The complaints, the hashtags, the jokes, the roars of success and the cries of defeat—the prospect of snow days in FCPS has become an event. Each potential snowfall sends thousands of students to their social media accounts, pleading for a cancelation. Many put more effort into their campaign for cancelation than they do their homework. Was it always like this? Do these students need snow days so badly that they’re willing to beg for them?
Frankly, yes. Snow days have always been revered by students. During the winter, many students find themselves in stressful situations due to their workload, sleep schedule, extracurricular activities and more.
The idea of getting even one extra day away from that stress is a powerful motivator for students to support a cancelation. Some might say that students want snow days just so they don’t have to go to school, and that may be true—but is that really a bad thing? In some cases, it seems as if students can only benefit from this extra resting time in order to prepare themselves for the work ahead.
Though that has always been the primary motivator for supporting snow days, the nature of these cancelations is due to a more recent issue. This past winter, the school board received heavy criticism from students both online and offline for several choices made in regards to snow day cancelations (or a lack thereof).
The backlash was so extreme that FCPS gained worldwide recognition for its situation. Over the past few months, #closeFCPS has become a trending topic on Twitter several times, with thousands of students tweeting their outrage over the school board’s decisions. The students’ begging for snow days is most likely out of fear that FCPS will make another questionable decision. If the public outcry is loud enough, the right decision will be made.
With this in mind, the students’ campaigns seem valid, as they are only heightening the issue in order to ensure the community’s well-being.
The students’ petitioning for cancelations isn’t hurting anyone. In fact, healthy communication from the student body is encouraged. Students expressing themselves is not an issue, nor should it be treated like one.
Instead of grousing about lazy kids, try to see #closeFCPS for what it is: an entertaining way for ordinary students to petition the school board on the community’s behalf.