It’s understandable that everyone is tired of the pandemic, but is rushing students back into school for a full week the right thing to do? On May 3 all of the hybrid students will be returning to Emerson. While everyone is eager to get back to normal, opening schools full-time isn’t a good idea for many reasons. Rushing students back into school full time could make Covid cases go up and it will create anxiety for students who might not have the mental capacity for full-time school.

Nationwide, Covid cases aren’t going down. Having students return full time will most likely increase the number of cases. In Emerson, some students went in full-time, and a few days after they did the school went virtual to see if there was an outbreak. This occured when only a few students returned. Just imagine if everyone returns all at once. The school could be shut down after the first day. The total number of new cases in Bergen County for the week of April 23 to April 29 was 1,284. On April 24 there were 280 new cases discovered. Bergen County alone had a total of 96,748 cases and 2,769 deaths since the beginning of Covid. Right now in Bergen County there are about 3,343 people battling Covid.

In addition to cases rising, having students back to school for a full week could seriously affect their mental health. The amount of stress and pressure put on students attending schools is enormous.

“Stress often results if a person feels that there are high pressures or demands, that there is a threat to their well-being” said in a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health(CAMH) article. Schools and parents put pressure on their students and children by forcing them to do well in school or they are just out of luck. In doing so, the student will have mental issues and problems.

“But chronic stress can lead to mental health problems and medical issues” said in a CAMH article. Students have chronic stress and are pressured to do well in school or they won’t be anything in life. Having that much stress put on children will seriously affect their mental health and lead to mental health issues.

Some students may struggle getting back into the pace of school from being virtual for a whole year. Even the hybrid students may struggle because they are only used to getting up early a few days of the week but now they have to be up and ready for the whole school week. This can also cause a lot of anxiety in students because they don’t really know what to expect when people come into school full-time. It’s the not knowing that causes the students anxiety and causes them to worry.

“Small doses of stress help people meet deadlines, be prepared for presentations, be productive and arrive on time for important events. However, long-term stress can become harmful. ” said in a CAMH article. Going back to school with the classes we have today may also disengage the students from their learning. Constantly having a lot of pressure with deadlines, tests, school and social life can all add up. Meaning that a student’s stress levels can rise very quickly due to school. Students may also think that their classes are boring may lead to them dozing off or not paying attention in class because they have no interest in it. It could also cause students severe stress if they are rushed back into school.

Now some people will argue and say that most of the teachers have been vaccinated so they can go to school. Also, kids need some normalcy back into their life and 16 year old’s are now permitted to take the vaccine. However, this doesn’t take into account that the ninth graders and under wouldn’t be vaccinated. That is a lot of unvaccinated children. Moreover, even if someone is vaccinated, they can still carry Covid. Therefore, the teachers and students who are vaccinated still put people at risk because they can still carry Covid and spread the virus to unvaccinated kids.

Schools should not be opening their doors all at once. Most students won’t be vaccinated and with the numerous variants, the pandemic doesn’t show signs of stopping. Going into school full-time with no ease can also cause severe mental health issues. School shouldn’t be open full time for everyone, think and don’t put your kids at risk.