Rakhi Singh, a Delhi-NCR blogger, says being cooped up at home impacts emotional growth of school children and virtual learning can never replace the real
As schools are set to reopen, the troika of students, teachers and parents are about to undergo a transition all over again. Perhaps the shift, the adjustments are going to be similar to the ones we made for online classes at the beginning of the pandemic. Our daily routines will undergo major changes all over again. My two sons, aged 8 and 16, are students of the DLF Public School in Ghaziabad and are looking forward to the reopening of their schools after studying at home for nearly one and a half years.
It would have been reassuring if the government had rather worked on vaccinating the children before going ahead with the decision. I still feel a little scared about sending them to school. We could have waited for three-four months more… at least we would be past the predicted third Covid wave.
Many parents say that kids’ education has been hampered all the while the schools were closed, but I differ. I believe education has been fine; it is the emotional growth of children that has been impacted while they stayed cooped up at home. In schools, children are exposed to varied kinds of emotions, they understand that the same problem can be approached by different people in different manners and their eyes aren’t permanently glued to a screen.
My elder son saw some of his close friends lose either one or both parents to Covid and even though he has been very supportive of his friends, he wants to be there for them every day. This can only happen in a physical school environment.
While my elder son has grown up emotionally/socially, I feel my younger son has grown up practically amid this situation. Online classes meant he became more self-sufficient at doing classwork, uploading it and being more interactive with other classmates and teachers. I hope the efficiency in tasks spills over to his time in school too.
Both my husband and I contracted Covid during the second wave. And I saw how my sons managed their classes on their own with the support of their teachers, leaving me proud. So I feel once the schools reopen, they will be in a better position to be able to understand and love and respect their teachers better as well. The cohesion, the teamwork between parents, teachers and students is here to stay.
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The most important thing children were losing out on while the schools were closed, was on making new memories. I still remember my school days clearly and most of my emotional bonds are with friends from school time. I want my sons to know that memories are the cushions that support us when we get busy with life as we grow up.
Virtual life can never compare to the real. My elder son scored 96.4% in his Class 10 exams but wasn’t satisfied with the assessment procedure. They feel their achievements to be more solid and the assessment to be fairer in classrooms and campus environment than in online. So I really hope that both the young men feel more free and clear about their own thoughts, opinions and perspectives once they go to school.
During the first wave they watched a lot of news and were struck with the uncertainty of life. But they also saw how strangers can come together to help each other and bring a tiny amount of certainty, a sense of community and togetherness. I am sure once the schools reopen, children will be able to understand both themselves and others better.