 Hello and welcome to teens on topic. My name is Ben Skinner. I'll be your host today today We'll be talking more about the impact of the coronavirus on the American educational system We're joined today by four guests three of whom are high school students and one who is a college student So guys today, why don't we start off by talking about the impact of the coronavirus on the high school system? So like many high schools around the country our graduation ceremony at Davis High School has been canceled Or in at least in the the traditional sense has been canceled and we've been moving over to an online graduation ceremony And all of our traditional events have all become socially distanced So why don't you start us off Zoe? What are your thoughts on how this? On how the graduation has been going so far and the events that we've had. What do you think about this? I actually thought that the drive-by like celebration thing was a really nice touch because I didn't I was really worried that the district wouldn't put any effort into Things other than digital classroom, but the fact that they took the time to set that up Spend the money on it have a running radio show of thoughts and messages from teachers and Staff I just thought that was I thought it was really yeah, I thought it was really really nice and Let's see I think I'm like I know social distancing has been lifted in Davis to like a certain extent So with that, I guess I'm kind of wondering Um, I just I keep I'm sorry I keep hoping that we're staying safe because I know even at that event There are a lot of people who are not socially disting distancing even though the event was kind of lifted and downtown was bustling like it was like early March, so Other than that, I thought it was a really nice event Yeah, it has been nice to see a lot of community involvement It's really been made clear that people in this town really care and really want to help us have the best High school experience that we possibly can what are your thoughts Adam? Yeah, I totally agree with what Zoe said I think the event in itself was really like meaningful to me because I just saw like all my neighbors all my teachers from middle school And even elementary school all my high school teachers coming out to show support for us coming out They all like built like giant like Sets and stuff like all the different groups on campus clubs and and sports groups and it was really just like it almost made me cry just like seeing all the people like out there for us like Davis community and Davis parents really care and I think it was really nice Absolutely. Yeah, Zara. Yeah, I I agree too. So unlike Adam and Zoe I'm from Da Vinci instead of DHS So I saw a little bit of a different perspective But I also drove through the DHS drive-thru and I thought it was really nice because it wasn't just towards, you know A particular school it was to all of David Davis's, you know high school community So I really liked that a lot and I thought it was it just kind of it was really nice to be able to like see Everyone like who I haven't seen in quite a long time, you know And maybe I wouldn't have really saw seen them anyways because we weren't that close But like especially my old elementary teachers and then at my drive-thru I saw all of my old junior high teachers and so it was really sweet seeing people that You know before maybe if we didn't have the pandemic I might have not really thought too much about going to see but then I saw them and I it made a meaningful impact in the And it was really nice seeing how the Davis community kind of came together and realized this was an issue that you know Kind of senior year has been kind of torn apart, you know, we kind of were hoping for a lot of things, but then It disappeared so I thought that was really meaningful and it was really sweet Yeah, one thing that I saw that was really interesting was that like you said Zoe there were a lot of people who were not socially distant and a lot of them were not even wearing masks and looked like they were Really making a pretty minimal effort to try and avoid becoming infected So what do you guys think do you think that's something that is like a do you think we're at a point where that is a behavior that we should Think is is okay as a society or is that something that we should still be discouraging because obviously the coronavirus Threat it is not at all gone. So while people are talking more about reopening and trying to return to lives as normal The reality is that we're not in a situation where that's something that we're able to do in my opinion What are people saw so do people think that's something that is okay or something that we should be discouraged? Who wants to talk on that issue? Adam then what do you think? Yeah, I think that we should definitely continue to be cautious Just as like our community and Davis and I think it's important to like continue wearing masks Just like when you're outside when you're you know, maybe seeing friends from a distance when you're on a walk I think you should always wear a mask especially when you're like picking up food or like going to somewhere where people and strangers might be But it definitely is like it feels like some of the people in our community at least at the point where they're kind of fed up with the whole You know like all these precautions and all the mask wearing and the the distancing So I do see like where they're coming from like it's it is really hard to like stay stay vigilant and stay You know careful, but I think it's important and we need to keep you know staying on top of that Yeah, the reality is that really not very much as it has actually changed since we Move over to distance learning for school. So I think you're absolutely right Adam It is very important to still be cautious Zoe. Oh Yeah, um, I definitely agree with Adam that like I can I can understand people's perspective that after two months They're really tired of this. I still think it should be enforced, but it's interesting that 2020 has really thrown so many things at us that now even the coronavirus the pandemic is not at the top of people's lists on what to focus on so it's it's just really interesting to witness that and I still I still do think that like social distancing and mass should be enforced But I also Understand why people might feel tired, but still like for the greater good for the public safety. I think it should still Yeah, we should still try and keep up with that as much as possible Zara, what do you think? I Agree that it was that I did see some people that were not really following regulations in a way We had like for my school some people participated in a distance picnic But that word distance was not actually really there at all because I saw photos and videos of The picnic afterwards and no one like very few people were actually following Distancing but a lot of other people were huddled in groups close together And I just it felt a little weird because you called it a distance picnic and you didn't follow that and it's you know The threat of coronavirus isn't really gone. So you should still You know pay attention to the rules and I understand like everyone's quite fed up I'm fed up, but I'm still following Guidelines because I want to keep other people safe who are you know, they Can be harmed because of this so it's it's a little Disappointing yet. I can understand. It's just it's very disappointing. Yeah, for sure So thank you guys for sharing your thoughts on the high school situation Now I want to turn our focus towards the situation regarding colleges and we are fortunate enough to be joined today by Emma Who is a current college student? So Emma, what is your perspective on this ban as a current college student? How have you been interpreting what's been going on? It was definitely a big change for me going back Home here in Davis. I am attending a school on the East Coast called Drexel in Philadelphia Which was really exciting. I got to live in a city and I got all these opportunities, which I was super excited about but when Drexel Transition to online learning. I think there was a lot of losses on the students part Drexel had a lot of technology that was available for students and a lot of high-tech labs that Obviously a student is not going to have that same level of technology in their own home So that was definitely disappointing, especially when tuition is the same price so it's always been a little frustrating thinking about the How expensive tuition is compared to the quality of education we're receiving But on the bright side, I think my teachers have honestly been pretty good about transitioning online and being understanding of the fact that it's a difficult time for all of us and that a student might not be at their best levels Yeah, for sure and to our current high school students. What are your guys's expectations going forward as far as At least for us seniors our potential first semester of college Adam I know you're a senior you expect and or hope that college will be in person in the fall Or do you think that it'll be continued online like Emma just described? So in my situation I'm going to a UC and the UCs have come out and said that they will be having on campus school In the fall, but I think it's definitely going to be like a hybrid system because they've talked about having some In-person classes where the class sizes are like below 30 students So some like seminars and like certain classes But honestly, I think most of the like a wide majority of the classes are going to be online But we're still going to be living in the dorms. So it's going to be an interesting situation for sure But we'll have to see. Yeah Zoe Um, so I'll be going to the east coast as well. And so it's a private school. So they said that it's still going to Yeah, it's still gonna happen On the campus. It's actually going to be in New York City So it's it should be interesting to see how the city picks up from like everything that's happening Um, but so far current plans are to yeah, so far current plans are to resume classes There Zara So I'll also be attending a UC and it's they said the same thing. I'll actually be going to the same UC as Adam Yeah, Berkeley But um, it's a little interesting because they did say it will be a hybrid system of in-person and It's a little weird because today I'm supposed to do my freshman orientation stuff And so I'm kind of scared about you know applying for classes because it's a little weird because Now class sizes are smaller. So I don't know, you know If I'm going to be able to get into all the classes I want to especially being a freshman You don't have a huge priority over classes unless you were senior. Those are classes you need to graduate So I'd be kind of competing with others Um, but a lot of things haven't really changed for me because I'm also taking What we're still going to be online classes if it wasn't going to be if there wasn't the pandemic Because I was going to take some summer classes online to fulfill some courses. So things haven't really like I guess It's going to be different. But I don't think it's going to be hard for me to Transition I think I'm expecting what I was expecting in a way Yeah, and then I'm curious from our current college student What is kind of the experience like of having this expectation of what your first year of college is going to Be like and then having that just completely altered by the coronavirus because that's definitely been something that High schoolers have been experiencing, but I'm curious what that's like at a college level It's it's definitely not the First year experience that I was expecting when I went to college But I think that you are going to lose out If I know that you guys were talking about how Your colleges are planning to meet in person but Going online, I think you do lose out on some aspects of the first year of experience just in the sense of having The the first year is when you make a meet a lot of new people since everyone is having this new experience and To be fair, I did kind of cement what Who I was friends with and who I wasn't friends with by the time that I Uh, we transitioned to online classes, but I think that it definitely Missed out on I think a lot of things socially as well as different Opportunities that were offered in the spring as well as I think this Is more unique to Extreme weather areas, but I am obviously not used to cold weather because I'm from California But it was pretty cold in the winter So I was not leaving my dorm very out to accept to go to classes because I could not stand the cold Even though I was told it was a mild winter But that I think I also wasn't doing a lot in my winter quarter So I was like I'm gonna get back into it and it's gonna be super fun in my spring quarter And then they said you're going back home Yeah For sure Does anyone have any final thoughts that they'd like to share related to the coronavirus? I guess that's just the last thing I would would add then is that throughout all of this I think what's been really interesting is that while it has been very rough on a lot of people We've also seen like a high schooler talked about a lot of really positive community outreach And people really trying to show that they care and then on the college level We've seen colleges really doing the best that they possibly can to adapt their curriculum to an online format And it's we're all learning so much in this process And I think it'll be really neat to see what long term changes and what long term ramifications There are from all of this that's that's going on. So thank you all today for sharing your thoughts I'm ben skinner. This has been teams on topic. Thank you for joining us. We hope to see you next time