services Paul Stansbery said.

With only about 40% of students back in the school building, many people were discouraged from returning to school by class sizes of less than five people. During the first weeks of in-person learning, more and more students were dropping from inperson school each day.

“It’s unfair that kids get to stay home but still enjoy the same luxuries of playing sports and doing other activities. My classes are basically empty, and I miss student interaction and just the experience of normal school, and people shouldn’t be able to just get that loophole,” junior Maggie Olifer said. “I think those who are doing sports should also come to school because it’s essentially the same.”

Previously, there was a rule in place that prevented students from participating in a sports game if they did not attend school that day.

“The spirit of the rule is that if a kid is skipping class or too sick to come to school, he or she should not be participating in sports after school,” Director of Student Activities Greg Miller said.

There’s no reason that rule shouldn’t still apply, since it’s nearly impossible to participate in a sport and have it be more safe than attending school in-person. The social aspect of sports is just as prominent as the athletic part. It is inevitable that teammates

IF YOU AREN’T PLANNING ON GOING IN PERSON, YOU CERTAINLY AREN’T DOING YOURSELF ANY FAVORS BY PARTICIPATING IN ACTIVITIES IN PERSON.”

- KYLEE MAJKOWSKI JUNIOR

will hang out before and after practice. Team rituals still take place and people still ride to and from games together, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported that off-field activities can lead to the transmission of the virus.

“I think for personal safety, if you aren’t planning on going to school in person, you certainly aren’t doing yourself any favors by participating in activities in person,” junior Kylee Majkowski said.

The AAP noted that sports practiced indoors with little to no ventilation, such as hockey, basketball and wrestling, pose the greatest threat in the spread of the virus.

“During basketball season, most people didn’t even wear their masks correctly. It was always hanging under their noses or even their mouths,” junior Macey Johnson said. “It wasn’t even on purpose. Most people just can’t play a sport without their mask falling down.”

Because sports pose an equal—or even greater—risk of spreading COVID-19, students should not be able to choose when they want to consider safety. Students either need to fully commit to protecting their health by participating in online school and activities, or they need to return to school and follow the in-person health precautions. But students shouldn’t decide when to participate in-person solely based on convenience.