Does sending your child to school this year scare you?
Leigh Mitchell
? CEO, ChangeMaker Collective, Recognized by StatsCan for DEI Leadership ??York&UofGuelphHumber Prof ???Host Empower Hour ? Brand Your Mission?? Marketing Services ? Personal Brand Coaching ? Join for $0 ??
You aren't alone. As a mother of two, I am worried about September. Normally I am fretting over not being organized for back to school and wanting to bask in the final days of summer. But this year I am feeling stretched in a different way.
Decision and role fatigue
Parents are struggling and I am as well. We worry every time we go into a store or visit a dear family member and question if we are doing the right thing.
Some of us are balancing working and parenting without any real support. Mental health and emotional resiliency are top of mind with everyone I speak to. Online schooling confused us when it was introduced and only got marginally better from my perspective. While I was grateful to all the teachers out there I couldn't wait to leave it behind.
So why aren't we jumping for joy that schools are welcoming us in-person five days a week?
It boils down the fact that we are scared. We feel damned if we do and afraid of how we could handle homeschooling if we don't want our children to return to school. There is no perfect solution. Each possibility presents risks and mental health challenges.
My decision
At this point, I have decided to send both my kids back because we have no pre-existing health issues and very social kids who want to go back. I wonder if it is safe to see those in our "bubble" who do have health issues once school is back in session.
I also feel scared for myself personally (and for my husband and children) getting COVID-19 since there is such a varying degree of how it impacts the healthiest of people. I am disappointed and shocked class sizes were not reduced in Ontario where I live, nor were suggested guidelines from the Sick Kids implemented. There is hope - sign a petition to reduce class sizes now.
? CEO, ChangeMaker Collective, Recognized by StatsCan for DEI Leadership ??York&UofGuelphHumber Prof ???Host Empower Hour ? Brand Your Mission?? Marketing Services ? Personal Brand Coaching ? Join for $0 ??
4 年This is pretty funny https://youtu.be/Yt7JhsbENPY
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4 年As well as the obvious and critical precautions for protecting against the virus, Leigh Mitchell - Marketer and Brand Strategist and Sara Bibb, CHRL, we need to be certain to support the holistic wellness of the children. I’m thinking deeply about how to support children’s wellness ~ along with that of their parents, and the educators who are all living inside the front lines in this journey ~ frightening on so many levels.
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4 年Well written Leigh Mitchell - Marketer and Brand Strategist and I am nervous sending my kids back too. I too have social kids who want to go back and learn in person (online is a temporary way for them to learn not a permanent one). They need that socialization as well. I am lucky because I live in a small town north east of Toronto and our community cases have been very low. Well over half are in the long term care homes so because of that I'm sort of ok with in person (now don't take that last sentence to mean I am ok with all the long term care cases we've had because I am not). I will see what happens as the kids go back and if I need to pull them out I will. All us parents have our own unique situations so I'd say decide what you know is best for your family. And it's ok if that decision is the wrong one. Throughout this pandemic decisions have been made & may not have been the correct ones and that is ok. I also talked to both my kids to make sure they wash their hands more often (example after they blow their nose they should wash or sanitize them), and there's no sharing of water bottles or pencils etc. The only person who can touch those things are them and that's it. Not even teachers. That is the best I can do!