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It is every student's dream to be able to lounge around at home, and complete school from the comforts of their own beds. Though, for some students, this long desired fantasy is becoming a reality. With the introduction of new and innovative technologies into the classroom, distance learning is now a common practice, whether it be online or through video conferencing. However, to pretend that this is a solution to the ever-growing problems within the education system, is willfully ignorant. Distance education is actually detrimental to the students who choose to take these courses, due to the lack of typical classroom structure.

Everybody knows somebody like this in their lives; a homebody, someone who prefers staying home over going out, maybe doesn't have too many friends or has trouble forging bonds and building relationships. You may also call these people recluses, or shut-ins, but either way, you've stumbled across someone who fits this mold. Favorite characters even, like Oscar the Grouch or Angela from The Office, can be used as lovable examples. However, these traits are not always so endearing in a young child. Kids who display anti-social tendencies or simply wish to stay home and away from the hustle-and-bustle of the outside world would prefer distance learning undoubtedly. But, they would then forfeit the opportunity to build relationships with other kids of their own age. Especially with younger kids and kids who like to stay at home or be alone, learning and building social skills starts at school. If these children have the option to conduct their learning from home, they will miss out on important interactions with classmates, and also fall behind from a social development standpoint. And not knowing or understanding social cues or the proper way to communicate with someone, will prove a major hindrance to these kids in later years.

Another negative aspect of distance learning is the lack of discipline. Having a friend who is online-schooled, who admits frequently that he has ample free time, which he wastes on playing video games and watching TV, while at the same time, students in the classroom are made to do tedious book-work, is very eye-opening to a pressing issue. Students who take classes online have more time to slack off and goof around, and for the less-disciplined child, this will reflect negatively in their grades. However, some people will raise the point that there are distractions within in the classroom and students will slack off anyway, if they so desire. This is a valid observation. But without the constant droning of a teacher to be on task, kids who are distantly educated are more likely to become distracted and it's displayed in their meager and unsatisfactory work. Distractions don't cease to exist in a classroom setting, but they are heavily reduced compared to when a student is at home.

It's easily understandable that for some students, distance learning is simply the only viable option. Whether they physically cannot make it to the school building, or because their school merely doesn't offer the classes they wish to take, sometimes students are more or less forced to take online classes. And this is completely acceptable and understandable, and no one should fault these students for desiring an education and seeking out alternative options. However, these circumstances aren't always applicable to the students who choose distance learning. And those students, who have no other reason other than they "just want to stay home" or "don't feel like it", should have to sit in a classroom with the rest of their peers, and learn like in the same setting and environment that everyone else does. For lazy students, distance education is not a valuable resource, and abused in order to waste time.

Distance education will most likely always be a hotly debated topic, in which both sides of the argument will raise many deeply introspective and thought-provoking questions and points. In some cases, distance education is necessary and important. However, it cannot be ignored that distance learning is not conducive or beneficial to most students. The lack of a normal classroom set-up, with teachers and classmates replaced for a laptop and a of couple blankets, fails to help students develop vital social and communication skills, while simultaneously aiding in the slacking off and wasting time of many students. All in all, distance learning and education isn't an appropriate replacement for a normal education that is received in a classroom, at a desk.