Back in September of this school year, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors received new Chromebooks. Excitement of the presents was very high. Now as a student who has received one of these Chromebooks and has used it for several months, I can surely and accurately say I am disappointed. 

Simply getting rid of the old Chromebooks felt so nice. They were laggy, and they were breaking easily. Most students had technical trouble and it would be surprising to see a student who has not had at least one problem with them. 

A simple stroll into the Chromebook support room in the library could leave anyone baffled. The shelves of broken or damaged Chromebooks were nearing their limits. There might have been around 100 or so in there at a time.

The problem was obvious, and luckily, the school acted. They ended up doing the right thing and giving a new Chromebook to every student in the school, excluding this year’s senior class. They came to the rescue so to speak. 

At first, the new Chromebooks were heaven sent. They were much faster. On top of that, the battery life was at least twice that of the old ones. Everything seemed to be going fine. And it was going fine… for a bit. 

The Chromebooks began to change. Specifically they began changing in the exact same way they the old ones had. Say goodbye to one of the main reasons why we got new Chromebooks. 

With exams and EOCs coming up, it is important to have a charged, working Chromebook. It would be a tough situation for someone’s Chromebook to stop working suddenly during an exam, especially one that counts for 20% of a student’s final grade. 

The importance of a Chromebook goes past exams. In order to do 90% of the work teachers assign their students, a working Chromebook is the bare minimum. In an effort to increase trust and appease the student body, new Chromebooks should be introduced or a complete revamp of the current ones. 

This could include both software updates and or hardware changes. Both of these could be effective in eliminating the technical challenges faced by the students. In doing so, there will be an end to needless frustration and an especially relieving feeling to the students of Starr’s Mill.