Staying Home: A Questionnaire

On Friday, March 13, Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania declared that all schools in the state were to close for two weeks in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. When I heard this, I had very mixed feelings. On the one hand, school caused me daily stress and it might be nice to have some time off. On the other hand, I love school and all the incredible things that come with it, like engaging with my peers and teachers, learning and debating topics in class, and eating lunch with my friends. Mostly I was sad that we would not be going back after the weekend. But I was confident that we would be back soon.

Now, schools are closed through the end of the academic year. When we learned that, it was as if the entirety of Pennsylvania let out a sorrowful sigh. 

Before I go to bed at night, I look out my window and wish on every star I see that we will go back to school soon. 

There is a notion that if you have to bear something, it will be much easier to bear if you bear it with others. But how does that work when you can’t leave your house? How do you know if there are people who are feeling the same as you if you haven’t seen another person outside of your family in weeks? I knew there were other people in my school district who were dealing with the same thing I was dealing with. So I decided to make a questionnaire and send it to various members of my community, including teachers, students, principals, and the superintendent. 

It turns out we are much less alone than it may seem. 

Here is a sampling of the questions and answers.

What do you miss most about being in school?

• Having somewhere to be other than home, and being able to be with people that I wouldn’t talk to normally outside of school. 

• THE KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• I miss seeing the kids. I miss being part of a “secret” handshake. I also miss the random falling off of chairs. That’s actually funny!

• Hearing my child talk about his teacher, friends, and curriculum.

• All of the eighth-grade memories I am missing out on.

• Everything. My friends, my classes (even the ones I don’t like), my teachers, my extracurriculars, sprinting to catch the 5th-block bus, falling asleep in the hallway in the morning, literally everything.

What don’t you miss about being in school?

• All the drama

• The meetings, the constant initiatives, the standardized testing.

• I don’t miss hearing the inappropriate school language in the halls. I don’t miss the early wake-up time. Who’s with me here?

• Carrying all the books around.

• All the tests and quizzes and big projects.

• The food.

What is the most difficult part of being at home?

• Not having anywhere else to go

• The frustration of not being there to help each of my students. I know some are struggling with things that are out of their control. I want to reassure them, and that is tough to do through a screen. Also the energy I get on a daily basis from my students. Can’t replace that with Zoom. 

• Questions having to wait a while.

• Not being able to hug my friends. 

What is the best part of being at home?

• The best part is having my family all together, since my daughter is back from college. According to my family, I have been killing it in the kitchen when prepping for dinners.

• My kids are closer and kinder to each other.

• You can eat and go to the bathroom whenever you want.

• All the sleep.

• I like doing work on my own time frame, because I can usually get it all done by Wednesday and then have the rest of the week off.

How do you spend your free time?

• Reading, music, Netflix, PlayStation 4, eating and drinking and trying to be merry!

• Doing crafts and watching TV and going out in my yard.

• I spend my free time eating, texting, and talking with my brothers and sister.

• Singing and watching TV.

• Doing nothing.

What scares you the most about what is going on, if anything? 

• Nothing scares me, other than someone I know or love becoming sick. A little bit scared that the current administration will try to strip more of our constitutional rights as U.S. citizens.

• I’m terrified of my mom getting sick and not being able to come home, of her having to stay in the hospital. To take care of patients but not be able to take care of me.

• How much this is affecting the whole world.

• I’m terrified that there are people that just don’t care. The people that still went on spring break, the people that are still hanging out with friends up close. I guess it scares me that people could be so selfish.

• My grandparents getting sick.

What, if anything, have you been doing to help your community? 

• I have been delivering groceries from our local store for people that can’t get out. It is very satisfying, and I intend to keep doing it as long as they need the help.

• Doing my work for the library.

• I’ve been staying inside, and me and my mom have been making masks from fabric.

• Staying home. That’s the best and biggest thing we can do right now. 

What has been a silver lining to this whole experience? 

• I am able to spend more time with my sister because she’s home from college.

• The bringing to light of all the inequality in our country in regard to education and healthcare. If we come out of this pandemic and don’t make some institutional changes in the way we educate our youth and the way we take care of our sick, I’ll be devastated.

• People being more compassionate and empathetic.

• My room was a huge mess and now it’s the neatest it’s ever been! I’ve also really learned how much I take for granted, and started being more grateful for the little things in life.

What are you going to do as soon as quarantine ends?

• Go to the beach. Eat a special dinner out. Have my child’s postponed birthday.

• Hang out with my friends for hours and stay out of my house.

• Go horseback riding.

What do you think the school district could be doing better in terms of effective distance learning?

• More distribution of physical materials. Less gosh-darn screen time!

• More help for some students who are struggling.

• Explaining things better. 

• I think they’re trying their best. Maybe just encouraging teachers to give their students a schedule for the week? I don’t know. The teachers are new to this too. We all just need to be patient. We’re gonna get through this together.

Any inspiration or wisdom to share? 

• Find something to do daily that you love, and use it to calm yourself if you ever get anxious. 

• “It’s the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom.” – Michael Morpurgo

• Get fresh air.

• Stay strong! Keep in touch with your friends but for god’s sake PLEASE STAY HOME!!!! And if any high-school seniors read this — we love you. You deserve so much more than a half senior year.