Kids deserve to be at school, but just for some fun
We started the pandemic getting March Break all wrong, with Premier Doug Ford telling everyone to travel and have fun. A year later, his government is still not getting it right, postponing the break to April 12 when — take this prediction to the bank — it will have to be postponed again or cancelled. It's too bad nobody is thinking about how to give kids a much-needed rest while being safe in school.
I get the arguments in favour of having a normal break. I found Dr. Gail Beck's recent column in the Citizen very compelling. Everybody wants it: kids, teachers, school administrators and support staff. It's just that we can't have it because normal isn't on the menu this year either.
There is no question students have a pretty big hole in their academic curriculum. I admire the resiliency and ingenuity of teachers who have quickly pivoted to online learning, and I make a point of telling them how much I appreciate their work and efforts every chance I get. But the curriculum was not designed to be delivered that way. On the other hand kids have learned many valuable life lessons that nobody had planned on teaching them, including the importance of making sacrifices for the sake of others and learning to make the best of what you've got. On the whole, I think they're ahead.
What worries me is the impact the last year has had on their social life, their mental health and their need to be heard. And that's without saying anything about kids who are not safe — physically, emotionally, psychologically — at home and who desperately need more time at school, in the care of kind adults. The fact that nobody speaks for these children doesn't mean we're allowed to forget them.
We adults are pretty good at expressing ourselves. But have you noticed kids have just been made to go along with rules that keep changing and online instruction for which they are not naturally gifted while stuck at home with siblings and no friends? Do we let them talk about how they're feeling at all?
And when they talk anyway, do we listen?
Kids aren't dumb, you know. They understand perfectly well that adults haven't got a sweet clue how to wrestle this microscopic enemy. Somehow, they put up with our inability to end the crisis. I'm not sure Teenager Me would have been this patient.
We should have schools open for March Break and use that week as a mental-health break for kids. A week during which they go to school like normal, but instead of trying to learn something, they get to chill, play games, talk or express themselves using art or music or anything else they come up with.
Families who wish to do something else could keep their kids at home. There could be a directive that while schools are open, anyone can opt out if they want. But for all the families dreading another week of parents trying to work while keeping their darlings from strangling one another over the PS4, this kind of break-in-school would provide much-needed relief.
True, teachers would end up with the short end of the stick; they would have to be in school. But they wouldn't have to teach or grade or anything. They could have movies or games or just jam sessions with the kids, to hear what they have to express.
Let the kids be in charge of what they want to do for a week, even if it's discussing their favourite anime characters. Wouldn't that be a welcome change for them? To have a small measure of control and have adults follow their lead, even if just for a little while?
A week when nobody is trying to accomplish anything beyond trying to have a little fun and time to breathe and relax. Give the kids a chance to be kids — to be carefree — for a week, while ensuring they are safe. They've earned it. They also plainly need it.