Students show how they went back to school with candid video diaries

Nov. 20, 2020

Arlington, Va.—As schools across the country started the 2020-2021 academic year in different ways, PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL) reached out to students to document their unique experiences through video diaries.

Video diaries offered a unique way for students to process and report what they are feeling. Teens were able to document their feelings, not just for the history-making nature of this moment, but to articulate their experience and organize their thoughts in a compelling way.

Detroit-area Leads the Way With DPTV

In the Detroit-area, F.V. Pankow Center, Cass Technical, Fraser, and Royal Oak High Schools contributed several stories from students who shared their honest feelings about returning to school, which aired on Detroit Public Television (DPTV) and the PBS NewsHour in September 2020. DPTV also showcased student contributions in the following pieces:

• School Daze: One Detroit Education Special
• Returning to School: Students’ Hopes & Concerns
• Student Panel with DPTV’s OneDetroit about virtual learning

‘Teens, Covid & Coping’: WETA Special

On October 20, 2020, SRL schools were also featured in a virtual event produced by WETA, D.C. and Northern Virginia’s local PBS station, where students shared their candid responses to the ways in which the pandemic is impacting their mental health. Watch the ‘Teens, Covid and Coping” Compilations below:

• How the pandemic affected teen mental health
  • Featured Labs: Wauwautosa East High (WI), Howard Blake High (FL), Clay-Chalkville High (AL), McCallum High (TX), Westview High (CA), John F. Kennedy High (MD), Jersey Village High (TX), Rouse High (TX), Green Hill High (TN), Arthur and Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts (FL), Independence High (NC), and Hallie Wells Middle School (MD)
• Using music, sports and art to cope with the pandemic
  • Featured Labs: Clay Chalkville High (AL), Frederick Douglass High (MD), McCallum High (TX), Howard Blake High (FL)
• Without social activities, students are struggling with isolation
  • Featured Labs: McCallum High (TX), Royal Oak High (MI), Rouse High (TX), Frederick Douglass High (MD)
• “I feel like I’m trapped:” Students discuss anxiety and depression during the pandemic
  • Featured Labs:John F. Kennedy High (MD), Orlando High (FL), McCallum High (TX), Howard Blake High (FL), Wauwatosa East High (WI), Rouse High (TX)
• FULL virtual event 
  • Featured student panelists: Bridgette Adu-Wadier (VA), Irving Oliver (SC)

Additional Pieces

SRL published a variety of student-produced submissions on YouTube and our website. Explore:

• Back to School Video Diaries Playlist on YouTube:
  • This brother helps his special needs sibling navigate remote learning – Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  • Student pandemic diaries: from pancakes to script-writing – Howard Blake High School – Tampa, FL
  • How this mom handles 6 distance learning students from her home – Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  • Nursing student navigates the dangers of working in the medical field during the pandemic – Mid-Maine Technical Center in Waterville, ME
  • Teen questions why schools weren’t adhering to safety measures before pandemic – Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville, Texas
  • The tricky dynamics of Zoom band class – Westview High School in San Diego, California
  • These students use apps to stay connected during the pandemic – Howard Blake High School – Tampa, FL
  • Students find normalcy in in-person learning – Jersey Village High School in Jersey Village, Texas
  • Hopeful EMT manages work and school load with positivity – Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California
  • This new Tennessee high school opened amid the pandemic – Green Hill High School in Mount Juliet, Tennessee

More on how the pandemic is affecting students:

• How the pandemic is magnifying mental health issues
• “I’m scared for what the future is going to be like”
• SRL Covid Stories

About SRL

PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL) is building the next generation of informed media creators and consumers by connecting educators with an innovative video journalism curriculum and network of public broadcasting mentors to develop digital media, critical thinking, and communication skills while producing original news reports from a youth perspective. Over 160 schools across 46 states and the District of Columbia participate, reaching 3,000 students. Over the last decade, SRL youth media producers have helped students place over 50 video news reports on the PBS NewsHour’s nightly broadcast and more on local media outlets. Visit www.studentreportinglabs.org to learn more.

About PBS NewsHour

For more than 40 years, millions of Americans and citizens of the world have turned to the PBS NewsHour for the solid, reliable reporting that has made it one of the most trusted news programs on television. PBS NewsHour is a production of NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of WETA Washington, DC, in association with WNET in New York. More information on PBS NewsHour is available at www.pbs.org/newshour. On social media, visit PBS NewsHour on Facebook or follow NewsHour on Twitter. 

Support Provided By

The MacArthur Foundation, National Institutes of Health SEPA partnership, The American Graduate: Getting to Work initiative, public media’s long-term commitment, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to help young people succeed in school, career, and life.