Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Generation Z will go down as the dumbest generation

I am a Gen Z that is currently in college, and I graduated high school without taking a single online class from kindergarten to 12th grade. Currently, with COVID-19, schools are closing, and classes are now being offered and taken online. Some students love online courses, and a lot of students hate online classes. Online learning is not the same as in-class learning because online you are teaching yourself, you are making your schedule, and you have to be self-motivated to do your work the right and proper way. When classes are in person, your teacher or professor is there to walk you through any questions you may have, motivate you, and help manage your time.

At the end of the last academic school year, I talked to many parents and students. Parents with children in elementary school taking online classes said that their kid spent a few hours a day or a week at school. Public schools in North Carolina spend 6.75 hours a day on average in class (via nces.ed.gov), but if elementary students spend half of the time, such as 2-3 hours a day with school, they are getting half of an education.

I am a college student, my lowest grade before classes went online was an 85% — remember that number. A month into online learning, I’m spending 10-12 hours a day on schoolwork every day Monday through Sunday. Before online schooling, I would spend around 5-6 hours a day on schoolwork and class Monday through Friday, giving myself the weekend to relax. As I might be spending more time on schoolwork, most would think online schooling is better. Wrong. I have the first series of tests after a month of online schooling. I failed every single test that week, the highest grade being a 58%, this was the first time I’ve ever failed a test in college as a junior, but I failed three tests in that one week. I also couldn’t tell you a single thing that I learned this last semester after we went online.

Online schooling is not the answer for Gen Z, and we will be the dumbest generation because we all will be lacking knowledge. Kindergartners will go into middle school without knowing how to do basic math such as subtraction, adding, division and multiplication. Middle school students will go into high school without knowing how to do algebra, simple grammar, and basic readings or spellings. High school students will go into college, not knowing the history of the world and America, basic calculus, basic science, and life skills. College students are going to graduate school, not knowing how to do work in their field. How is an education major supposed to teach to a class if they were never given the opportunity for student teaching, how is a nurse supposed to take care of their patients when they weren’t able to do clinical, how is an accountant supposed to make a balance sheet if they aren’t taught properly. If our generation is not taught correctly, how will we teach upcoming generations like our kids and grandkids?

— John Moncrieff
Clemmons

New district

Over the past few years, the N.C. General Assembly has hurt our health care system, damaged the air we breathe and water we drink, ignored the warning signs of climate change, and drastically cut education support to the bone. If they cared for their citizens, they would have been controlling healthcare costs, fighting for affordable health care for additional citizens and expanding support for education. More than 200,000 low-income people could have received health care coverage and millions of job-creating dollars could have flowed into N.C. if the General Assembly had taken action. This is even more dire now with the COVID-19 pandemic since so many people lost jobs and healthcare and more funding is needed for good quality safe education.

Fortunately, the chance to vote new leadership into office in November was made possible when the N.C. Supreme Court ordered that state legislative districts be modified to undo the unfair partisan gerrymandering. Much of Clemmons south of I-40 is now included in the new state Senate District 31 which appears to be reasonably balanced among Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters. This new district now covers eastern and southern Forsyth County and all of Davie County. Readers should become familiar with the new House and Senate map as we near early voting which is just 13 weeks away. They can find their new district assignments at https://www.ncleg.gov/Redistricting.

Terri LeGrand is running as a Democrat to provide new leadership in District 31. Terri is committed to expanding health care and jobs programs, supporting schools and teachers, and bringing civility back to the legislature. Voters should follow Terri and the strong cadre of others running to make North Carolina a better place to live and work. A vote for Terri is a vote for a better tomorrow!

— Linda Arrigo
Clemmons