Edit: July 19, 2020.  Until now, I have refused to edit my petition for any reason because it can alter the reason that many individuals initially signed.  All additional thoughts and progress are in the updates.  However, this edit comes from hostility I have received, so I am going to clarify a few things. 

My children’s teachers and ECE’s have brought our family a lot of joy and respect for what they have been to our kids in previous years.  What teachers and ECE’s can do with children is magical and undervalued by too many parts of society.  I can not imagine what the education system endured when trying to convert the curriculum to online access, at the speed of light, for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year while taking criticism from parents with a smile.  Teachers and ECE’s need every resource available to them to move education for our kids forward to the best of their ability, safely.  Unfortunately, no decision we make has no risk, and society needs to understand that we must learn to live with COVID.  Whether parents choose to homeschool their kids or not, the education system needs to have the funding available so that the school boards can effectively create online and in-school options safely.  So many schools are in desperate need of repairs and upgrades to meet the same level of maintenance (i.e. government buildings getting new touchless washroom fixtures), so many schools desperately need to hire more teachers, or gain access to more teaching facilities, busses, PPE, mental health staff to support the teachers (because this must be taking a toll on them, too) or simply cleaning supplies (that we have all willingly bought for our own homes, why are schools less than?), and the funding to properly accomplish this shouldn’t be a question. 

The greatest risk we take now is not whether to keep our kids home or not, but to choose not to fund the education system for those that want or need to send their kids to school.  So many families do not have the choice to home school their kids.  Many families have parents that are students, or single parents, or can not lose the second income without struggling to make ends meet or risk losing their home.  There are many, many reasons, not just regarding the well being of kids, of why kids need access to school.  Our entire society and economy are built on children going to school, and statistically it will still be the heaviest impact on women if children are not in school.  Regardless of gender, losing millions of parents from the workforce to childcare/home school will cripple the economy that the provincial government is pushing so hard to resuscitate.  Businesses can not function when they have drastically fewer workers.  And the workers they will find?  It is a general transport back to the 1950’s.   

Naturally, closing the schools and moving to full online education still exists as an option if COVID cases surge.  But many Ontarians have worked very hard to practice public health measures to mitigate COVID to much success, and that should be evidence enough that we can keep COVID under a relative amount of control as long as we keep making good choices, so that life, for everyone not just adults, can move forward.

The essay at the end of this petition is based specifically on reasons found by scientific research of the proven need for children to be in the company of each other for developmental, social, and mental success.  This is because I have a deep interest in anthropology and the anthropology of children and children’s culture, regardless of geographical location or societal structure of where the children live (i.e. band, tribal, state level).  As such, my essay does not include specific western or modern issues.  Children have been “in school” for thousands of years and can even be found in various religious texts.  

The Ontario Human Rights Commission released a letter to Min. Lecce that he is to compose an advisory board to help him properly plan for the upcoming year, and suggested that school boards do the same.  This has been very relieving for me because it was one of my main concerns.

Many people seem to be stuck in a thought process of either-or, but I am speaking from the perspective of both-and.  I see no reason why kids can not return to school and provisions and supplies be in place to keep everyone safe.

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Hello,

While I am not sure how to go about this, I am hoping that by writing this, a door will open. Schools need proper funding in order to move forward in the new life where COVID is present.  If COVID-19 was able to spread globally this quickly, it will not disappear unless every person acts the same.  This will not happen for various reasons including lack of education, socioeconomic factors, political unrest,  and lack of sanitation. Just like flu season, it will ping pong around (or whack-a-mole, and the WHO called it).  Educating our kids on how to adapt to a new normal life is critical to moving forward as a society.   For most families, it is impractical and unsustainable to hide for a few years.  Also, so much pediatric psychiatry is play based therapy because it works.  

Please stay informed on Ontario's case data, including case distribution and age groups, found here.

Please also be informed of your local area case data.  As I am in Ottawa, here is Ottawa's Public Health website listing local case information.  These tools are valuable to stay informed as active and voting citizens. 

Below is a short essay I wrote hoping to incite more understanding into the need for children to be connected more, because I hope that the Ministry's plans for the upcoming school year can be improved.  Malls are open, patios are open, clothing stores are open; adults are fine and pleased.  COVID-19 spread because adults are unhygienic too, not just children.  Adults need to take responsibility now in order to safely move life forward for all kids and adults.  Because again, I do not believe the public health risk outweighs the children's mental health risk and societal damage.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

 

Request for Investigation of the Impacts of Isolation and Social Distancing Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Young Canadian Elementary Students

          COVID-19 is requiring children to remain at home with their families, with limited or no access to public playgrounds or shared play areas, and to be home schooled via online learning activities and video conferencing with teachers.  Executed by parents, with often mediocre technology, with little to no training in the formal education of children, various teaching techniques, nor child social issues, the lives of children are likely the most turned upside down out of all society members because children also lack the learned coping skills that adults have achieved.  Sociologically, many factors can affect a child’s ability to adjust to changes; the three most important factors in helping children adjust to new situations are the child’s relationship to the parents, the relationship between the parents, and socioeconomic factors (Lamb, 2012).  Concerning the latter is the sufficient availability of resources promoting a child’s healthy adjustment, and poverty and social isolation contributing to maladjustment (Lamb, 2012).  Children in Canada who experience both a school and family change simultaneously are found to become more withdrawn, because the children face many stressful factors while their parents are also coping with the major change (Dupere et al., 2015).  Furthermore, children of a depressed or anxious mother who is struggling to cope with changes, learn to internalize their emotions because the parent is so consumed with relieving their own distress that they are minimally responsive to their child’s needs, putting the child at risk of their own mental health illness and crisis (Brenning et al., 2012), which during the stress and isolation measures of the COVID-19 pandemic may become very difficult for children to cope with without parental or maternal support because of the lacking exposure to others.  Excess screen time exposes children to child-centered advertising of the consumer industry, when the quality of content is not supervised by parents, which Karl Marx outlined as capitalism distracting us from our humanity, to replace the humanity with wealth (Gary, 2019).  This promotion of a state of disconnect, in a social climate that is already disconnected (for public health purposes) could further exacerbate children trying to cope with the new distanced and deserted surroundings.  

            Extroversion is known to be a personality characteristic causing an individual to be of a more outgoing and social nature, and stereo-typically, extroverts seem very capable.  In Korea, elementary students who had committed suicide were significantly more likely to be extroverted, from advantaged, single-income families, living with both parents, and when school was out of session (Lee et al., 2019).  It has been documented that the most extroverted students have the most introverted online presence, and experience the most difficulty in establishing an online social presence; extroverts are still more socially active online than introverts, however, extroverts reflect less on their online contributions (Borup et al., 2013) possibly implying more difficulty connecting when not face to face.  Interestingly, introverts have the most extroverted online presence and spend more time reflecting on their online contributions (Borup et al., 2013).  It has been reported that extroverts do not feel connected to their online identity, whereas introverts feel their online identity represents themselves accurately (Mitchell et al., 2011).  So, in the current circumstance where there is a struggle for children to be social face-to-face because of government implemented social distancing procedures and online education, there is a possibility that extroverts are struggling with stronger feelings of loneliness and a lack of interconnection than others.

            Children with learning disabilities benefit greatly from social-emotional programs at school, and are negatively impacted by experiences of failure at school; reducing the feelings of isolation and failure in a child with a learning disability is critical to avoid feelings of anxiety and frustration which the child will then associate with school and avoid academic activities (Cavioni, 2017).  As such, school age children with learning disabilities that are isolated at home, socially distanced from peers, and lacking professional educational assistance at home such as a parent that is a teacher, might struggle and experience negative feelings more than a child without a learning disability. 

            COVID-19 is an unprecedented time that is not finished yet, and its various mental effects on children need to be investigated and monitored to better equip school boards, teachers, and parents with resources and policy to help children preserve mental health.  Research on isolated children seems to be limited to isolation related to abuse, disability, or maternal wellness.  The current global, national, and local climate is a unique opportunity to learn a general sense of what is and is not working for children as they, their home/parents, their education, and their teachers adapt to provide the largest possible sense of connectivity for them.  As an unprecedented time full of loneliness and dependence, the mental health of children should be of the utmost priority, above the preservation of the education curriculum.   

          There is a need to study the complexity of children’s stress and children’s ability to cope during transitions to school, through the voices of the children (Wong, 2016).  The current isolation and distancing procedures have caused children to transition to school, again, but at home.  Children’s perceptions of stress and their learned coping skills are socially constructed over time (Wong, 2016) as is shown in Brenning et al (2012) study, so I feel there is value in investigating the impacts of losing the social influence of classmates and play.  The social influence of home environments that have become home-schools, that may also be experiencing new stressors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic such as social isolation, quarantine, illness, concern for older family members, and job loss, may be affecting children.  If the adults in the child’s home are experiencing stress and have insufficient coping skills, the child will learn maladjusted coping skills than they may not have otherwise because they also lack the positive and playful influence of their peers (Brenning et al., (2012).   

            I’m concerned about many possibilities, including the idea that young, extroverted children may be having the most difficulty adjusting to the isolation, online learning, and social distancing measures put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  They can only experience their friends through technology.  Urban children who are used to busy parks, traffic, and shopping are now seeing eerily quiet and deserted surroundings, possibly even experiencing the stages of grief over the magnitude of loss they may be feeling.  Urban schools are also more likely to be closed or altered because of COVID-19 case numbers.  Conversely, small town or country children who are already used to quiet and deserted environments and few shopping options may not be affected more than they would be when school ends for summer holiday.  And, rural schools are more likely to stay open because of few/no COVID-19 cases.  I, and I believe many other parents, are drowning in our children’s grieving.  I want to see pediatric mental health professionals being a visible part of government and COVID-19 advising, and I want to see accountability for the lack of, and the continued lack of.  I want to see governments put into action what they preach to be so valuable, mental health.

 

References

 

Borup, J., West, R., & Graham, C. (2013). The influence of asynchronous video communication on learner social presence: a narrative analysis of four cases. Distance Education, 34(1), 48-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2013.770427

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Braet, C., & Bal, S. (2012).  The Role of Parenting and Mother-Adolescent Attachment in the Intergenerational Similarity of Internalizing Symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(6), 802-816. DOI:10.1007/s10964-011-9740-9

Cavioni, V., Grazzani, I., & Ornaghi, V. (2017).  Social and Emotional Learning for Children with Learning Disability: Implications for Inclusion. International Journal of    Emotional Education, 9(2), 100-109.

Dupere, V., Archambault, I., Leventhal, T., Dion, E., & Anderson, S. (2015).  School Mobility and School-Age Children’s Social Adjustment.  Developmental Psychology, 51(2), 197- 210.  DOI:10.1037/a0038480

Gary, K. (2019).  Mindful Screen Time. Contexts, 18(4), 56-57.      DOI:10.1177/1536504219883853.

Lamb, M. (2012).  Mothers, Fathers, Families, and Circumstances: Factor’s Affecting Children’s Adjustment. Applied Developmental Science, 16(2), 98-111.  DOI:10.1080/10888691.2012.667344

Lee, D., Jung, S., Park, S., Lee, K., Kweon, Y., Lee, E., Yoon, K., Cho, H., Jung, H., Kim, A., Shin, B., & Hong, H. (2019). Youth suicide in Korea across the educational stages: A postmortem comparison of psychosocial characteristics of elementary, middle, and high school students. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, (Sep 12, 2019), 1-9. DOI:10.1027/0227-5910/a000624

Mitchell, M., Lebow, J., Uribe, R., Grathouse, H., & Shoger, W. (2011).  Internet Use,  Happiness, Social Support and Introversion: A More Fine Grained Analysis of Person Variables and Internet Activity. Computers in Human Behaviour, 27(5), 1857-1861. DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2011.04.008

Wong, M. (2016).  A Longitudinal Study of Children’s Voices in Regard to Stress and Coping During the Transition to School. Early Child Development and Care, 186(6), 927-946. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1068769