The Corona Effects
The Corona Virus has taken over the world as we know it. It all began as a thing that was merely affected China that people did not have to worry about in the United States. Then, the spread started and several in Italy became ill. I vividly remember participating in the town government day meeting and masks as a call for prevention were up for debate. Several students said that spending on money on this would be ridiculous because the virus would not be near us any time soon. Little did they know less than two weeks later Massachusetts would be in a state of emergency. The virus clearly spread with unbelievable speed eventually leading to a stay at home advisory which is in place today. With this pandemic, the media has had a significant presence in people's lives.
The media's reliability has definitely been texted and fake news outlets have become apparent. For example, one source claimed that the eleven town workers in Norwood tested positive when really the only one who came out as positive was the Town Manager while the others were merely exposed to the Virus. However, there has definitely been a lot of positives coming out of the media during this pandemic. Specifically, artists whose concerts were cancelled have been giving free live concerts on their social platforms, and Disney Plus uploaded very recent movies so people are motivated to stay home and watch them.
A big message that has been all over social media is the importance of social distancing. I think that at first people thought it was really silly and that they can do whatever they want. There are definitely still a few groups of people who do not abide by social distancing but the majority do. It will take all of us following this way of life for the virus to slow down its spread. It can definitely be extremely boring, but it is totally worth it if it keeps people safe. With the extremely contagious nature of the virus several schools have either been closed for a few weeks or indefinitely.
Students have definitely had mixed reactions depending on what grades they are in. I know sophomores do not really care because they still have two years of classes and nothing major this year. The main thing they are sad about is not being able to see their classmates and teachers. Personally, I am a senior so it has been a really hard time because a significant amount of my special senior year activities are canceled or at risk of being canceled. I feel like the pandemic and lack of school has allowed students to have a greater appreciation for it. My hope is that I will get at least one week back a school, so I can get a proper goodbye, prom, and graduation. Students have been expressing their emotions towards the lack of school and in person socialization on many social media platforms such as instagram and TikTok. The pandemic has also caused a wide spread of social media challenges where people post multiple photos on their story which can be quite annoying.
Overall, the Corona Pandemic is a really scary, and it is terrifying seeing the amount of cases quadruple in a matter of days and the death tolls rising. I really hope people start to listen and stay inside as much as possible. I just want to go back to school and see my friends again.