“I really don’t know what will happen when all of this is over. I am afraid that I guh can’t send me son back to school because he is paying no attention to any schoolwork right now. He just concentrating on the screens and to get him involve in schoolwork is a hassle.”
These were the words of a frustrated parent, who, like many others, has been battling to cope with the new normal of our children receiving their education, as limited as it has been, at home, because of schools being closed due to the novel coronavirus. I have heard the fears, frustration, anger, and anxiety of many parents since their children’s classrooms are now in their homes. While they are being assisted by the schools, parents still have to become teachers, especially for the younger children and it is a role that many cannot seem to adjust to.
But what is also worrying is the older children who are referred to as “independent learners” and whose work many parents find difficult to understand. What is worrying is getting the older children to actually complete their work as some seem to be losing interest in school.
“Let me tell you, as children grow older, especially boys, some are not interested in school anymore and now with what is happening—them being out of school for months—it will hard to get them to go back to school,” a parent told me.
“I have heard in a particular community, children are being employed as block makers, you know, the young boys. Now tell me, they making money and could be even contributing to their homes. How you getting them back to go to school?
“Now don’t get me wrong I am not blaming anyone because we all know this is something new and every country in the world is affected and battling with how to really deal with it. But this is just the facts, this is going to cause many children to lose interest in school and it is a frightening thing,” the worried parent added.
“In my community, I am seeing the young children, especially the boys, on the streets at all hours and I am wondering what is going to become of these children. Some are just riding around, doing what only God knows what and others are liming. I am saying I don’t know if their teachers are sending work, [and] I don’t even know if they have any access.
“These are children whose parents are not home most of the times and even those who home now is like nobody is doing anything,” another worried woman told me.
I have heard the same sentiments expressed by many and even though my children are a little younger I am also concerned. Not that it would be a difficulty getting them back to school, but it is really about getting them back into the rhythm of the school schedule. They have become so accustomed to being at home and even when they have schoolwork, it is done at their own pace and with so much distraction around them, it is really a worrying time for our children.
“I have to become a police in my own house just to ensure that my son do a little work. In the nights if I don’t take away the devices or turn off the internet, he is not sleeping and when I do that it is like we become enemies. It is like pulling teeth to get him to talk to me and while I behave like I don’t care, it hurts me,” one parent told me candidly.
“It is like you just want the best for them but they not seeing this. His sister is not far behind but she would be like hurrying to finish her work so she can then get to do her own thing. But with him, like he don’t even care about finishing the work. Every day is a battle. Sometimes I have to drag myself out of bed because I know what battle I have to fight,” she added.
A mother of a younger child spoke about having to sit for hours with her to ensure that the given work is completed.
“I am supposed to be working from home, but I don’t get to start my work until the afternoon at times because I have to be with her all morning and even in the afternoon to get the work done. As soon as I get up is like she forget about the work. I am there because you have to teach her the concepts. The teacher send the work, but I have to teach her to ensure she understands and that is a challenge by itself,” she said.
“And when I am done with her then I have my work to do. When I am doing my work, of course, she is doing her own thing. She plunk in front of the television and to be honest I am happy in one sense because I need to concentrate on my work but very unhappy in another sense… she does not need all that TV time.”
Like many I believe that the younger children will quickly readapt to school life, though it will be a challenge. But it is the older children that we have to worry about. Some are self-motivated and know what they want in life but there are others who really do not want to go to school and that is a fact. They are told that school is important but maybe they question whether it is, and some just have no interest in learning.
“My nephew already told his mother that he is not going back to school because school is not for him. He is in form three and has always struggled and he said to his mother if she wants to push him to fail because book work is not for him. He wants to go out and work, but she is insisting that he goes back to school and to be honest I don’t know how it would end,” a distraught aunt told me.
An educator expressed the view that a significant number of children will not return to school when the doors are reopened.
“That is just the reality. They will not go back, and parents and guardians will be unable to send them back. I would encourage them that if they are seeing the signs and the children are about fourth form then maybe they should start having conversations with them to see what their interests are. Forcing them to return to school may not be the best thing for all of them,” she opined.
I could see how that suggestion will not sit well with everyone as many want their children to have at least a secondary school education. These are indeed trying times and we all just have to find our best coping mechanisms. We parents are the adults in the situation and as confusing as it may all seem we have to somehow let it all make sense to our children and chart a course for them so that at the end of it all they are not lost.
As parents we just have to do what we have to do in some form or fashion. Hold it up and try our best, ask for advice when needed, but we cannot give up, we cannot fail our children.
