“Wake me up when September ends”, the famous song by Greenday seems to give a different meaning during these pandemic times. It has been months since school kids stick towards the new norm which is online learning and in October it is estimated that schools will finally be open in stages and children will once again be able to attend proper schooling sessions instead of through the lens of a computer desk.
I am sure that the ones most enthusiastic about school being reopened are the kids themselves as they have been pent up and confined inside the four corners of their home for an endless amount of time now. These prolonged confinement have definitely made them restless, to the point where they would take any opportunity to be able to live and experience the outside world, including the opportunity to go back to school every single morning.
Ten years ago, the thought of a schooling day would definitely have an apathetic reaction towards children. Kids those days would even make excuses in order to be absent from school as school was seen as a dreaded place to be. They slowly become accustomed through the presence of their peers in which they are able to meet during the schooling session and this is what makes schooling the very least bearable.
However, given the current situation where the number of Covid cases ranges around 19,000 per day and at and about an average of 300 deaths per day, the question that looms inside every teacher’s, parent’s and guardian’s mind is certainly ‘Are we ready to bring back the kids to school?’
Earlier this year, even before the lockdown was officially implemented there have been cases where parents are withholding their children from attending the schooling session upon the rise in the number of Covid cases within their very own vicinity. This is due to the nature of school kids in which they may still not be able to adhere to the notion of proper social distance in helping them keep themselves safe.
Since kids will always be kids, they are more likely to play with each other and in doing so may involve a lot of activities that may be in close proximity with each other. This may include activities which involve frequent physical contact which is literally impossible for teachers, parents or guardians to monitor on the safety and welfare of our school kids once every few seconds. Not to mention the ratio of the number of students attending schooling sessions has always outnumbered the school personnel within the school compound.
Thus, it pegs the question that are we truly ready to allow our kids to be exposed to the danger of them contracting Covid for the purpose of letting them experience a proper learning environment? Is everyday going to be an uphill battle for their safety and welfare in order to get a decent education?
Adding a new mixture of problems into the already complicated situation, there have been cases where school teachers are declining to be vaccinated which pose a tremendous amount of risk towards the school children.
Since currently there are no standard operating procedures in making the vaccines available to children, they are more at risk than ever upon stepping out from the safety of their own home. This is primarily why children are not allowed to enter business premises as they may not be protected from emerging Covid variants that is currently plaguing the nation.
It seems the kids are in a stalemate where they do not possess any means in having a normal life under the new norms. Therefore, we as adults should be the one who ensures the safety of our future generations.
Schools should be made a safer place for kids' learning environment and that includes their healthcare and well-being. Therefore, an urgent policy based making is needed in formulating the best course of action for them not to miss out any further from the limited amount of childhood that they have.
The government has a choice on whether to keep on implementing endless lockdowns as seen in these past few months or take the stern action of closing down every sector of business for a finite period, and monitor sporadic cases and tackle them accordingly.
For school personnel who are anti-vaxxers, they should disregard their own selfishness which are not based on any scientific reasoning and opt for vaccination as the only way for lockdown to be lifted is through achieving herd immunity in which they are an essential ingredient that everyone needs to be a part of.
Like it or not, Covid is here to stay for the long run, denial will not only hinder our ability to overcome the battle against Covid. Worse of all, the ones most suffering are the ones who do not currently possess any means to combat this deadly pandemic. Thus, all of you have a choice and a moral obligation to do what is right and necessary to ensure that our future generations will be able to step out on a world other than the four corners of the wall of their homes.
Only by striving together, we can put all of these behind us but this is not a solitary battle and requires our teamwork and cooperation as a whole to make out from this victory in the end. Other countries have overcome this strenuous battle and are able to enjoy a normal life. How long must we suffer and persevere due to our own selfish and egoistic desires which are based on false beliefs and premises?
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