At present, Coronavirus is still rampant around the world, which is a common problem faced by all mankind. By failing to follow the prevention and control guidelines, it shows irresponsibility, inconsideration, and disrespect towards others. As schools began to welcome its students, many U.S. colleges and universities explicitly ask students to maintain a social distance and wear face masks to avoid the spread and facing severe punishment.
One freshman at Cornell University, Jessica Zhang, had 500,000 followers on TikTok. Other Cornell students found that Jessica had not complied with the university's requirements for pandemic prevention and control. Although Coronavirus is the only virus infection among 30 people at Cornell, other students believed that Jessica's behavior of organizing parties without masks during the pandemic endangered the health and safety of the campus and the community. Therefore, one student created a joint website to request the university to consider her expulsion. By the end of August, nearly 3,000 Cornell students had petitioned the university to expel Jessica.
Of course, some students think that Jessica should not be expelled and this reason is because the increased school regulations due to the pandemic have made students the so-called COVID-19 "police". No one has any freedom under this atmosphere, and everyone is being watch by others, and it is possible that even your best friend might report you. The students who oppose the expulsion worry that a college environment based on trust and community will be subverted by the threat of punishment from their classmates. Second, young adults are being forced into difficult positions, such as peer monitors and public health chiefs—it seems to me that their views are not well thought out. First of all, Jessica should have known about the rules and regulations of Cornell University before she came to the university. She should not knowingly endanger other students by going against the Coronavirus policies after the school has specified a requirement. Secondly, if Jessica thinks the requirements of the school are not humane enough, or do not give her enough personal freedom, she can choose to transfer to another school or take a year off. Both options are allowed at Cornell. So, I think the individual student's point of view is that there is no well-thought-out emotional impulse.
I have some different ideas about whether or not Jessica should be expelled from the college. Jessica indeed violated the rules, but no rule says that the penalty for violating the terms of the new regulation is expulsion. Jessica cannot possibly be the only one that violated the school rules, especially this year. Therefore, I think it is irrational for the school to expel Jessica, but an appropriate punishment should be found to make Jessica realize the seriousness of her mistake.
I think there are two kinds of sympathy. The first is the weakness of the heart, the instinctive pain at seeing others punished, the lack of comprehensive and thorough thought. It was an emotional impulse. The other is sympathy with calm and rational analysis. With correct understanding, perseverance, and strong patience, it is only in the unhurried and indomitable condition that one can truly help and guide others.
I think Jessica's behavior against the school rules and regulations is definitely wrong. Although she made a public apology on social media after being discovered by other students, it is commendable to admit her mistake, but I think this apology does not change the fact that if students ignore the epidemic prevention rules, they may put innocent students at risk of getting the virus. After all, 7,000 people became infected just a week after the start of college. Jessica should be punished in this case, because she did violate the existing rules and brought risks to the community, but the punishment of expulsion from Cornell University is a bit too cruel. Some may argue that the apology might be for the show as she is a prominent figure in social media. Therefore, by giving her a time to reflect on her previous mistakes with at least 6 months of community service may be an ideal approach. If she happens to make the same mistakes during or after the 6 months, it makes sense for her to be given a harsher punishment such as expulsion. I hope that this incident reminds all students to be considerate and mindful of their community and the pandemic.
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