The end of last year and the beginning of this year have been troublesome. Kids are feeling less motivated, and parents are just as lost as they are amid this pandemic. As I began this year of serious distance learning, I found the most troubling thing to be motivation and procrastination, so I decided to dive deeper into this issue to find out what I can do to solve it.

My hope in this article is to give kids options that they might not have thought of before to help with their motivation. Oftentimes when kids are feeling down they won’t search for help, and instead continue what they’re doing with a worse attitude. 

Since the majority of highschool students are online, this issue is much bigger than just our school. In fact, the local newspaper, “The Olympian”, wrote an article about how schools are reporting “higher numbers of failing grades and incompletes” with numerous parents voicing their concerns as well. Could procrastination and lack of motivation be the cause of these?

I asked three students a series of questions: do you zoom in your beds or at a desk? What time do you wake up for zooms? Do you eat breakfast before zooms? And how would you rate your energy levels during zoom on a scale of 1-10?

The first student I interviewed, Kolby Kero, was among the students who didn’t like the distance learning plan. When asked about his location during zooms, Kolby answered “I zoom in my bed because I wake up right before class starts.” I incurred that he must not eat breakfast before zooms, to which he said “yes, I’m too lazy to make breakfast.” 

When asked about his motivation levels on a scale, Kolby stated, “online school really demotivates you, so I would say about a 3/10.”

The next student I questioned, Charlie Garrett, had very similar responses. All of his answers mirrored those of Kolby, however when asked about his motivation rated on a scale, he said he “kind of liked the working from home, and rated [his] motivation a 5/10”

The final student, Amelia Grimstead, had a much more positive outlook on this situation. She exclaimed she “woke up early so (she) could make breakfast and get ready for school, just like if we were in person.” When I pressed about why she goes to all the trouble while her friends don’t do any of this, she said that “it helps (her) stay motivated” by “reminding (herself) that even though it’s online, it’s still school.” Her positive outlook was reflected in her rating of her motivation, with a 8/10.

Through these interviews, I found that the main reason for procrastination was the idea that online school isn’t on the same level of importance as previous years of in person school. Hopefully the schools will let us return to the campus in person in the coming future.