This is for the children.
The public-school school children, the now-homeschooled children, the lost children, the brilliant children, the struggling children.
This is for the children.
In March, I was sent home from work and told not to return for two weeks. As a teacher, I experience burn out throughout the year. There’s the push from Thanksgiving until Christmas. Then the push from Spring Break to the end of year festivities… just to name a couple. So, in March, the news of an extra-long Spring Break fell happily onto my ears. We didn’t know we weren’t going to return to that school year. And we definitely didn’t realize when we returned in August, everything would still be…off.
I am a fully (mostly) functioning adult. I have reasoning skills, the ability to process information and do research when I don’t fully understand. I have experience being isolated and removed from people at times because those were situations that were desirable. I have dealt with loss, death, stress, and sickness for almost 30 years now. I got this. But…do I? This pandemic has my mental health in the shitter if I’m being completely honest. I go from being elated, to distraught, to calm, to in a frenzy, all within hours, if not minutes. Nothing is consistent, especially my mood. Now, remember I said I’m a fully functioning adult?
What about the children?
What about those children that have support from teachers and friends, but not their family? What went through their mind when Spring Break was longer than it was supposed to be? And when they got news that they weren’t going to return to school until August did their hearts break? I wonder about the mental health of not only the adults going through this pandemic, but the children. I’ve heard people say, “Children are resilient…” or, “Children will learn a new normal more easily than adults.” Those statements might not be un-true, but they also forgo a lot of necessary information and ideas. Yes, children are resilient…when their basic needs are being met. Yes, children learn a new normal (getting used to wearing a mask) and maybe more easily than adults, but what does that “new normal” do to their psyche? What’s the long-term effects on their social-emotional growth and the ability to connect with other humans?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed American’s at the end of June. What they found was alarming, but not surprising. Anxiety and depression have increased sharply across age groups, but young people seemed to be hit the hardest. These children were cut off from their peers, their routines, their life and have now been spending more time at home, where they are most likely to have access to lethal weapons. I’ve talked to coworkers who are growingly concerned about their pre-teen, who already had a hard time making and keeping friends, but now is totally isolated in her room, listening to her teacher on a Zoom call while all her peers have their cameras off and their mics muted.
People need people. They need compassion and connection. They need grace and forgiveness, acceptance and understanding.
My friend told me the other day her second graders come back to school from their Winter Break this Monday. And then state testing starts.
I was nearly brought to tears. I’ve had mixed feelings about the public-school system since I started working in it 6 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, public school do amazing things every day and are filled with some of the hardest working people I know. However, the ideology that these students need to perform in a certain percentile by a certain time never sat right with me. I understand the importance of growth. I understand the drive to become a lifelong learner, to question things, to be driven by what you know and even more driven by what you don’t yet know. I get all of that. I also get that we are going through a pandemic and learning/school has never looked like this before. Since March, these children have learned so many new skills – technological skills, academic skills, social skills. They have had their worlds ripped apart, their social lives destroyed, and their concept of safety and consistency turned upside down. Where is our compassion? Where is our understanding? Test anxiety is one of the most common learning challenging within elementary and middle school students in America. And now my friend tells me her second graders need to sit at the computer, with a parent visible, but not helping, and complete a standardized state test. Give me a break.
Give the children a break.
The only thing I’m concerned about my students learning this year is how to be a good human because this last year has shown us there are so many not decent humans filling our country. There are racists, there are money-hungry billionaires, there are crooked cops and crooked systems, there are people that will tear you apart in an Instagram comment, and there is everything in between. We should not be worried about what percentile our children are in when it comes to academics. We should not be scared they will “fall behind.” These children are not falling behind, they are learning to exist in a “new normal.” They are navigating unknown territory and they are struggling. I am struggling. We are all struggling.
Ya know, in May last year I was thinking “Hmm…maybe since all these kids “lost” three months of school, the school systems will take a step back and look at what’s really the most critical learning a child needs to develop during their time at school.” Does a kindergartener really need to write a three sentence paragraph? Does that apply to their world? Does a first grader need to be scolded because he can’t sit still? Or does he just need more movement throughout his day and less time sitting in a desk? Are the standards we created for each grade level really achievable if students are learning virtually? Is the amount of work given really appropriate for those who don’t have access to consistent technology at home, or have two working parents that can’t help them login when they get shut out of a program? A program that is completely new to the teacher, student, and parents alike? I’m so tired of the push for success without the realization that we’ve been doing it wrong for quite some time. We’ve been pushing and pushing for academic success for years and our country’s mental health is plummeting. We are failing our children. We are still in a pandemic. We are still socially isolated. These children are still trying to take ahold of their “new normal.”
This is for the children.
I hear you. I see you. I understand you. I give you grace, compassion, and lenience during this unprecedented time. You got this, kid.
Average Thoughts 