EHS faculty,

Students who are remote learning should not be required to turn on their cameras for a variety of reasons. Such reasons include...

-Internet access. Yes, the email that students received stated that some families who qualified were given hotspots, but what Enfield Public Schools failed to consider is that call quality drops the more video feed that is added. By requiring all students to turn on their cameras, this decreases the overall quality of the video feed, as well as the audio feed which is more important.

-Home environments. Some students do not have their own spaces. Siblings share rooms, kitchens have active traffic with family being home, and being self conscious and aware of what people may think of the environment you live in takes away focus from the learning setting

-Being self conscious. Something Enfield Faculty did not mention at all, many of us hate ourselves. We do not want other students constantly looking at us, we do not want the constant reinforcement of how we look. Once again, turning cameras on takes away the focus on the learning environment and trades it for anxiety over how students look, what others think when they see each other, etc. 

-Little siblings and other family issues. Older siblings have been tasked with the priority of helping our little siblings with their calls and school work. The students in this situation are constantly getting up to help their brother or sister. Their grade should not be impacted by something that they are out of control of.

-Students are capable of completing the same work, even if their camera is on or off. Improving the numbers by making students have their cameras on will not yield the result it is aimed to change. It is important to remember that it is the student’s choice to do their work. Having a camera on is not going to change students’ motivation, or lack there of. 

-Emotional Instability. As seen in some of the student’s comments, a large amount of Enfield High Students struggle with various mental disorders and illness. Those who struggle with anxiety and various forms of depression have to manage with their symptoms each and everyday. Turning their cameras on, not only makes them feel worse about themselves, but amplifies the anxiety, and depression they experience

-Collectively, it should be a student’s decision to turn their video on. 

This is a strange time to begin with riddled with anxiety and frustration, do not add to it.

Sincerely, 

           Enfield High School Students and Parents