GUIDING OUR STUDENTS IN THE TIME OF COVID

As I write this, it is Saturday.  Monday is a holiday.  We have had two weeks of college with a lot of restrictions and the students are getting restless.  Are my students being safe this weekend?  Are they taking care to avoid engaging in unnecessary risks?

As anyone who has ever lived in a dormitory knows, bad influences are constantly present.  There is always someone on a college campus who has a bright idea that probably is not a smart idea.

What is our role as teachers?  Should student guidance be left solely to college administrators?  Have we abdicated our responsibilities to be positive influences for our students? 

This morning, I wrote the email below to the faculty at my school.  Will they take me up on my suggestion?  Yes, I think some will although I am not sure how many.  Will those messages influence our students to be careful?  I certainly hope so.  College students are young adults and they are always looking for guidance.  If they don’t get it from you, they will find it somewhere else.  We need to tell our students what we believe they should be doing.  We need to encourage them to be safe and stay well.  We don't need to hold their hands but we do need to tell them what we believe is the truth.

An email takes about 90 seconds to send to your students.  The cost approximates zero but the benefits can be huge. 

You can let someone else do it or you can do it.  I want my students to know what I think.  I believe in transparency and I believe students and the faculty both have a lot of responsibility for the well being of the university.

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To the faculty at my school:

Our students have been here a couple of weeks.  It is a weekend.  It is a holiday.  I suspect they are all ready to break loose.  And, we know what happens next.  Just ask some of the schools like UNC and JMU that have had to send their students home.

The students are probably getting a lot of bad advice within the dorms.  They need as much positive support as they can get.  We are their teachers.  We are their guides.  

A few people know that I send my students a lot of emails.  It is just my operating style.  I sent them a special one this morning.   You might consider doing something similar.  The wording can be short and sweet, but they need to hear this message from their teachers not just from the administration.

Here's the email I sent to my students (after I had told them about how wonderful learning accounting really is):

 

"And, finally, stay safe over the weekend.  We are all depending on YOU to keep us old folks healthy.  I absolutely and positively understand how difficult it is not to run wild.  Despite being elderly, I well remember my four years living in a college dorm with 99 other students.  As I remember, none of us were saints.   Nevertheless, these are critical times, and we are very much dependent on each other to make this learning experience (and the ability to stay alive and well) work.  It kind of breaks my heart to say this but:  Please, follow the rules.  The university is counting on you."