Well, 9 weeks in and it seems we are finally rolling into the time of easing restrictions. I'm not sure if this means the threat is past or we just have to finally start dealing with the reality of the illness.
Two things in the past week have given me real pause for thought. The first was an email from the Ontario Soccer association. They were asking for input from parents, coaches and players about the upcoming 2020 soccer season. The general statement was: if governments allow summer sports for children, under what circumstances would we participate? There were all sorts of suggestions, like parents being allowed to drop of kids only and not stay to watch practices or games, reduced number of teams in each division, local games only instead of travel. As I navigated through the survey, my opinion became very clear: it is either safe to open, or it is not. Soccer is a near-contact sport. The players come in very close contact. They are breathing heavily, sweating, spitting, touching the ball, and very near between 10-20 other plays on the field. There is no "social distancing" in kids sports. So in my opinion, we are either all in, or we aren't. There is no halfway. If the season opens, then it is safe for the kids to play and we do not need any additional measures. A regular house league season would mean my child comes in contact with at least 100 other players, and by extension, their families. Do we really think reducing that to 50 is going to make a huge difference? Yes, I understand how exposure works, and more people is more exposure. My point is, 50 people is a huge contact number. 100 people is a huge contact number. Safe contact is zero.
More controversial than summer sports, of course, is school. All around the world schools are starting to open up, with social distancing measures in place. If you had asked me up until this week if my kids would go back to school if they opened in June, I would have said yes. It seems to me that this virus is packing less punch than they thought. I feel it is fairly low risk for us to be out and about. But having seen some of the measures being put in place for social distanced education around the world, I have turned around 180 degrees. There is a video of a principal giving a tour of all the new protocols students will have to follow when they get back to school. There are dots on the schoolyard that students need to stand on in line when they arrive. There are lines on the school hallways floors, and only one person can be on a line at a time. There is hand sanitizer at every door. There are no toys in the classroom or books to share. There is no gym equipment or yard toys or using park sets. Students are returning part time, with warnings that at any time the school may temporarily close again. To me, it really just looks like emotional trauma. School has been a safe place to go and spend most of the weekdays. All the measures are just bringing the trauma of this virus up close and personal. Up to this point, my children understand there is a virus that has had to close schools, parks and playdates. But we are functioning fairly regularly within our own home. Having to go to school under these circumstances has the potential to be fear-inducing. And for young children who need to be barked at or scolded for getting too near a friend, when they don't understand what's going on properly, well, I just can't imagine it.
We are supposed to find out next month what Ontario schools will look like in September. My new contract doesn't have me home as much as I was this year, which may pose a problem for trying to keep my kids home. But we will certainly look to be creative if we are facing measures like these.
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