What have we done? A childhood interrupted.
As we prepare to go into what is essentially a second lockdown, I reflect on the disrupted childhood all kids must be facing in their minds. Of course, they have no other childhoods to compare this time in their lives to, except perhaps the last decade or so. These were filled with comments like:
- I don't want to go to school
- Running/Dance is so tiring
- I don't want to go out - I rather stay home and sleep
- School projects are so boring and tough, I hope they get cancelled
Be careful what you wish for.
I can't help but think we (adults) have done this to them - it was our world to start with, to hand over, to gift, but we messed up. We had our own childhoods of freedom, recklessness and adventure, but failed miserably in something as simple as stewardship. The next generation is suffering for our sins of mismanagement, greed and politics and now, they lead lives of disruption and disappointment.
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| Our visit to the Zoo last year! The animals stare at humans and wonder about their blank faces. |
So now with cancelled classes, projects, performances, for the second year running, they wonder, is life just a series of cancellations and missed opportunities? Will they be the unfortunate generation with gaps in their education and experiences? How can they make up for these in the future?
Alternatively, they have become the digital generation, adapted to technologies that were once unavailable? Cold, inhuman and impersonal, yet necessary and unavoidable. Only in years and decades to come will we discover if we have still managed to raise a generation of caring and loving humans, or muted moving caricatures in on-screen boxes.
As parents, we have to put in even more effort to counter this virus on a psychological and social level, to teach them the real virtues of life and relationships, probably within the walls of our own homes.