GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — (Grand Haven Tribune) The debate of whether or not to send students back to in-person learning this fall has raged on among parents, teachers and administrators. But what about the students themselves?
A group of five Grand Haven High School students — Gavin Hubner, Lexi Naperela, Chase Layman, Lexi Tater and Lauren Smelker — decided to make their voices heard in the form of a persuasive essay.
The students teamed up over the past few weeks to write the nine-page paper, sharing their wish to return to in-person learning.
“I was sitting on my couch one night with my dad and we were watching the news,” Hubner said. “They were talking about school, and I realized that everybody except students had voiced their concerns. Everything was really left up to the administration and the state.
"The next night, I called up a friend and said, ‘How do you feel about school? Do you want to go back?’" he continued. "I told her how I felt, and we came up with the idea to write something to tell how most people seem to feel.”
The students conducted informal surveys of their classmates, and were surprised to find that around 4 out of 5 agreed with their stance — they wanted to return to school.
“When we finished the document, I made an Instagram story and said, ‘We put this together, if you want to read it, whether or not you agree, this is the information and these are some statistics to look at,’” Hubner said. "I got some opposition. Some people say they think coronavirus cases will increase and that it’s simply not safe. I’ve talked to a lot of people who don’t agree with us. But we did get a lot more support than I thought. I thought it would be 50-50, but it really turned out to be closer to 80-20.”
Their paper will not sway the Grand Haven school board, which has already voted to approve the administration’s plan to offer both in-person and virtual learning.
“At this point, our intention was more to cool the nerves of the community,” Hubner said. “There’s been a lot of fear. We want to get it out there that we’re kids. We understand the risks. But the evidence and the data tells us it’s not as terrible as everyone things it will be.”
In their essay, the students begin by pointing out the benefits of in-classroom learning over virtual learning. They also touch on the advantages that sending kids back to school have on parents, who might otherwise have to make plans to supervise their children during the school day.
“If schools remain closed, then struggling families could be at significant social and economical risk,” they wrote.
The students argue that face masks and cohorting are key strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Their conclusion: “Our position is very clear throughout this paper. However, you decide what’s best for yourself or your child. We are confident in our position because it is backed up by numerous studies, statistics and reasoning, but it is your decision to stay remote or return to school.”
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