Parents need to do what they think is suitable for their children. Not every child learns the same way. Some kids require more support and need to be in a classroom.
Last November, the school district we are in gave parents the choice to continue having online classes or sending their kids back to school. After lots of research and discussion, my husband and I decided to send our son back. We were nervous for him, the other children, and the faculty, but it was what was best for our child.
We had moved East from California in November of 2019, a few months prior to the pandemic and my son really didn’t get to make friends. He joined the third grade mid year, in his sixth school since kindergarten. Then Covid-19 happened. By March everything was shut down and our not so normal life was even more abnormal.
He has ADHD and is very easily distracted by everything. He fidgeted, yelled, cried, broke pencils, played with the dog and did everything so that he didn’t have to sit in front of the computer and listen to his teacher.
Our school days were much longer because it took me hours after the google meet was over to get him to complete his work. I have to admit the lessons were boring and I could see how fatiguing everything was for him. It was all very disruptive and difficult to keep him on task.
When given the option of in person school we were apprehensive but we knew that it was what he required. He wanted to meet kids and be social. He’s an only child and needed to be around children his age. He just couldn’t stay engaged online. My son was also becoming a bit OCD about germs. Bacteria concerned him prior but the pandemic exacerbated it. He needed some normalcy.
I was actually impressed with all the communication from our school district via emails and social media. They gave parents two different options. I posted a comment on a community page in support of the selections they gave. If a parent did not want to send their child back to school they did not have to.
Because of my comment I was attacked by another mother saying that it was horrible that parents were sending their kids back. She wanted all schools to stay shut down. She had an option and so did I. Why was it that because she wanted to keep her kids home that parents who wanted their children in school had to be penalized?
She posted how she has 4 children and the shut down allowed them to have family time and play games. They were all having so much fun together. They were happy and thriving. She told me that I must be doing something wrong since my child was unhappy being in his own home. She then attacked my parenting.
Social media makes it so easy for people to berate and judge others without knowing what their circumstances are. It’s a very upsetting situation. I didn’t argue back. I didn’t know her or care what she thought. Other parents did come to my defense saying, why do things have to be a one size fits all. We were so lucky that we were given a choice during a time where many parents elsewhere did not have one.
I have friends from around the country and not everyone was on board with decisions that were made around the schools being closed down. Discussing things with others I also know that many children weren’t thriving at all. We can paint idyllic pictures of our lives on social media but often that is not what is happening in reality.
We have become a society that is narrow minded and doesn’t care about others. What happened to empathy and understanding? People are judged harshly for doing what is right for them. We can’t have different opinion because we are supposed to all think alike.
I still stand by my decision to send my son back to school. I was so appreciative to the teachers and school faculty. It was a fearful time for everyone and they faced the challenges and kept the children content and safe. Years from now we will find out the ramifications of the year our children were stuck inside. Until then we just have to do the best we can as parents and stop judging each other.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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