The question that everyone is thinking but too scared to ask: will schools go virtual again with the increasing COVID-19 cases?  Knowing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) administration even if we asked, they wouldn’t tell us.

The best interest of everyone’s physical health would be going virtual again, in the best interest of everyone’s mental health would be in person. Either decision made by CMS will be controversial and fought among both students and teachers. 

Having students and staff go remote again will be a disadvantage to CMS, grades will go down and depression rates will rise. If the majority of students and teachers become vaccinated and everyone wears their masks properly and social distancing is practiced, keeping students in school is practical.

CMS can make students go virtual to try and stop the spread but that won’t stop them from going out. Kids will still go to places such as malls, movies or restaurants that will be crowded and have the same possibility of anyone catching the virus as anyone could at school.

In the 2020-2021 school year it was vital to go remote to grasp the severity of the situation we were facing when it came to the virus, especially with no vaccines.        Now that society has come to a better understanding and created vaccines to help with COVID-19, it wouldn’t make sense to be virtual again. School helps with both students’ and teachers’ mental health and it allows them to gain connections with others that would be unreachable if school was virtual again. Letting students have in-person school allows them to still hold on to their childhood that COVID-19 has taken part of away. 

According to the American Psychological Association at the beginning of the pandemic, March-October 2020, mental health related emergency department visits increased 31 percent for kids ages 12-17. For almost the past two years kids have been struggling with grades, social lives  and maintaining a stable mental state. 

Being in school again has resolved some of these problems partially for many students. Taking away one of the last sane things in teachers and students lives would be morally incorrect of those in CMS and across the country.   

Mandating masks nationwide at schools and not allowing some states to opt out of it will help ensure the possibility of us staying in school. Everyone putting in an effort to get the vaccine will greatly benefit our society and help everyone’s health. 

COVID-19 is real, the vaccine helps masks only work if they are above your mouth and nose and social distancing from others can save lives. America started off weak in the beginning of the pandemic trying to fight COVID-19, got stronger and now weak again, one of the “supposed” best countries in the world needs to take more responsibility. 

Many citizens are fatigued from trying to eliminate the virus as a whole, but it’s important to remember that taking the correct precautions will help eradicate the dangers of COVID-19.