I feel bad that this is my first blog post for ages. I have loads written in a notebook. I’ve just not yet managed to transfer them from book to screen.
I originally started writing this as a Facebook status but I realised it was really long so thought I would put it in a blog instead. Plus this way people have more of a choice to read it as this is just my opinion and my own fears.
The more I see about the reopening of schools the more one big thing seems to be being overlooked so and just my personal opinion but …
As the mum of a child in reception. My BIGGEST fear about him going back to school is not covid-19. It’s not that he might catch the virus. It’s not that he might carry the virus home. I agree with the science that children are in general the least likely to be affected by the virus and if he does return to school in June 1st as a family we are still sort of in lockdown and will continue to sheild the most vulnerable around us, so should he get the virus the likelihood that he would pass it on is slim.
My BIGGEST fear is not that he doesn’t understand social distancing. That he goes to school to be around his peers and to learn with them and from them. He goes to school to learn how to be social to mix with other children. My BIGGEST fear is not that, as a child with sensory issues, he licks things and chews thing that he shouldn’t. That he still needs a cuddle, that he needs someone to stand by him while he uses the toilet.
No my BIGGEST fear is that he will be made to social distance. That he will be sat on a table on his own. Expected to learn in his own little bubble. Told that he can’t play with his friends. Told not to stand to close and not to share and swap things. That teachers will step away from him if he gets too close. (Rightly so)
My BIGGEST fear is not the physical impact that covid-19 could have on my son (not that this doesn’t worry me) but the emotional impact it is having on him. He has already been disrupted when school suddenly stopped. When he came home from school lfor the weekend and didn’t go back. When we became educators and parts of the house became classrooms. What is going to happen when/if he goes back to school and it isn’t the same. And his friends aren’t there and he’s not in the same classroom with the same teacher. What is all this doing to there 5 year old brains, which lets face it struggle to cope with change.
Think how much lockdown affected adults and their emotional well being. How many more calls Mind and other mental health charities received. From adult who can understand and rationalise what is happening. Now think what it must be doing to our children.
Kimmiebee 