By Rovarro Sanders, Sophomore, KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School
Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a series of first-person essays written by local high school students about their experiences going to school and living life during a global pandemic.
“Hey Junior, can I come in?”
“No, get out!”
“But I haven’t seen you all day. You’ve been on your phone.”
“Oh well, bye.”
This is me telling my sister to leave me alone, something I’ve found myself doing on a regular basis since COVID-19 turned the world upside down.
Since March, the last time that I attended school in person, I’ve been on a computer basically all day, everyday to go to school and make sure I keep my grades up. I’ve also been more active on my computer and phone just for entertainment, because there isn’t much to do since a lot of places are closed – especially where I live in Nashville.
As a result, I’ve noticed my family becoming more fed up with each other, because we’re around each other more and we bump heads throughout the day. I think phones and technology are a way of escaping reality. Many of us may even have started an entire new life online talking to new people, finding new games and having fun on social media. From my experience, being immersed in this way is a double-edged sword.
Let me start with the positives. Technology definitely has a bigger role in my life since switching to virtual school. I’ve become reliant on it in order to attend classes, study and continue succeeding and progressing in school. Without my computer, I wouldn’t be able to log into school, do homework or take tests. Without my phone, I couldn’t keep in contact with friends and teachers.
But, continued and constant access to technology also has its downsides. Sometimes, I feel like it can destroy people and devour relationships. It’s almost like I have a different attitude, or turn into a different person when I’m on my phone for the hundredth time that day. For example, whenever I’m forced to get off, I’m no longer in a good mood. I noticed that whenever I’m accused of being on my phone too much, I often get mad and offended by it, when it is the truth. The other day when my sister came into my room and asked if we can play a game I said “No, I’m busy” without thinking about it. When asked what I was doing I just said “Nothing, go play or do something other than bother me.” Immediately after seeing her leave in disappointment, I had to figure out what was wrong. Why am I always in a bad mood!? Now don’t get me wrong, my sister can be very annoying but I don’t have a valid reason to force her out for just asking a simple question.
What I’m starting to realize is that when I’m on my phone, I tend to forget about reality, to lose focus of what’s real and start to find myself focused on the wrong things and progressing in the wrong way.
This experience of virtual school has given me a lot to think about. It’s made me realize that even though technology is super important and allows me to be able to attend school safely, there are probably a lot of other important things I can — and should! — still be focusing on, like the relationships I have with my sister and family. When I’m constantly staring at a screen for school, it feels like my real life is there, on my phone or my laptop. It’s a hard habit to break. For me, I’ve realized that when it comes to living my life and growing myself mentally and physically, technology does nothing for that. We should learn to balance how we use it and when it’s a good time to use it.
Recently, I had another interaction with my sister, and I have to say, it went a lot better.
“Hey Aniyah, want to play Uno?”
“Of course I do!”
“Ok, I’ll get the game and you get the snacks.”
“Ok. Will do.”
Rovarro Sanders is a Sophomore at Kipp Nashville Collegiate High School. He loves his family and loves committing himself to achieving success. He is involved in the Student Council and takes high pride in his role as a leader.
