Kids appear to be responding thoughtfully to the COVID-19 pandemic’s sudden new challenges thrust upon them, their family and friends. I learned this by reaching out late last month to family members, friends and on social media to survey 20 children from ages 8 to 16. Their median age was 13. Most live in Vermont but some are relatives scattered across the country. Almost all had been housebound and home-schooled or learning online for a few days by that point.
As a quick example of their range of thoughts, when I asked them what good might come out of this crisis, one said she was getting a cat while another wrote that “as a community and even in just my own circles people have come together.” Their observations show much thought about resilience.
I asked, “Are you worried about people you love?”
One 13-year-old wrote, “My friend has very bad asthma, unfortunately, her sister tested positive for the virus and so my friend is staying with her mother in the Colorado mountains.” Several mentioned grandparents. “I am worried about my grandparents because they have health conditions.” One child wants someone to check in on his grandparents in Florida and to deliver groceries.
“Why is there an emergency?” I asked.
Some responded off the cuff with “Because the media panicked the citizens” and “Because of the global pandemic and in my opinion the lack of preparation and resources.” About half showed a degree of thoughtfulness we tend to reserve for adults: “The coronavirus is very deadly and can spread very quickly, and when you get it you can get really sick.” Several cited school closings as the primary evidence of the emergency.
When asked about their parents’ rules for personal safety, almost all cited standard precautions, such as the 10-year-old who wrote, “Do not touch my personal computer or me and stay 10 feet apart.” Only one of the 20 kids to respond was defiant: “My family does not live in fear. We do whatever we want.”
One missed “going to diners,” and many wrote of their inability to go to friends’ houses. A 14-year-old, homebound for 11 days, said, “We are all missing each other.” But another wrote, “I don’t miss anything because I can just FaceTime everyone.”
Others expressed their fear that society was shrinking: “It feels as if all of our social lives have been torn out of our control. School is a way to be social and have a structure in a day where you know what’s coming in an hour and you can prepare for that.”
One works on projects that “I’ve needed to do, had some time to write (I’m a writer), cleaned my room and cleaned out old junk.” Another wrote, “I baked banana bread and we got a batting cage. Tomorrow we are going to see how long we are going to stay in the batting cage with a bat, a ball and a glove.” One child is “learning Italian more.” A good number mentioned activities like “more interaction with my sister” and playing video games on the computer.
Asked about what they would say to President Donald Trump, one wrote “Do something bigger.” Another wrote: “Dude, you should at least do something useful around here.” Others were more constructive about the best government action, such as “Help working-class and self-employed with their bills. People need money to survive.”
Most had learned something about themselves. “I get bored very easily,” one wrote. Another’s comment reflects the thoughts of many: “I’ve developed a strong yearning for human interaction outside of my family.”
Many have suddenly become aware of the powerful influence of school in their lives, similar to how adults say they need their jobs for self-identity.
“It is hard for me to focus without the structure of school,” one wrote. And, “I learned that I rely on so much from school, seeing people, going outside. It helps me grow and become who I am because right now I feel very stuck.”
Another wrote she now recognizes the value of “having structured time to see teachers, being able to problem-solve as groups, and mostly just spending time with friends, even if it is the 45-minute lunch block and nothing else.”
They are thinking about how they learn.
A fraction of them discovered that home-based education works better than they had expected.
An 8-year-old said she was surprised her father is a good teacher. “It’s not as difficult as I thought it would be to learn on my own,” another wrote. “I think it is easier learning at home than at school.” Another discovered a secret to more effective study: “I have learned that I work better taking breaks in between doing my schoolwork.”
Overall, the more sophisticated responses came from the older kids. But one 8-year-old wrote in, “I am better at drawing birds than I thought and I am also better at angles than I thought (mostly 90-degree angles).”
Will the pandemic have a lasting effect on children? From the responses of some, yes. One wrote that it’s scary to not have a lot of money.
And most are now acutely aware of the need for friends. As one wrote, “It’s really hard for me to not be socializing for a big part of the day with my friends (on FaceTime) and family.”
One aspect of this crisis may be that young people will come to play a more essential role in society, perhaps in part because they will be more able to help restore public life to their communities due to their apparently lower health risks. At the same time, young adults are keeping our essential services running.
Some kids have a remarkably high awareness of the world.
A 16-year-old who lives in New York City, the virus epicenter in the country, wrote, “This is a huge wake-up call for many people that we need change. Change for the environment, the way we live, the way we treat people. This will help us overcome other problems easier in the future.”
Peter Rousmaniere, of Montpelier, can be reached at pfr@rousmaniere.com.