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Don’t Cry Because It’s Over
Today I received a notice from my son’s school advising that they are going back to in-person classes in just over a week’s time.
If I’m honest, I don’t know how I feel about that.
Is it over? Are we on the other side? Have we passed the peak health risk?
For context, I live in Perth, Western Australia. With a population of 2.5 million people, Western Australia covers an area of roughly 2.5 million km². Relatively few people, and with borders closed nationally and internationally, it’s fair to say our remoteness shelters us. The health impact of COVID-19, according to the stats and when compared to elsewhere, is probably what you’d term reasonably contained. Of course, numbers mean nothing to those who have died, or been ill, as a result of the virus but they do mean something when you’re making wider policy decisions. The medical reports continue to state that the risk to children attending school is low and that school is the best place for them.
I understand that. At one level.
I do believe that the online classes — even as well as they were conducted — do not replace the upside of face to face learning.
I do believe that the best place for my teenage son’s mental and physical health is away from a computer screen…
