This past year, a lot of very crazy, unexpected events rolled out the red carpet and strutted their way into our lives, causing mass havoc. First, we got hit by Covid-19, a virus that spread worldwide, causing mass panic and new laws to be implemented to help fight the virus now turned pandemic in only a few months. Many lives and jobs were lost, and a struggle to educate the youth has arisen. As the virus continued to spread and get worse by the day, the US got hit with mass riots and protests nationwide. These were the effects of the brutal and tragic passing of George Floyd. Police did not handle these riots and protests well, as more police brutality cases popped up across the US from the riots, which sparked even more controversies against the police. People are trying to find their own ways to deal with these major problems, but sometimes that's hard to do. When these problems showed up at our front doors, our lives were changed dramatically.

Covid-19 hit the US around mid-February to early March of 2020. At first, Covid shut down almost everything, and people were advised to stay in their homes. Because of this mass shut down, a lot of small, local, and already struggling businesses had to shut down entirely, as they had little to no income to keep their businesses open. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and had no income for months. Laws and private business rules were put in place to wear masks when in public areas and to create limits of how many people can be in one place at one time, to help flatten the curve and spread of the virus. Once these rules were put into place, businesses started to open back up, and people began to try to make life normal once more. The impact of Covid has been more intense than anyone could have imagined. The lives lost, the jobs lost, the struggle to educate the youth, nothing has been the same since. Education took a big hit during this pandemic. Schools are struggling to stay open, and kids are having to learn virtually, which for some students is very hard. Teaching reading virtually isn't too bad, as students can read on their own and most parents will be able to help them in person. Math, on the other hand, is a whole different story. An article on Brookings.edu states “the math achievement of students in 2020 was about 5 to 10 percentile points lower compared to same-grade students the prior year” (Kuhfeld). While everyone was trying to deal with Covid and still go on with their daily lives, there was another setback, riots.

The riots that started in late march of 2020 all had one cause, the passing of George Floyd. George Floyd was being arrested by officers when one officer decided to put his knee on George's neck while George was handcuffed laying face down on the ground. This caused George to not be able to breathe and subsequently passed away at the hospital, where they tried to revive him. Because of this mistreatment of a black man by white officers, the people went wild. They started burning down businesses left and right, raiding and stealing items from inside, and defacing statues and other public properties. Many more small businesses that were already struggling from covid were hit with these raids and many owners lost their businesses to these attacks. Brad Polumbo, a journalist who wrote an article on Fee about the situation, says that “Axios reveals that the total insured property losses incurred during the George Floyd riots will come in at $1 billion to $2 billion”(Polumbo). That's already a ton of money, but wait, there’s more! The article also tells us that those estimates don't include the cost of the privately owned businesses that were destroyed or hurt during these riots, stating that “75 percent of US businesses are underinsured and about 40 percent of small businesses have no insurance at all. Their untold millions in losses don’t show up in the $2 billion figure” (Polumbo). Some people, however, took a different approach to this conflict. 

There were also groups seen around the US peacefully protesting. These groups would protest to show that they too, cared about the cause, but knew that violence would get them nowhere. You would think these groups would be left alone, and would maybe even be listened to, but you would be dead wrong. Police started showing up to these protests with full riot gear and tried to get them to stop, as they didn't want the protest turning into another riot. However, studies showed that coming to these protests ready for them to turn into riots provoked people to start rioting, especially when Police would tear gas the protesters for no reason but to get them to stop something they are legally allowed to do. Maggie Koerth and Jamiles Lartey tell us that "disproportionate police force is one of the things that can make a peaceful protest not so peaceful” (Koerth). Now not all Police are trying to use this tactic. Some police are going down to the protests and joining them, showing them that not all police are bad people, and showing the people that they also care about the cause. I'm glad at least some police are seeing the issue with going in ready for an all-out brawl and just simply helping them protest their opinions. 

Even with the chaos, people are still finding new ways to deal with these situations every day. More and more people are coming out of the house and going on with their daily lives, as cautions for the virus are everywhere now, and vaccines are finally being distributed to help stop Covid-19. Schools have started to open back up, starting the new year up as soon as they could, letting students choose if they want to do in person or online school. Riots across the US have subsided, as people finally understood that violence is solving nothing, and new solutions need to be found. Peaceful protests are still being carried out, but police have stopped being violent with them, and let them show their opinions. Police brutality has shot down substantially, as congress is working to make bills to stop police brutality as a whole. As people start listening to each other and start finding more and more ways to stop our problems, our lives can come to be peaceful once more. The more people decide to listen to one another, the more problems we can work together and solve as a group, instead of fighting each other over every little inconvenience. 

In Conclusion, a lot of these events have changed our lives significantly in the past year. Some people probably weren't as affected as others during these trying times and haven’t changed at all. These people, however, most likely make up the top 1% of people in the US, meaning most normal people were still heavily affected by these events. As a society, we are starting to grow and change to adapt to this new world. The more people decide to listen, the better judgment they will obtain. There were setbacks in 2020, but with setbacks only comes prosperity. No one knows how long the prosperity will take to have its complete effect, but with all we’ve learned in 2020, I don't believe it will be too long for that to happen. If we can get people to listen to one another, and stop the petty arguments that cause bigger problems that could be avoided, we’ll be able to solve anything that stands in our way. However, we are still in the process of learning to listen to each other. This moment in history will never be forgotten by the ones that have lived through it, and I believe looking back on everything that has happened will help people understand what needs to be done. I believe that together, we can create the world we all want, the way we want to.

Works Cited

Koerth, Maggie, and Jamiles Lartey. “Why so Many Police Are Handling the Protests Wrong.” The Marshall Project, 1 June 2020, www.themarshallproject.org/2020/06/01/why-so-many-police-are-handling-the-protests-wrong.

Kuhfeld, Megan, et al. “How Is COVID-19 Affecting Student Learning?” Brookings Institution, 3 Dec. 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/12/03/how-is-covid-19-affecting-student-learning/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2021.

Polumbo, Brad. “George Floyd Riots Caused Record-Setting $2 Billion in Damage, New Report Says. Here’s Why the True Cost Is Even Higher | Brad Polumbo.” Fee.org, Fee, 16 Sept. 2020, fee.org/articles/george-floyd-riots-caused-record-setting-2-billion-in-damage-new-report-says-here-s-why-the-true-cost-is-even-higher/#:~:text=Stories-. Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.