Formal Dances canceled for two years in a row. Class fundraising events get little interest or participation. Clubs shut down due to the lack of numbers. Intramural sports are losing interest. Can all of this be blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic?
While the pandemic may play a part in the decline of student involvement in extracurricular activities, the true reason is that students don’t care about being involved anymore. There are things to do other than going to school events. Students can coordinate plans without seeing their friends face to face.
Activities don’t cater to what students are interested in anymore. It is hard to say what will get students involved.
“Since the introduction of phones into students’ hands, there has been a decrease in both clubs and athletics. My hope is one day students will put their technology away and rejoin some of the sports and clubs,” Ski Club Sponsor and Woodshop teacher Mr. Craig Wells said.
Not many students are interested in sports like they used to be. Some teams don’t even have a JV team. Intramural sports were widely popular because of the kids who didn’t get on the teams. Now, intramural deck hockey, softball and volleyball don’t even run any more.
“I can remember being part of a faculty team for both intramural volleyball and intramural softball. Those were a lot of fun. The gym was full of teams for volleyball and the turf field had two softball games going at different ends of the field,” ELA teacher and intramural basketball sponsor, Mr. Eric Schott said. “When I started helping with intramural basketball, we had 8-12 teams playing each other. Now we are happy if we can get 8-12 kids play.”
This is not just a trend with intramurals, but with clubs as well.
“Back in 2002 through probably 2008 we used to take three buses of students to Seven Springs four times per year. Currently we take one school bus full of students,” Wells said.
Science Club stopped running last year due to lack of participation. Maybe some students would be involved if there were clubs like ESports and Photography.
When student government does have fundraisers, not many students attend. Those who do are in student government or are the members’ friends. Some complain that fundraisers are always on sports game day or when they are busy, but that cannot be the case for everyone.
Most students simply don’t want to go or say they have better things to do. But at the same time, the same students complain about class funds and the price of prom tickets.
The problem isn’t student government, it’s the students. When people don’t show up to the fundraiser events, student government stops wasting their time planning them.
Some may argue that the fundraiser events aren’t interesting. If that’s the case, tell them what you are interested in!! Student government, clubs, activities, and intramurals are all for the students. You only get out what you put in.