People living in their comfort zone while schooling and working remotely have been getting caught on camera while using the bathroom. The university reports that these types of incidents have skyrocketed. 

It all started with the Zoom meetings. People have gone through instances of having their cameras turned on, to normalizing a black screen.

Ben Shrew, a university professor, says that his students’ lack of participation in his class made him question the seven years he took on to obtain his PhD in archeology.

“It’s sad … I’m sad. I never even imagined that a pandemic would drive me to question my self-worth as a teacher,” Shrew said. 

Finally, he came up with a solution. 

“I told students in all the classes I teach, ‘Okay, you have to have your cameras on and actively participate in our class discussions.’ The 35 percent grade weight really motivated them,” Shrew said. 

Shrew reported a dark story that ultimately retracted that requirement.

Students have taken their devices during a bathroom break, and forget to unmute their microphones and turn their cameras off. Shrew says that he heard someone humming one time, which he didn’t mind, but that was not all that happened.

“Then I heard a zipping sound, followed by the sound of someone peeing. They sighed and flushed the toilet,” Shrew said. “She didn’t even wash their hands. Nobody said anything when she came back and she continued to actively participate in the class discussion.” 

Instances like this continue happening throughout the semester and have not only disrupted students’ learning. It has  left a rather uncomfortable environment with every occurrence. Shrew says that it did become too much one time, and he learned new ways to swear the day it happened.

“The last straw was when my class was interrupted with knocking sounds, followed by a stream of profanities and something about too much chilli,” Shrew said. “Nobody knew what to say. The offending student realized it when another student spoke up.”

Since then, the student has dropped the class. 

“I heard that the student transferred to a different university. I don’t know if that’s all talk,” Shrew said. 

Over the past year in isolation, people have gotten accustomed to the comfort of their own home. What once was seen as “unprofessional” is now seen as the new norm. Business suits and heels turned to PJ sets and fuzzy slippers. People have quite literally, let their hair down. Au naturel is finally celebrated, as it should. 

Still, it does not erase the fact that there are many other stories similar to Shrew’s across the continent.

 Professor Brita Beach says that she has piles of incident reports that accumulated over the past six months alone. 

“It’s overwhelming. Every day, I see at least 15 emails,” Beach said. “Students are expressing that professors should not have the authority to tell them to turn on their cameras and microphones in their own home.”

Students began to collectively miss their synchronous and monitored laboratory and exams. This was the third strike for Beach.

“I finally see their side,” Beach said. “Their privacy is compromised … and I am sorry that they had to go through that.”

Universities are looking into mitigating these disruptive issues and finding a middle ground for everyone, while giving the full class experience as much as possible. 

“Ultimately, we want what’s best for our students as they push through their academic career,” Beach said.

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The Sheaf

Graphic: Anh Phan | Graphics Editor