By Jada Champ, Senior at H.D. Woodson High School
Learning Loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic is a crucial subject to talk about because when the pandemic hit, students were not able to attend school in person, and classrooms moved to virtual formats. Virtual learning helped us stay safe against COVID, but it did not help us academically. Recent studies show students’ reading and math scores have gone down.
Part of the reason may be the lack of access to the Internet for these virtual platforms. According to Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org): “Across America, 16 million students lack adequate internet or devices to sustain effective distance learning at home.” Also, according to Save the Children, parents may not make enough money to afford a home computer for use for school: “38% of families making less than $25,000 a year don’t always have a computer available for educational purposes.”
In the United States, mostly Black students are being affected by this pandemic less than students who attend mostly white schools. Studies show that Black students in the U.S missed out on 12-16 months of learning due to the pandemic. According to Innovateschools.org: “Researchers estimate that by the end of this school year, students of color may lose 12-16 months of learning. In comparison, White students may only lose five to nine months of learning.”
These issues of Internet access, learning loss and racial disparities deserve to be discussed in America right now.
