Talekar, Shruti. “Zoom University.” The Pitt News, 29 Mar. 2020, pittnews.com/article/156675/opinions/opinion-keeping-up-with-the-columnists-vignettes-from-zoom-university/.
In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of students
have been displaced. With being forced home due to campus closures, online
learning is an experience that no one expected. With some students, however,
the divide between class inequalities has grown immensely. Students who are a part of the middle and
lower class do not always have access to technologies such as personal laptops,
textbooks, or even Wi-Fi compared to higher class families. Wi-Fi isn’t only an
economic burden, because of where some people in the country or more rural
places, access to Wi-Fi is limited. Some students have to take on more responsibilities
at home, especially if their parents are essential workers. Some lost jobs at
universities, so along with doing school work from home, they are working in
order to put food on the table. With parents claiming 18+ college students as
dependents, students nor their families see any money for those individuals.
LGBTQ+ students who have not come out to their families have
moved back home and have added stress not being able to live their truths or
interact with possibly homophobic relatives, especially in more traditional
homes (white, black, Latino, etc.). Moving home in the middle of a semester is
not helping with students’ mental health, grades, economic struggles, safety, and
overall well-being.
Class inequality has resulted in some students without proper
technologies or resources to not log on or complete assignments. Some teachers
have even reported that only
half of their students are engaging. The uneven distribution of
technologies and resources could be detrimental to middle and lower class students'
success. Some schools and universities are enacting pass/fail systems or even
universal passage which can greatly help students who fear of failing out of
school. Given these current and unavoidable hardships, students will do their
best to stay resilient and prevail through this pandemic.
Course Concept Citation: Jennifer M. Silva. 2014. "Working Class and Growing Pains." Contexts, 13(2), 26-31.
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