Back To School Blues

We are proud to welcome Maddy Smith as a columnist for The Record. Maddy is a student at Orangefield High School. She is a talented young writer whose columns offer unique insights from the perspective of a local high school student. Intended primarily for young people, all of The Record readers are welcome to enjoy our columns by Maddy Smith.

Maddy Smith

Student Columnist

For The Record

The first day of school, whether you have been going to the same school all your life or you’re starting at a new school, will always be nerve wracking. However, given the health risks can make it much more concerning and stressful than it usually is. There is more pressure on getting mentally and emotionally prepared now, parents and their kids have to make a commitment to either online school or regular school, and some kids don’t even have a choice.

Children and teens take a long time to mentally prepare for school especially if you’re going into high school. Not to mention if you’re starting at a new school like I am. Now we have to worry about being extremely careful with our own health and the health of our family.

Some things that goes into mental preparation for school include mapping out where all your classes are and the easiest way to get there, who to sit with at lunch, what you’re going to eat for lunch, what you’re going to wear, how you’re going to get to school, and constantly going through what if scenarios in your head and expecting the worst of the worst. Quarantine has also caused lots of stress and effected the “what if” situations in our head. Many of us have not seen or spoken to our friends as much as we should have during quarantine. This causes us to begin to worry if we are still friends or if we will have friends at all when we go back to school. What if they have changed and don’t want to be our friend anymore. Not to mention the protests that has been going on.

We’ve spoken out and used our voice on what we believe in and stood our ground. This can affect many friendships if your friends have completely different views. For someone who is starting school somewhere new, all your worries are multiplied. Often you know nobody there and are completely on your own. You know nothing about the campus and don’t know if you should jump into things before you get a feel of the campus and the people.

There are also many kids that do not have a choice on if they want to do online or regular school. Wi-Fi and technology are not accessible to some kids. Although many schools provided Wi-Fi for their students at the beginning of quarantine, they are not doing that for those that choose to do online school. Their parents may also work all day and don’t have someone at the house to watch them and keep them safe. So the parents have no choice but to send their kids to school no matter how worried they are about their kid’s health and their own.

Not all families are as fortunate as others including myself. I am very grateful I was able to choose and even have the opportunity to go to school. Whether a child had a choice or not the parents also have to mentally prepare for their children to go to school. A parent worries about their children all the time. It’s part of their job to worry about their child. You going back to school is not only stressful for you but for your parents as well. They will stress your health, their own health and the health of their family.

Don’t worry about what other people think about you when you go into a new situation including school. At the end of the day you will never see the majority of them ever again. No one is going to care what people thought about you or what you thought about other people in 20 years after you’ve grown up and moved on. Be as safe as you can especially out in public and around other people.