一位美国高中生：我们渴望回到学校！

陌上美国

罗新：我的女儿璐璐，在我们镇的公立高中读书，刚刚完成十年级（相当于国内的高一）的学习。由于疫情影响，从3月中旬开始，学校就关闭了校园，所有的课程都是通过网络完成的，目前整个学年已经结束。几天前我问她对于三个多月的“居家学习”感想如何，她写了一篇文章交给我，详细谈了自己的感受。下面就是她的文章，文章是用英文写的（见文章后半部分），我翻译成中文。

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家长们，请读一下这篇文章：疫情隔离期间的学校教学，显示出了公共教育的重要性——学生的视角。

在过去的几个月里，我无意中听到一些家长和一些朋友说，这个全球大瘟疫下发生的一切，会永远地改变我们的社会。我同意，像此次瘟疫这样的事件非常少见，一旦发生，会持续地改变地球上人类的生活。

但是，据我所知，有一个说法是，这次疫情结束后，即使隔离的限制令取消了，更多的孩子还是会选择在家里接受教育，而不是回到学校中。我甚至听到这样的说法：在这次大流行病之后，公共学校教育有可能彻底消失。

我知道这种想法从何而来：计算机技术的进步已经证明了它的能力，能够在短短的时间里就为全球数以百万计的学生提供教育。然而，做为一位从小到大一直在公立学校读书的学生，由于新冠疫情被迫“在家上学”了三个月，我想谈谈我的看法。

我并不是完全不同意有人认为学生们会选择家庭教学而不是和其他孩子一起上学。我毫不怀疑，有些孩子发现自己更适合那些更个性化，更孤立的环境。他们发现与和其他孩子一起上学相比，这种新的氛围让他们能提高自己，让学业进步。我相信这次疫情的结果之一就是：一些孩子会完全放弃公共教育，而选择在家学习。但是，实际的情况是：这次疫情证明了，公共教育比以前大多数人认为的更为重要。

做为父母，您可能不会一直盯着孩子的社交媒体看。我做为一个十几岁的孩子，从我自己的私人信息，到Instagram和TikTok的帖子，到处可见的都是：我们中的许多人都不喜欢远程教学。真的，我们痛恨它！

想想看，从我们入学的第一天开始，我们就是和其他学生一起学习。老师让学生们一个挨着一个坐着。我们一起上体育课，一起做项目，等等。因此，我们的一部分学习体验就是通过“他人”学习。公共教育系统建立了一个类似于竞争的环境，以此创造了“普通学生”。

当然，这一切的基础就是分数和行为。您如果把您的孩子叫过来，给他们看一张他们所在的某个班级的“全家福”照片，他们就能够指出照片上每一个孩子在班上的表现，是“平均水平”，还是高于或者低于平均水平。当然，您的孩子的判断不一定准确，但是，他们能够做出这样的判断，就证明了公共教育的环境必然会在学生群体之间产生竞争。

假设有三个孩子：孩子A，孩子B和孩子C。孩子B，总的说来，在各项测验和考试中得分完美，而孩子C的成绩则是不及格。由于三个孩子都处于公共学习环境，并且他们在一起上课，因此，孩子A能够观察到其他两个孩子的行为。孩子A注意到孩子B一直在认真听讲并做笔记，而孩子C则吊儿郎当，没有这样做。那么，孩子A就会得出一个明显的结论：是孩子B的良好学习习惯和努力的精神，使得TA在课堂上取得了成功。所以，如果孩子A也想成为一名好学生，他们就会复制孩子B的行为，来调整自己的学习态度。

那么，我是说这种竞争性的学习环境完全是一件好事吗？当然不是。这种竞争往往会导致孩子们养成不良的生活习惯。它造成了孩子们之间的敌对情绪，还使许多孩子相信自己是“优于他人”的。我的意思是说，这种竞争氛围就是公共教育系统与居家教育系统之间的差异。

做为一个发展中的人，我们不断地在环境中寻求“倾向”或“模式”。正如公共教育可以使孩子们相互敌对一样，它也可以建立友谊和伙伴群体。有一个显而易见的原因，就是为什么在学业上成功的学生彼此容易结伴，为什么喜欢运动的学生彼此容易成为朋友，为什么在学校戏剧俱乐部的学生相处也很容易。（你明白我的意思了吧？）

在这个公立学校的“野生丛林”中，我们必须找到属于我们自己的“种类”，我们的“物种”才能生存。例如，如果一个小团体是由从事艺术的学生组成的，那么每个成员都可以相互培养彼此的艺术能力并相互启发。我们会这样想：“如果他们能做到，我也可以！”

因此，我们来回顾一下，在公共学习环境中的敌对情绪会引起学生之间的嫉妒，但也会引起学生之间的钦佩。因此，这就是公立学校优于家庭学校的地方。你如果只是呆在舒适的卧室里，而不是不断地获得其他学生的反馈，你无法得到必要的社交互动。

“同伴压力”让孩子们从小就学会了什么是社会上可以接受的，什么是这个社会上不能接受的。当你在家上学时，你可能会与其他孩子一起上芭蕾舞或钢琴之类的课程，或者你可能和他人去露营，或者可能会参加某项运动，但可以说这种体验与一直在公立学校学习是截然不同的。

我清清楚楚地记得，在5月份和6月份的几个月中，远程学习成了令学生们的非常头疼的事。我记得在同学的社交媒体上看到过这样的帖子：“你们大家还有动力去学习吗？” “由于某种原因，我失去了做功课的全部动力。”那些逼着学生们在学业上表现出色的紧张感、义务、“同伴压力”都已被消除。不再需要与老师面对面，不再需要与其他二十个孩子一起坐在在封闭的房间里，而是呆在舒适的，孤立的卧室里，学生们明显失去了争取成功的动力。

每个孩子都知道以前那种感觉：在上学的早晨醒来，在去学校之前，戴上“面罩”，然后当他们回到家中时，脱下“面罩”，轻轻松了一口气。我们不仅身体准备好了上学，而且在心理上也为进入公共的竞争环境做好了准备。可是对于远程学习，这一切都不存在了。我的老师从没注意到我在所有的视频通话中都穿着睡衣，或者几乎所有时间我的麦克风都在静音状态。你可以在上课时完全不说话或不露面，然后以“音频和视频故障”为借口而蒙混过关。在我们的潜意识中，我们是这样想的：“我在卧室里，而不是化学教室里；我是坐在电脑前，不是在老师面前；我不应该学习，我应该放松。” 难怪我们的学习变得那么困难！

我们不仅仅在与同学的竞争中不断努力，还不断寻求老师们的确认和认可。当然，一个编好的学习网站可以告诉我输入到计算机中的答案是正确还是错误的，但这与老师当面教我不一样。老师可以陪我一起一步步地学习，检查整个步骤以确保我每个过程都明白了。老师，至少是优秀的老师，能够看到到底是什么使我们无法理解某个概念。他们的责任是确保我们越过这个障碍来达到对问题的完全理解。技术（至少在目前的情况下）还无法做到这一点，就像它只是试图模仿老师的帮助一样。

我的化学课使用一个名为“ CK-12”的网站向我们教授化学课程。尽管我一直按时完成网站提供的每项任务，但机器与人之间巨大的空挡却越来越明显。这就是我们人类的现状。技术正在迅速发展，但它目前还无法能够与一个人的复杂、曲折的思想进行竞争。我们自然的本能是人与人的互动。当我们在一台计算机前在家上学时，我们被剥夺了使我们蓬勃发展的动力。

好吧，听起来有些戏剧性，不是吗？但真相的确如此。你如果上网，就会发现互联网上有很多专门为正在从家庭学校中“康复”的人们而设立的群体。我要明确一下，有一些专门针对家庭学校教育的小组，其中大多数由选择在家为其子女进行家庭教育的父母组成，目的是分享彼此的想法和故事。但是，“家庭学校康复”论坛则不一样，这些论坛是由正在，或者曾经，在家上学的儿童组成。

在这些群体中，几乎每个人都在谈论他们在家上学的经历（或曾经）有多悲惨。他们感到孤独，与众不同，无聊并且与社会的其他部分脱节。许多人感觉好像他们错过了所有其他学生所拥有的“青少年共同经历”。如果您的孩子是高中毕业生，他们可能会非常非常沮丧，因为他们放弃了青少年经历的一些重要里程碑：毕业舞会和毕业典礼。众所周知，至少在美国，高中毕业生的最后几个月会创造一些永远伴随一生的回忆。

一些家长会争辩说，他们通过为他们的孩子创造特殊的学习环境，将孩子变成一个特殊的孩子，但事实是：大多数孩子并不想要“特殊”。他们想要朋友，他们想要社交和娱乐，他们想要与其他人一起学习和成长。

请您想想您的童年，以及学校的经历如何构成了您大部分的记忆。从小学毕业并在初中获得一些特权，然后在高中获得更多自由，这一切都非常令人兴奋。

刚上初中时，我记得我和朋友们对拥有自己的私人储物柜来存放我们的东西感到欣喜若狂。我们终于获得了特权，可以将自己的私人物品存储在自己的专用空间中，这不同于小学的那些开放式的小储物柜。进入高中后，我们再次喜出望外地获得了更多特权，例如能够在我们的空闲时间离开学校去镇上。当然，只有当你在高中时才能获得此特权，因为很明显，你现在已经长大，可以独自在没有老师监督的情况下独处了。

但是，当你在家上学时，这些特权何时被“解锁”？尽管你的家庭学校课程为你提供越来越难的教材，但是你的生活方式有哪些变化？是什么表明你正在成长，即将成年？

变化虽然令人恐惧，但却是孩子成长的机会。因此，如果您给孩子的生活方式在一生中都是单调且重复的，那么您就是在阻碍孩子成长。

我的意思是，我一直对接受家庭教育的学生的生活方式感到好奇，由于这次疫情，我不得不体验了一下这种情况。我讨厌它。我想念我的朋友和同学，甚至想念我的老师们。至少，我能够通过电话或计算机与老师和同学们交谈，这些是我上学以来就建立的联系。那些一生都在自学的孩子甚至没有机会建立这种联系。

公共教育不仅教你学习学术知识，而且还为你进入社会做准备。这些社交技能可以说是和课堂学习有同等的价值，甚至更有价值。在历史和英语课堂上，我们几乎每周都进行小组讨论，因为能够倾听别人说话，能够交流自己的想法，是成年时在工作会议上必须具备的一项技能。在科学课上，我们有伙伴来一起做实验，以此来学习如何与其他人合作并共同完成任务。

总体而言，远程学习是否提高了我的学术成绩？实际上是的。不要误解我的意思，远程学习有很多优点。例如，在数学课上，我现在可以倒放youtube视频，以查看我可能不明白的地方，这在教室环境中是无法做到的，而课堂提问往往会扰乱课程。但是从长远来看，远程学习对儿童而言是否是一种可持续的教学方法？我不这么认为。您的孩子和他们的朋友为学校计划在夏季结束后重新开学而欢呼是有原因的。

我很感激，三个月以来，我能很晚起床，能在自己喜欢的时候做功课，能穿着睡衣上课。我很高兴能在早上就完成一切任务，在一天剩下的时间里做自己喜欢的事情。但是，我们已经做好准备重返校园，我们想再次成为儿童和少年。

下面是英文全文。

Parents, Read this: Learning under Quarantine Only Reveals the Importance of Public Schooling— told through the Perspective of Student

Over the past few months, I’ve overheard some parents and friends making comments about how the present situation during this global pandemic will forever change our society. I agree; events like these are rare and indeed have and will continue to change the lives of the people on this planet. However, one argument I’ve seen being made is that, as a result of this pandemic, more children will be inclined to choose home-schooling instead of public schooling, even after lockdown restrictions are lifted. I’ve heard people say that after this pandemic, there’s even the possibility that public schooling will cease to exist. I get where they’re coming from: the advancement in computer technology has proven itself capable of schooling millions of children across the globe for this short period of time. However, as a student who attended public school her whole life and was “home-schooled” for three months due to COVID-19, I want to make a few arguments to this point.

Now, I’m not completely disagreeing with the argument that students will be more inclined to choose home-schooling over going to a school with other children. I have no doubt that some kids who find themselves more suited for a more individual, isolated learning environment have found that these new regulations have led to them improving and learning better when compared to going to school with other children. I am sure that, as a result of this pandemic, some children will drop public schooling entirely and instead choose to learn at home. However, the fact of the matter is, this pandemic has proven that public schooling is even more necessary than most people had believed before.  

If you’re a parent, you probably aren’t observing your child’s social media at all times. From what I, as a teenager, have seen from both my private messages to public Instagram and Tiktok posts, *is that many of us despise remote learning*.  Really, we hate it. Think about it! From the moment we first went to school, we were taught alongside other students. Teachers sat us next to each other, we had to play with each other in gym class, create projects together, etc. etc. As a result, an integral part of our learning experience is learning /through/ others. The public schooling system establishes an almost competitive environment where the “average student” is created. It is all based on grades and behavior, of course. If you go to your kid and show them a picture of all the students from one of their classes, they would be able to point out to you whether each child “fits” the average, goes above it, or goes below it. Your child might not be right, of course, but the fact that they can make calculated speculations is proof enough that a public learning environment inherently creates competition amongst the student body.

Now, am I saying that this competitive learning environment is a GOOD thing? Definitely not! This competition can often lead children to develop unhealthy habits. It creates hostility and it makes many children believe that they are “superior” to one another. What I’m saying is that this competitiveness is what differentiates a public education system to a home-schooled one. As people with developing minds, we are constantly seeking “tendencies” or “patterns” in our environment. Just as public schooling can make children hostile to one another, it creates friendships and friend groups as well. There’s an obvious reason why students who succeed academically get along with each other, and why students who love sports get along with each other, and why students who are in their school’s theater club get along with each other (you get the point). In this public school’s “wild jungle”, we have to find our “kind”, our “species” in order to survive. For example, if a friend group is made up of students who are into art, each member can nurture each other’s artistic abilities and inspire one another. We think “if they can do that, so can I!”

So, in short, the hostility in a public learning environment creates jealousy, but can also create admiration amongst students. Nonetheless, this is what makes public schooling superior to homeschooling. You just can’t get the necessary social interaction in the comfort of your own bedroom the way you get feedback from other students constantly. Peer pressure teaches kids from a young age what is socially acceptable and what isn’t in this society. When you’re homeschooled, you may take classes like ballet or piano with other children, or you may have camped, or you may take a sport, but it’s arguably not the same as being in a public setting all of the time.

I remember clearly that during the months of May and June, remote-learning became a hassle to us students. Posts on social media were filled with my classmates asking: "Does anyone else feel unmotivated to learn anymore?” “For some reason, I’ve lost all motivation to do any of my school work.” The stress, the obligation, the peer pressure for students to academically perform well has been taken away. No longer being face-to-face with a teacher, or sitting with twenty other children in a closed room, a student OBVIOUSLY doesn’t feel the need to strive for success in their comfortable, isolated bedroom. EVERY child knows the feeling of waking up in the morning during the weekdays and putting on a “mask” before heading out to school, and then that little relief of taking it off when they come back home. Not only do we physically get ready for school, we mentally prepare ourselves to enter a public, competitive environment. With remote learning? That’s all taken away. None of my teachers noticed that I wore pajamas to all of the zoom calls, or that I had my mic muted almost all the time. You can get away with not speaking or not showing your face at all in class, and write it off as having “audio and video difficulties”. In our minds, we’re subconsciously thinking: “I’m in my bedroom, not my chemistry classroom. I’m sitting in front of my computer, not in front of a teacher. I’m not supposed to be learning, I’m supposed to be relaxing.” It’s no wonder why we’re having trouble learning. 

Not only do we strive to compete against our peers, but we seek the confirmation and validation that teachers provide as well. Sure, a programmed learning website can spit back whether the answers I inputted into the computer was correct or false, but it’s not the same as a teacher walking through the steps with me, checking each step along the way to make sure I’m following along and understanding the process. Teachers, at least the GOOD ones, are able to see what exactly is blocking us from understanding a certain concept. And it’s their duty to make sure we climb over that block to achieve understanding. Technology (at least, where it is right now,) is not yet capable of doing that, as much as it tries to mimic the helpfulness of a teacher. My chemistry teacher used a site called “CK-12” to teach science lessons to us, and although I never lagged behind in completing each assignment provided by the website, it only further highlighted the enormous, gaping hole stretching between a machine and a human. This is just how we are. Technology is advancing rapidly, but it’ll take a major breakthrough for it to be able to even compete with the complex, empathetic mind of another human being. We’re naturally inclined to interact with one another. When we are home-schooled in front of a computer, we are being stripped away from what makes us thrive.

Okay, that sounds like a little dramatic, doesn’t it? But if you were to go online, you would find that there are entire groups on the internet dedicated to people who are “recovering” from being homeschooled. To clarify, it’s important to know that there are groups dedicated to homeschooling itself, which are mostly comprised of parents who wish to share ideas and stories with other parents who choose to homeschool their children. However, the “homeschool recovery” forums and groups are comprised of children or former children who were in these situations. In these groups, almost every person talks about how miserable they are (or were) being taught at home. They felt lonely, different, uninspired, and isolated from the rest of society. Many feel as though they missed out on the “common teenage experience” that all other students have. If your child is a senior, they are probably (and righteously) upset that they are giving up some huge milestones of their teenage experience: prom and graduation. It is universally known, at least in the United States, that your last months of being a senior should be dedicated to creating memories that will last with you forever.

Parents will argue that they’re turning their child into someone special by creating a special learning environment for them, but the truth is: most children don’t /want/ “special”. They want friends, they want to socialize and play, they want to learn and grow along with other people like them.

Think about /your/ childhood, and how school experiences make up a good portion of your memories. Graduating from elementary school and gaining those privileges in middle school, and then gaining even more freedom in high school, was all very thrilling. When we first entered middle school, I remember my friends and I being ecstatic over having our own, private lockers to store our things in. We had finally unlocked the privilege to store our own personal things in our own dedicated spaces, unlike the open cubbies in elementary school. Once we entered high school, we were again /overjoyed/ to have unlocked even more privileges, such as being able to leave the school during our free periods and go to town. This privilege is only unlocked once you’re in high school of course, and for the obvious reason that you were now old enough to be left alone without teacher supervision. But when you’re homeschool, when are these privileges “unlocked”? Despite your homeschooling classes feeding you increasingly difficult material, what changes about your lifestyle? What indicates that you’re growing up, that you’re becoming an adult?

Change, although scary, is an opportunity for your child to grow. So if the lifestyle you've given your child has been monotonous and repetitive throughout their entire life, you’re holding your child back from growing.

My point is that I’ve always been curious about the lifestyle of a homeschooled student, and because of this pandemic, I got to experience a little bit of what it was like. And I /hated it./ I missed seeing my friends and classmates, and I even missed my /teachers/. At the very least, I was able to talk to them all over the phone or computer. Children who have been homeschooled their entire life haven’t even had the opportunity to form those connections, those connections I’ve created because of school.

Public schooling doesn’t just teach you academics, it prepares you for entering society. These social skills are arguably just as valuable, if not MORE valuable than the classes themselves. In History and English class, group discussions are held almost every week because being able to listen to others and communicate our ideas is a skill we have to have as adults when we’re in job meetings. In science class, students are almost always assigned lab partners to learn how to cooperate with other individuals and work together to solve tasks.

Did remote learning improve my academic grades? Yes, actually. Don’t misconstrue my words, there are MANY advantages that come with remote learning. In math class, for example, I could now rewind a youtube video to review the information I might have not understood, which I could not do in a classroom setting without disrupting the lesson by asking a question. But in the long-run, is remote learning a sustainable teaching method for children? I don’t think so. There’s a reason why your kids and their friends are cheering at the fact that schools are planning to reopen after the summer ends. 

I am grateful that for three months, I was able to wake up late, do class assignments when I felt like it, and go to class in my sleeping clothes. I am grateful that I could finish my assignments in the morning, and get to spend the rest of the day doing whatever I liked. But we’re more than ready to return to school. We want to be kids and teenagers again. 

前文导读
《如何愉快地活着：疫情时代的几个良方》《我最亲爱的奶奶》
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