Friday, September 9, 2011

Article: Terrible News: The Internet May Kill Snow Days [No]

Terrible News: The Internet May Kill Snow Days [No]
http://gizmodo.com/5803222/schools-might-use-the-internet-to-kill-snow-days


Terrible News: The Internet May Kill Snow DaysSnow days! Those joyful days when school is canceled because of the snow is the only redeeming quality of growing up in shitty weather. But some schools are stripping that joy away, they’re experimenting with hosting classes online. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, to be honest, I’ve never had the honor to experience a snow day. So all I can go off by is that one crappy movie and what east coasters have told me, which is plenty: having school canceled by snow is a big reason why snow exists. Come on, no school because of weather? Awesome! Running outside to build snowmens and start snowball fights? Sign me up! Who cares if you have to have school tacked on at the end, I’d take free days now and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

But the AP is reporting that there’s a movement where schools from New York to Kansas City to Ohio are pushing for virtual school days when the snow is bad. The idea is to keep students on pace with the curriculum, which I guess is fine but there doesn’t seem to be any sort of standardization in how to do this:

The first experiments with virtual snow days began a few years ago as individual teachers started logging on during poor weather to drill older students. Since then, entire schools and districts have joined in, using websites such as Skype and YouTube to keep students as young as kindergarten studying during storms.

An obvious concern is that some households don’t have access to decent enough internet to actually partake in these virtual classes. The bigger concern is that taking away snow days would be stripping away childhood memories that shape people more than virtual school ever would. Don’t ruin future generations, people! [AP]

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Aleksandar Todorovic

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