Forget snow days, NJ schools apparently now close for this

Throughout the winter season, a handful of New Jersey schools will either close or have delayed openings over weather concerns. In other words, a glorious snow day for the kids.

For many schools across the state, having a snow day can be both exciting and unwanted. It's exciting because the kids get to miss school and enjoy time outside playing in the snow.

Or, if the kids are older, possibly going door-to-door making money shoveling and removing snow for their neighbors. Of course, that's the bright side to it.

The flip side is the impact on parents and guardians. What might've been a day in the office now turned into having to stay at home because the kids suddenly have nowhere to be for the day.

This, of course, is mainly an issue when kids are young. When they're older, they're usually more self-sufficient.

Another thing that's different is when school closures and delays are typically announced. Instead of being the morning of, it's usually the day before.

That can be a good thing as it can help families plan for the possibility of a school closure. Of course, following the forecast can also help you get a leg up on planning for the possibility.

But that's for snow days, something all parents in New Jersey should know how to prepare for. Unfortunately, there is now a new reason a school might close that gives very little advanced notice for the parents to prepare.

Technology Issues?

When it comes to snow, weather forecasts give you a general idea as to when a snow day might be looming. But outside of that, other reasons can be hard to predict.

One such reason recently happened in one New Jersey school district. Only with last-minute notice did parents of Freehold Public Schools learn that the schools would be closed the next day.

The closure was for the Monday coming out of a weekend. And it's scary to think an entire school district could be shut down over computer security (Read more about the Freehold TWP school closures here).

Blurring the lines

For the moment, let's forget that this happened in Freehold. Instead, think of this issue on a broader scale.

Also, let's think beyond a cyber attack and look at it even broader than that. Let's say, a server failure that runs the entire district.

The reason it's important to blur those lines for a moment is so we can focus specifically on the technology now used in schools. By doing that, it allows us to look at how reliant we've become on computers.

Old School Learning?

Closing New Jersey's schools is no longer reserved for snow. It now applies to technology issues, as noted with the Freehold TWP School district closure on January 29, 2024.

The school did nothing wrong, they just did what they had to do under the circumstances. Without the technology being available, a normal school day could not take place for the students.

And that's concerning. We've become so reliant on technology that we apparently can't revert back to old-school methods to fully get us through the day. Or if we can, we can't do it without the aid of technology.

What kids say

After hearing about this, I asked my own two kids if they learn without computers or technology of any form in the classroom. They both said no.

In fact, I wasn't even aware of how heavily technology is relied upon throughout a regular school day. Whatever happened to old-school books with paper and pencil?

Yes, they get paper homework, but in school, it's a different story. Yes, they do some assignments on paper, but a good chunk of their days is spent staring at a screen.

This means if one school district can be shut down over technology issues, all of them can. Whether we like it or not, it's among one of the new school days of the modern era.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.