The Voices of Wisconsin Students – A snapshot of student voices related to connectedness and belonging

June 14, 2021

In the following document we take a focused look at findings from the Voices of Wisconsin Students Project that are specific to the topics of connectedness and belonging. We highlight findings from the high school student focus groups. However, many of these same themes are reflective of the findings of the middle school reports and are relevant to middle school students as well. For more information and copies of the project reports, see http://www.wipps.org/voices.

Lack of Connectedness and Belonging during COVID-19

Virtual students generally reported diminished connectedness and belonging, compared to in-person students.

Many students expressed a lack of connectedness to their school, teachers, and friends. This was especially pronounced for students in virtual learning environments. In-person students were more apt to express that they still feel like people care about them (at school) and not feel left out.

For example, one in-person learning student noted, “When I’m at school, I feel really connected. Our senior class has 60 kids; I am with a lot of the same kids all day.” Some students expressed this directly with statements such as, “I feel disconnected.” The lack of connectedness made it easier for some students not to do their homework because no one knew who they were, and there were no regular check-ins on the status of assignment completions until the end of the semester. Not being able to access help or tutoring services further contributed to feeling disconnected from school; for some students, this would snowball and result in them falling behind, losing track of assignments, etc. While some noted that teachers were using breakout rooms during classes, many students strongly disliked being in breakout rooms, noting that often students do not turn their cameras on (“breakout rooms are the worst thing ever”) or that the experience is “awkward” when only a few people have their cameras on, and no one else participates. There were a few instances of students who had more positive experiences with breakout rooms (specifically, “When I do get in a group where everyone is talking, it’s lots of fun.” But many virtual students believe that teachers “don’t have a connection with virtual students” or that “they don’t pay attention to the virtual – only the in-person.”

Students expressed mixed feelings about belonging, with those attending school

Virtual students may not feel like they are in a “school” (“I am just on a computer with some people”). They also may feel less included and accepted and miss their friends. Virtual school can be especially hard for those who are shy or have difficulty “putting themselves out there to make friends.” One virtual student noted, “I feel like I am on my own, surviving this pandemic on my own.” Access to friends and the ability to make friends is a key aspect of student connectedness and belonging. One student described “stress and depression and hopelessness when you can’t see friends.” In some cases, a student may be more proactive in trying to connect with teachers by joining office hours, showing their face on camera more, and answering questions.

Students who transitioned from middle school to 9th grade last fall described feeling especially disconnected from their school and peers; in several cases, freshmen students expressed that they have never physically set foot in their school building.

In situations where students from multiple middle or junior high schools feed into a larger high school, freshmen felt it was more challenging to make new friends or get to know their classmates virtually. For example, one freshman noted that, “I’m a freshman, so I don’t know what most of my class looks like, which is really odd, just knowing like four or five people in my class looks like. It’s really strange. And so there’s like, the community is just completely lost there. I barely know anybody, and it’s really difficult to make friends during a Zoom call. So it’s weird, for sure.”

Reinforcing a common understanding of the collective challenges helped some students feel less alone.

“I feel more belonging – a common sense of everyone is struggling exists in the school. We regularly discuss mental health issues and the pandemic.” Another student expressed this as, “But now we’re all kind of like the same person where we’re like, oh, we’re all in the same situation. We can’t go out play sports. We can’t go to art clubs. So, in a way, I feel like that kind of connects us all and like makes me feel included.”

The Role of Sports, Clubs, and Activities in Fostering Connectedness

The students expressed that sports, clubs, and extracurricular activities help them feel more connected to their school, their friends, and their peers.

Sports, clubs, and activities help students feel a sense of connectedness and belonging. Some students expressed a sense of unfairness of seeing sports take place but not clubs. This gives them a sense of feeling “overlooked,” as if clubs are not as important as sports. Those without access to sports said they missed their community. The ability to see and talk with friends and participate in sports and extracurricular activities with peers were key elements of students feeling connected to others and to their school.

Many students reported that their communications with friends from school has decreased during COVID-19 and they have lost contact with friends. Some have lost contact due to differences among their friend group in terms of the amount of social activity that they can engage in. Some noted that they had not seen some of their friends since last March’s school closures. Some students are finding ways to maintain connections on their own or are making more of an effort to reach out through SnapChat, FaceTime calls, texting, Discord, writing letters, multiplayer online games, and doing assignments and homework together online. Several students noted, “I am using FaceTime a lot more this year,” and, “I FaceTime my friends a lot more than I used to. We do our homework while we are FaceTiming together.” Connecting with friends outside of school in community or youth organizations (for example, Scouts) has also been a way for some to connect. Others appreciated the small things that they can do while in school such as having socially distant lunch periods.

Several students expressed the personal challenges they have experienced when they see their classmates doing things (sports, social activities, etc.) that they cannot because they have to participate in virtual school (because they or a family member is particularly high risk).

One student noted that it “amplifies the feeling of being an outsider.” One student mentioned having to watch from home and take notes when the anatomy class that was doing dissection.

The Role of Sports, Clubs, and Activities in Fostering Connectedness

The students expressed that sports, clubs, and extracurricular activities help them feel more connected to their school, their friends, and their peers.

One student noted that it “amplifies the feeling of being an outsider.” One student mentioned having to watch from home and take notes when the anatomy class that was doing dissection.

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