Would students learn more at home rather than at school? This is a highly debated question in the educational world as many schools are considering adopting "distance learning" for their students. Some students who are sick or injured may benefit from a home environment. However, the majority would struggle due to distractions, distance between student and teacher, and the lack of an authoritative figure to keep them on task.

Many students are easily distracted in school, so in a room full of things much more interesting than classwork, there is an even greater chance for distraction. Along with this, for those students who's parents work outside of the home, there is no one to help keep them on task. That is a lot to ask for a young adolescent with distractions such as video games, pets, etc. Throughout the development of my education, I have discovered staying focused and on track to be one of the most difficult things to do, especially while in one's own room. Therefore, the addition of distance learning would create an epidemic of kids who are unfocused, adding to the already skyrocketing amount. In the past 10 to 20 years the quantity of kids and teenagers claiming or being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD has reached unprecedented heights. Adding these students or others to a home environment with toys, games, and a bed is just asking for problems.

One main issue with learning from home is the absence of the teacher. For, the only way for the teacher to reach his or her student would be through a computer screen. Video calls are a very useful piece of technology; however, from a teaching standpoint, they provide very little gratification, nor do they achieve the same goals compared to a face to face encounter. Depending on the time of classes and calls, the teacher and student may not always be available at the same time. This would expand the distance between the student and the teacher. Such a gap can cause a student to feel stranded in an ocean of equations, since there is no teacher to help save him or her. While most teachers hate to believe it, most students cheat. And in a room all by themselves, with internet access, there is no doubt many would cheat on tests and quizzes with ease. From personal experience, it is way to easy to find a classwork or homework assignment on a pdf document through Google.

Shying away from the learning portion of the debate, a school is a cultural hub where long lasting lessons and friendships are made. While many students feel they could go the rest of their lives without stepping foot in school again, the loss of such an important place would leave students with a weaker connection to friends and a poor social development. The lessons learned in school, don't always happen in the classroom; they can occur in the halls, the gym, or even the locker room. These lessons become part of who we are and how we continue to grow as students and humans.

Now, of course there are benefits to learning at home. A great portion of students today are sleep deprived and also through personal experience, the lack of sleep greatly affects student's grades. So, with the idea of learning from home, many kids may be able to sleep in and gain some much needed rest. This alone could boost grades for lots of students. However, there is no guarantee students will obtain an increase in sleep through the change. As the amount of sleep a student gets, directly correlates to the amount of homework that is assigned. In other words, without a decrease in the amount of homework assigned, there will continue to be tired students who fall asleep during class and struggle to stay awake during long, boring lectures.

Overall, the incorporation of a distance learning option for students is not a good idea. With students who are still tired, cheating, and struggling to stay focused there seems to be little to no gain from the plan. However, an experiment could be done with a few schools to determine the true effectiveness of the program. But, until then the evidence and the conclusion is against the addition of long distance learning.