By Grace Speller
Rocked by the ongoing COVID-19-pandemic, American communities and businesses struggle to keep afloat financially and adapt to shifting social norms. The many effects of the virus reach far beyond the area of public health, dramatically altering the very way that Americans go about their daily lives.
The measures taken by the New York State Government to curtail the spread of the virus have had the unfortunate side effect of stopping the economy dead in its tracks. Due to Governor Cuomo’s Pause Executive Order, businesses not considered “essential” were required to close their doors for an undisclosed period of time. As of the writing of this article, this period of time has not yet ended, and businesses remain closed.
Glenn J. Speller, a local attorney specializing in real estate, wills, and trusts, has felt the strain of these restrictions. “As an attorney, I am not an essential service. As a licensed title insurance agent, however, I am an essential service, and therefore, I am forced to work without any staff. Everything that used to take one step to complete now takes five due to other PAUSE order restrictions.” Having furloughed all of his employees, Mr. Speller continues to work alone, experiencing a decline in revenue for his business. With expectant clients and few deadline changes, he is facing long hours and an insurmountable load of work.
But for other Americans, the problem is even worse- they have no work. Today, the United States faces an unemployment rate exceeded only by the Great Depression. On May 28, 2020, the unemployment rate peaked at 23.9%- only 1.1% less than in 1933. In general, unemployment numbers understate the number of people out of work at any given time; those who have experienced hour reductions, have been changed from full-time to part-time, or are not actively seeking work are not counted. The situation is especially frustrating because qualified experts have no choice but to stay at home instead of working in their professions. Because they have been deemed “non-essential,” these people are forced to forfeit what is often their only source of income. Even others decide not to work, sacrificing their income to avoid the possibility of becoming infected with COVID-19. People who work highly trafficked jobs such as cashiers at grocery stores are at the most risk, and some are deciding of their own volition not to work, even if their place of employment remains open. Colleen Donahue, a freshman at Niagara University, took a new course of action. “I made the decision to temporarily stop working at Wegmans during this pandemic… to ensure that I will be able to keep myself and the people close to me safe and healthy. I feel that the best way to do that is to limit my social interaction as much as possible.”
This sentiment is widely shared among students of all ages–from a survey conducted over the past two weeks, 89% of students surveyed said they preferred in-school learning to online learning.
However, it is not only the economy that has been impacted by the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus. Schools across the country have been shut down to protect their students and staff, and the majority of the schools decided to continue classes online. This has been a serious shakeup for students, and adjusting to online classes has not proven easy for America’s youth. Waverly Wobschall, a sophomore at Williamsville East High School in East Amherst, New York stresses the aspect of communication. “It has been very difficult to communicate with teachers about assignments because of the inability to talk in person.” This sentiment is widely shared among students of all ages–from a survey conducted over the past two weeks, 89% of students surveyed said they preferred in-school learning to online learning. Another student from Williamsville East, Senior Khulangoo Barkhasbadi, notes that teachers who are used to the classroom setting do not have adequate experience with online learning systems: “…none of them know what they are doing. The district needs to have systems in place for this type of thing.”
But for the teachers struggling to cope with the rapidly changing educational situation, the problem is a bit more nuanced. Mr. Wright, an economics and Current Events teacher at Williamsville East, has found teaching online to be difficult. “I moved all my classes to Google Classroom and have attempted to develop challenging and engaging lessons with my limited technology expertise.” Teachers like Mr. Wright have chosen to teach in the classroom rather than online. “Over the years I have been offered online teaching opportunities at the college level and have always turned them down,” he said. “I really like teaching because I really like interacting with people. Remote teaching lacks the human interaction therefore the fun of being around people and assisting the needs of any given students on the fly as they pose questions.” The necessity to quickly adapt to the new educational environment has put a lot of stress on the teachers and students responsible for navigating this new situation. In many cases, teachers were only given one week to adapt their curriculum to fit this new paradigm of online learning. This was undoubtedly not enough time–and it shows, both in the stress of the teachers and the negative response from their students. This rapid forced adaptation doesn’t mesh well with the more personable teaching styles of teachers like Mr. Wright, leaving teachers out of their element, with the additional stress of upcoming AP exams, which were also changed in response to the epidemic.
Teachers have to deal with the additional considerations of working from home. Mr. Wright talked about his struggles in “transforming from going to work in person and raising three kids… now trying to balance teaching remotely, assisting my two sons with their school work and while ensuring my 3-year old is not ignored!” Because the work and home environments of teachers are now combined, the responsibilities of both simultaneously require attention.
The widespread impacts of COVID-19 have affected many Americans in all aspects of life, destabilizing what we would now consider to be “normal life” and thrusting society into a new and unfamiliar epoch. Glenn Speller agrees. “I can’t see things ever getting back to the old normal. Sure, things will reopen in time, and with a vaccine will come a lot more normalcy, but I think that the pandemic has permanently changed everyone’s way of thinking.”
