Both traditional schooling and online schooling have
their benefits, but I believe traditional schooling is more beneficial.
Although online school offers at-home convenience, attending a traditional
school gives way to a more hands-on learning environment and social
connections. For example, in seventh grade, I had a friend who left the school
we went to and enrolled in cyber school. Her grades slumped a little the first
year due to the adjustment and she found some concepts hard to grasp without
physical examples or one-on-one connections with instructors.
Traditional schooling offers more learning opportunities;
help sessions were often offered after hours at my high school, and most
teachers were flexible with scheduling one-on-one appointments. Advocates for
online schooling may argue that a quick e-mail to an instructor may do the same
job, but that’s simply not true. Having a connection with a teacher in person
allows the teacher to understand your struggles on a personal level; in
traditional school, it’s less likely that you’ll be seen as just another e-mail
in an inbox.
In addition to academic reasons, traditional school is
more beneficial in the social way of things. Traditional schooling encourages
involvement in clubs and activities, or at the very least, friendships.
Friendships carry through when you fail a test or pass with flying colors;
friendships sit with you at lunch every day and walk home from the bus stop
after school. Online connections can also be made in cyber school, but tangible
connection is also important, especially early on in education. Social
interaction helps students develop communication skills and relationships that
cannot be duplicated through the Internet.
