In a world filled with the coronavirus, our classes look very different from normal. Our lives are now centered around Zoom calls and virtual class lectures, and being portrayed as a little square is now the new normal. But what if you turn your little square off? 

Some professors say that turning your video off during a Zoom call is disrespectful. However, hiding your face and your surroundings during this unprecedented time is not disrespectful but rather a right that all students have. 

Normally, classes are held in a neutral location where all students are on level ground. However, Zoom classes are now happening everywhere. Students are now learning biology in their bedrooms or history in a car. These diverse learning environments may not be something a student is comfortable sharing with their classmates. 

The simple fact is that you never know a student’s living situation, and they should not be forced to disclose that information.

According to a survey conducted by NC State in 2017, 9.6% of NC State’s students experienced homelessness. The same study revealed that 4.5% of all North Carolina’s youth are classified as homeless. These numbers help to highlight the high levels of housing insecurity and class inequality experienced by NC State students. It is the right of the students not to disclose their living conditions to their classmates when they are trying to learn.

When a student is uncomfortable with showing their surroundings, their ability to focus on the material declines. They become more focused on how their classmates view them than what the professor is saying. Therefore, it is the students’ right to take away these learning distractions by turning off their Zoom videos and hiding their surroundings.

In addition to having the right to privacy, every student has the right to prioritize their mental health over showing their face on a Zoom call. 

Typically, when a student sits in class, they are aware that all eyes are on the professor. This therefore reduces the amount of spotlight on them. However, on Zoom, students have the option of switching their personal device to gallery view and seeing everyone at once. 

This option puts the face of every student directly in the view of everyone else. Unlike with in-person classes, students no longer have the ability to fade into the background during class. Being able to turn your video off during a Zoom call protects a student’s right to not be up front and center for everyone to see. To help you understand why, let me take you back to that one class we have all wanted to forget.

Imagine you’re sitting down for a class that you are struggling with in person. Whether it’s chemistry, calculus or that one class you have for your major that just makes you want to cry. Your teacher walks in and immediately starts firing off equations and jargon that makes your head spin. Your chest starts to get tight and your eyes begin to tear up. You feel overwhelmed and lost because you have no idea what is going on. 

For me, this class was Calculus I. I had never cried in class before that.

The good news is no one is looking at you because they are all too focused on keeping up with the professor. Now imagine that same situation happening over a Zoom call where everyone can clearly see the tears welling up in your eyes and the down turn of your eyebrows that clearly tells them you have no idea what is going on. 

Everyone can clearly see you struggling. You now feel like you are under a spotlight where everyone knows how dumb you are. Your chest becomes tighter. Your anxiety skyrockets even more. You are no longer able to focus on anything your professor is saying because that spotlight feels all encompassing. Not only do you miss the rest of the lecture, but you are left feeling even more anxious, vulnerable and judged afterwards.

Every student has the right to put their own mental health first and create a less stressful learning environment when their anxiety becomes unmanageable.

Every student has the right to keep their surroundings private when class is not held in a neutral environment.

Every student has the right to do what they must in order to increase their ability to learn.

Every student has the right to turn their video off during Zoom calls, whether professors like it or not, because they don’t know what is going on with their students when they aren’t in a neutral environment.