[Correspondent Column] Returning to School After 18 Months... American Students Are Not Afraid

U.S. President Joe Biden is talking with a student during his visit to a middle school in Washington DC on the 10th.
[Photo by AP News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Schools in New York City, the largest school district in the United States, have resumed normal classes. It has been about 18 months since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The situation where all students attend school in person was an unfamiliar experience for students, parents, teachers, and education authorities alike. The school opening, where all you had to do was prepare class materials, is now a thing of the past.

The school opening in New Jersey, which started a week earlier than New York City, was not much different. Parents put masks on their children and packed extra masks in their bags for school attendance. On the first day of school, the roads in front of schools were paralyzed by long lines of vehicles picking up and dropping off children.

Compared to the hardships students have endured over the past year and a half, this is a simple incident. The real challenge starts now.

In New York City and New Jersey, 100% online classes were held after the COVID-19 outbreak last year, and hybrid classes combining online and in-person attendance were conducted in the fall semester, but these were far from normal classes.

This school opening is also considered a risky attempt. Many students have not been vaccinated. With the spread of the Delta variant causing many companies to delay employees’ return to work, there are ongoing concerns that the return of students to large group settings could trigger another disaster.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to reject students’ return to school. The situation students face now is hard to ignore. Not only has there been a decline in academic achievement due to prolonged online classes, but social skills deficiencies have also become prominent. Maintaining normal relationships with teachers and friends has become a bigger challenge than basic academics for students.

Schools in New York and New Jersey supported students’ adaptation through supplementary classes during summer vacation or orientations before the school year started, but it is hard to say these efforts were 100% effective.

The situation is better for students who can attend school. However, a school in Cresskill, New Jersey, which suffered flood damage due to record-breaking heavy rain before the school year started, gave up on student attendance. It is unknown when classes will resume there.

Still, there is hope for American students. The current U.S. labor market favors workers. Job openings abound, and even high school graduates can find employment. Recently, the number of young people working as clerks at retail companies like Walmart and Target has increased significantly. E-commerce company Amazon has decided to provide full college tuition to about 750,000 part-time employees.

With higher hourly wages and full support for tuition and even textbook costs for those continuing their studies while working, young people have returned to workplaces they previously avoided.

Lee Young-ho, CEO of Prestige Academy and a U.S. college admissions expert, explained, "Even students who are not top performers now have opportunities to carve out their futures."

U.S. News & World Report respected the decision of the University of California (UC) system, which decided not to consider SAT scores in admissions, and changed its school ranking methodology accordingly. This reflects a growing social awareness that the criteria for evaluating students and schools must also change.

Comparing the situations of students in the U.S. and Korea is dizzying. Korea is still trapped in the hell of college entrance exams, and breaking through the ‘needle’s eye’ of employment is even harder. Even after getting a job, soaring housing prices discourage the younger generation.

What changes can we say we have left for young people after COVID-19?