The twenty-first century is something different from past generations. Nowadays technology has made it easy to adapt and allowed for a more evolved teaching environment. Although technology is already put into use in most classrooms, a new debate has come forth involving schools allowing students to "attend" classes through online or video conferencing. Giving students the opportunity to participate in a class virtually is not beneficial because it will increase cheating, lower motivation and work ethic, and prevent students from forming social skills.

The generations in school right now are being taught in a way that has never done before. Every student with access to technology has an abundant amount of information at the edge of their fingertips. This has made students get lazy, and not worry about completing their work because all they have to do is simply type the title of their assigned work and answer sheets will show up. Cheating has been, and will continue to be a big problem in schools all over the country. New soft wares are being developed everyday with the sole purpose of helping students cheat. If a student is taking a class online in the comfort of their own home, they will access those soft wares and have a significantly lower chance of being caught since there is no teacher around. The fact that the class is based online means that students can easily find answers to a quiz or test given to them just by opening a new tab on their browser. There are different techniques used to prevent students from being able to access other browsers while on the virtual classroom but those students are still allowed access to their cellphone. In this generation kids, and teenagers especially are always connected. All of your friends and family are just a button away. If all schools included online school as an option for students, they would be able to use different types of technology not including their computers. If certain measures are taken so different browsers are not accessible during virtual classes, technology like apple watches, tablets, cellphones make it not only make it possible to use the internet, but also give students opportunities to socialize with their friends and share answers in that sense. Virtual classes will raise the amount of cheating done and affect the students negatively.

One problem in schools is that after the first semester, or even first quarter, students start experiencing academic burn-outs. Many students dread waking up each morning, but they find the motivation to wake up and attend school because it is on an implemented schedule. Being in a classroom environment helps students strive to be more like the others around them. Students at SCHOOL_NAME were given the option to enroll in semester based online class and more than half the students fell behind. The students progressively got more lazy and stopped finding the time to complete their online classwork. The lack of structure in online classes will negatively affect students since they are no longer forced to show up to class on time to complete their work. A new upcoming study shows that doing schoolwork where relaxation takes place, causes work ethic to decrease. Many students will do the virtual class from the comfort of their bed or couch. Simply being in that environment versus being at a desk and chair, will inevitably cause students to doze off and fall asleep. Distance learning will affect motivation and work ethic in students tremendously.

Humans are wired to be social, it is what they were born to do. Schools have created an environment where students can socialize and make bonds with the people in their communities. Social skills learned in school are vital to be successful in the future. If students were allowed to do their classes online, it takes away their ability to form those skills. The online classes would isolate the students and negatively impact the way they function in later stages of their life. Kids who are more social have less mental health issues. Being able to go to school and be surrounded with friends and people they know allows students to be happier overall. Staying home and doing your class from there would take that away from kids and the lack of socializing will cause an increase in loneliness. The aspect of personally going into school has shaped the way people will perform in the real world.

Although some may argue that online school is a better way of learning for them, it is clear that online school will not only cause short term problems, but also long term. If more students were enrolled in online classes performance rates will go down, cheating will be a bigger problem, and students mental health will be negatively impacted. It is time to stop allowing today's generation to rely on technology, and implement things that will prepare them for the real world.