Thousands of students, both in high school and in college, are plagued with depression and anxiety. In most cases, the root cause of this issue is the school environment. In schools, students may be bullied, or they may feel lonely and isolated. Students may struggle to learn in the classroom environment, or they may be distracted by other issues in school. Some students enter the workforce early, and they are constantly working or even traveling for their jobs. Finally, many students have families that require their full time care. There are many reasons why stress may build up for students. This stress often leads to more severe mental health issues like depression and anxiety. For some students, the school environment and strict schedule doesn't fit in with their lifestyles. Distance learning is an option for students that allows them to learn via online classes and video conferencing. Distance learning has been implemented to help these students get an education while still being able to take care of themselves and those who need them. Having this path of education as an alternative to traditional education methods is beneficial to many students because many students may struggle socially or may have other responsibilites. This alternative can help to decrease the percentage of students that struggle with mental health issues greatly and will also help students achieve an education of greater quality.

Our society is constantly changing and incredibly diverse. Many students feel as though they can't catch up, or they feel "different" from the majority. School environments only make students feel more isolated. In schools, many students struggle to make friends and find a community in which they feel like they belong. Many students are even bullied for what makes them unique. They end up worrying more about what others think of them than they worry about their education. This is the leading cause of depression. Other students do not struggle socially in schools. In fact, they thrive in this setting. While this may be seen as a positive, when it comes to academics, it can have detrimental affects. Some students are so distracted by their friends and their drama, that they do not focus on their schoolwork. Other students simply do not learn well in a group setting. They cannot focus on their schoolwork and need more one-on-one interaction with their teachers. When grades begin to fall, naturally these students will feel more stress and anxiety. For these students, distance education would be of great benefit. Students who struggle socially could feel safer learning in the comfort of their own homes. Students who do not learn well in a classroom setting can get the one-one-on time that they need to thrive academically. Students who thrive too much in school could get away from the drama that schools host and focus on their grades. This solution will greater decrease the depression and anxiety that these types of students inevitably exhibit.

Some students have very strict lifestyles, and school environments do not support them. For example, many students have full-time jobs. They have to travel and work long hours to support themselves or their families. They simply do not have time to go to school for eight hours, work for another 8 hours, and then do homework for 4 hours. The mental health of these students begins to deteriorate as they struggle to get good grades, make money, and get the sleep they need. Other students have disabled family members or even children that they need to take care of. Teen pregnancy is becoming more and more common in our society. How is a mother supposed to take care of her child, work, do homework, go to school, and sleep? How is a student supposed to do all of these things while taking care of an elderly grandparents or a disabled sibling? How are students with full time jobs supposed to get all of their responsibilites finished in a single day? The answer is distance learning. Being able to get an education on your own time and schedule will greatly help these students. In return, the mental health of these types of students will not begin to deteriorate. These students will also recieve a better education than they would get in a rigid school environment.

A counterargument to the idea that distance learning could help students who struggle with bullying is that cyberbullying could still take place. Cyberbullying is a result of the increasing online social media presence of students. While cyberbullying could still take place while a student is distance learning, there are others measures that can be taken to stop this from happening. Deleting social media is one of them. Another counterargument to the idea of distance learning as a benefit is that this type of independent learning could cause many students to become lazy. Since students will essentially be able to work on their own time, they may decide to not do their work at all. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. I think that if the student has a strong support system and has thought very hard about making the transfer from traditional education to distance education, they will be motivated enough to complete their schoolwork on time.

In conclusion, distance learning is very beneficial to students who have jobs or other responsibilies such as their families. It is also beneficial to students who struggle socially or simply do not learn well in a school environment. Distance learning can greatly decrease depression and anxiety that plague thousands of students everyday. Distance learning can also provide a better education to students who need more one-on-one time with their teachers. While social issues such as bullying may not completely stop with distance education, being outside of the school environment will certainly help. Finally, while it may be a problem for some students to still get their work done, if they are motivated and have strong support systems, they can surelydo it.