For peak students, this will probably give you déjà vu: you’re sitting elegantly and it’s March 2020. Su instructor just announced that the next few days are suspended. Your seating neighbor then turns to you and tells you that your school friend has also seen his elegance suspended.
For a brief moment, he feels relieved and eager to walk away from the pressing deadlines, but, unfortunately, the joy doesn’t last long. He passes home and discovers that the World Health Organization has officially announced a global pandemic. and the relief of the beginning slowly turns into anxiety. Now he knows what’s going on, but he can’t say precisely where it will happen.
We move on to a full year and it’s 2021: we’re facing adjustments (and losses) left and right, we don’t know when this pandemic will end, but it has to be. And when that’s the case, young people’s lives will be replaced once they return, back to the “new normal” of on-site interactions and a long-term filled with uncertainties.
However, one thing is for sure, those spaces will be radically replaced as soon as academics return to the physical environment:
Students have the commonplaces once the exit bell rings. Whether on campus, shopping supermarkets or restaurants, they will welcome back young visitors.
More and more people will gather and amenities now have fitness and physical distancing protocols in place, those rules can be taken to the limit. The maintenance of the limited seats, the normal disinfection and the final touch of the mandatory bureaucracy of the physical conditioning have been carried out. to the pandemic.
However, once the threat of the pandemic is over, these routines can cause frustration among those who think they are no longer being implemented. How, then, can we ensure the protection of young people?It is confusing if each and every one of the establishments that a student can pass through were already full, due to the limited capacity, but at the same time, they do not threaten to move into spaces that do not ensure their protection.
The announcement of course suspensions in March 2020 marked the beginning of a replacement in the Philippine school system. Its “temporary” solution to continue school years to suit the online framework.
Online learning is a challenge. Most, if not all, of us are experiencing the many negative effects this has had. Any student, even any teacher, would possibly think that online courses would look more like business transactions than the actual school.
The courses are faithful to the review of discussion comments, identity charts and profile managers of professors and other academics with whom we will not be able to identify links. All of our interactions focus on required exchanges. The social aspect has disappeared.
It will be a sigh of relief when, and not “if”, we return to learning on site. If in-person categories continue, our education will not be affected by the speed of our Wi-Fi, the devices we own. or the disruptions we cause to other members of our circle of family members who are experiencing their own difficulties. Some stressors like traffic, disease contraction, weather (and what disgusting, live recitation!), of course, will be provided again.
However, the joy of being on campus, spending time with your friends, and having resources available will be unprecedented.
The other young people are known to talk about why they are fighting. Many campaigns and organizations for social issues (whether for the environment, LGBTQIA, women’s rights or workers’ rights) are directed through other young people.
With the transition to the online framework, campaigns are now maximizing the use of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Discord to raise awareness about their causes. Many young leaders and academics are still taking to the streets despite the threat of exposure. for the public.
However, it should be noted that they do not violate health protocols as they take mandatory precautions and respect social distancing, mandatory platforms and the presence of the pandemic itself is a strong explanation for raising your voice.
The pandemic has not only affected the way we interact with each other, but it has also had lasting effects on the livelihoods of Filipinos. Therefore, the call for guilty leadership has not changed; Many platforms that academics create and participate echo this statement, which is the most urgent factor of our generation and, while there are many actions, online or offline, that we can take to ensure a secure future, registering to vote is urgent and impactful.
The adjustments will return once the pandemic is over. The fear will be evident, but the preference for opportunities when they arise will no longer be evident. We young people have not lost sight of what we need.
-CONTRIBUTED
He is a student at the Ateneo de Manila University.
current. dynamics. insider.