A snow day used to mean snowball fights, hot cocoa, and staying in pajamas till noon.  Now, it’s a regular day of school, except that parents are monitoring your every move and the internet keeps crashing.

Over the past few years (and since Covid popularized Zoom as a way to stay connected), school districts have started making snow days virtual.  Instead of giving students a day off once a storm hits, we’re required to log on to a Google Meet class with our peers, taking all of the wonder and joy out of what snow days used to be.

Parents know — snow days were once a magical experience that kids would wish for by performing elaborate and silly tricks, like sleeping with a spoon under their pillow or turning their pajamas inside out, so that they’d get that lucky phone call early in the morning, telling them that school had been cancelled.  If virtual school becomes the norm, a childhood staple will be ruined for the next generations.

In addition, there are questions as to how effective virtual snow days even are at advancing a student’s studies.  Students often struggle to stay engaged during online lessons, and the frequent distractions at home can make it difficult for them to absorb material as effectively as they would in the classroom.

“It can be hard to focus during virtual learning days.  Students can be easily distracted by power outages, what’s going on at home, or by other things on their computer.  Kids can look like they’re focusing on what the teacher’s saying…but they’re not,” said freshman Maya Gross.

Studies have proven that continuing school during a storm can actually be more detrimental to student learning than full school closure, and that schools don’t actually need instruction time during snow days — but often plan ahead to compensate for the lost class hours.

“School districts typically plan for weather-related disruptions and tack on extra days in the schedule to compensate…with slack time in the schedule, the time lost to closure can be regained,” said a study by the Harvard Kennedy school.

In other words, there is little justification for replacing snow days with online classes when schools are able to adjust their calendars and get learning back on track without sacrificing educational standards.

Another downside of virtual snow days is that not all students have equal access to good technology and wifi the way others do.

“Some kids don’t have the tools they need to communicate with their teachers and do virtual assignments at home.  It’s unfair to them to assume that everyone has access to everything they need for online learning,” said freshman Hannah Edelson.

Unexpected changes in schedules can bring a lot of stress to parents as well.  Many parents can’t give their children the help they need with virtual learning when they have jobs and daily schedules of their own to take care of.  This can cause unnecessary chaos and stress for families, all due to online learning.

So, many people might ask, why are administrations enforcing these virtual days?  What is the point of forcing students to ‘go to school’ on days that can negatively affect their learning, interrupt their parents’ schedules, and take away the magic of the traditional snow day, too?

“The ‘snow day pilot’ program allows districts that would otherwise close due to an emergency to remain in session and provide instruction through remote learning and count these instructional days towards the annual hours requirement,” says the NY State Education Department.

Another argument in favor of virtual snow days is that it could alleviate stress on teachers to catch up students after lots of missed class time.

“If we had a really severe winter with multiple days off, I think virtual class would be a great opportunity — although a true snow day will always be my favorite,” said math teacher Ms. Tina Gallagher.

But, if virtual snow days are just a way to check the box for administrators who need to ensure the numbers add up, rather than a meaningful learning experience, then they don’t seem worthwhile.  Teachers could mark students “present” even if they are distracted or dealing with internet issues.  Attendance does not always translate to direct understanding of material.

This winter is predicted to be a snowy one, and we need to ask ourselves; is virtual school the best option, or is an old-fashioned snow day just what we need?