By Sarah Yoo
Whether we like it or not, school closely encroaches on the personal homes lives of students, teachers and parents alike. Many benefits stem from the interrelated fields of school and home, but the heavy reliance on digital resources disproportionately disrupts the home environments. There must be a clearer distinction between both school and home.
Every day, homework and grades are put up online. As students, it is our duty to keep up with all the work. Canvas is a hub for just about anything school-related: homework, grades, announcements and deadlines. Outside of Canvas, apps like Remind and Gmail keep the class connected and present online.
Although they are reliable tools, the over-dependence on these digital apps prevents students from the time and space away from school they need. For example, push notifications and emails are a factor that keep students engaged with thoughts about school almost every waking moment of their lives. In a 2019 study conducted by CNBC, they found that people average a total of five hours and 52 minutes per day scanning through emails. This study is only part of a larger conclusion that notifications are a major distraction, especially for students who are expected to check their school newsletters, Canvas notifications, club information and extracurricular news daily.
Some of the notifications come from a lack of interest from both the instructors and the audience to communicate information to each other beforehand, but this mindset should change. Classroom announcements should prioritize taking place during school first, rather than pushing the responsibility to digital means for convenience. Students should know their agenda before they arrive home.
With daily interruptions from school online, it is nearly impossible to spend personal time uninterrupted. Students have all likely had the common experience of hanging out with their friends or family, then having that time interrupted by a grade update. Parents and students also have access to scores within the email notification Canvas sends out, meaning that students generally cannot ignore what pops up. Instances like these indicate how much school controls our time away from school.
This promotes an unhealthy school-life balance, as students cannot take a true break from school. According to the John Hopkins Student Assistance Program, this “can lead to a decline in academic performance, as general health and well-being are critical to optimal academic functioning” and “can cause strife in personal relationships, minimizing your sense of support.”
An example of the invasive online traffic school can generate is the midnight deadline. Having a system like the midnight deadline deeply affects students’ schedules, controlling home and personal time. The argument for the midnight deadline is to help students sleep at a more reasonable time, but I believe in the opposite.
If every assignment students receive is due at midnight with the exception of a few, students will stay up late every day to finish it all just to make the deadline. This is generally considered unhealthy. A lot of time is already allotted for school outside of the home environment, as countless students are involved in extracurriculars at school, often staying long hours before and after school. Having a system like the midnight deadline in place prevents students from disconnecting from school at home.
Weekends are also times when school mandates time off for students. However, having homework due Saturday and Sunday violates this rule. While some of these harsh deadlines are necessary, work should generally be due in class on Monday. The weekend time away from school students receive is crucial for their mental health and social downtime.
Students are not the only ones afflicted. Teachers need a distinct off-mode too. Some stay at school long after the closing bell rings and some regularly check their emails at home. Many have families and would rather not be concerning themselves with school-related issues at midnight.
Because school is now dependent on online resources, it would be impossible to sever connections with it. After all, technology has made school a lot more efficient and convenient in numerous ways. However, I feel the general growing reliance on technology, exacerbated due to the pandemic, creates a blurred line between school and home. Hopefully one day, Canvas could have a downtime function to help resolve this issue.
