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Before anyone jumps on school kids & blames them for the infection rate, hereâs a quick view from their side... I have a teen who is desperately trying to learn amongst the chaos. The school are doing the best they can, but rooms & buildings are too small for 2m distance /1
All the students do their best to stay far enough away from their teachers. Timetables have been rearranged to have less movement through the day. Staggered start & finish times. /2
On Friday 2 students received positive test results. By the end of the day, half the year group had been identified as possible close contacts and were sent home. âEvery time we heard footsteps in the corridor we were waiting to see who would be told to leave nextâ kid said /3
A nervous 24 hours followed as a possible close contact got tested so my kid would know if she had to self-isolate too. She didnât sleep much that night. Sheâs not afraid of being ill, but she knows someone who sat near her this week is asthmatic. /4
My kid is not alone in having had an anxiety attack, or stress-crying. She lost a grandparent this year to COVID so itâs all very real in our house. One of her self-isolating friends has an immune compromised parent. They are all worried about infecting their teachers. /5.
Meanwhile, my kid & all her friends are having to make uni/post-school choices. They look at social media to see how different unis are supporting students right now. (Quick shout out to @edgehill - Iâm proud to say weâre doing better than many with this). /6.
All in all, being a teenager is bloody hard at the best of times. In a pandemic itâs very much harder. They didnât make the choice to keep schools open, but most of them still want an education, and a future. They are scared, anxious and worried. /7.
So if you are going to blame anyone, blame the govt. for not providing enough funding & resources to make being in school safer, or having a 2 week lockdown/half term in Oct. Then take a moment to acknowledge the incredible stress these teenagers are experiencing. /8.
How we as adults support young people now, teaches them how to support others in turn. Letâs do a good job. //.
