After Listening To Parents’ Zoom Conference Talking About Their Kids’ Online Schooling Struggles, Woman Shares A Thread Explaining How The Situation Is Actually Worse Than Bad
Some countries or their respective states, due to the current pandemic, have swapped everyday going to school for online classes. And perhaps, at some point, you or your children have experienced what distance learning or teaching is all about. Some learners might prefer studying online, whereas others are missing the physical classroom presence and sharing their daily life with peers. Also, some parents might really enjoy their kids’ presence at home, while others, for one reason or another, are longing for schools to go back in person.
Either way, it seems that the pandemic is taking its toll and some people are not only aware of its effect on education, but also pointing out the fact that it might be harder than everyone thinks to return to so-called “normality.”
Some learners might prefer studying online, but some might be finding it quite challenging
Image credits: Flickr
A tweet by Minneapolis-based writer Ann Bauer, who tuned in to a parents’ Zoom meeting with a Minnesota Senator regarding schools, got the attention of 10.5K users so far. And what she has taken from it, which she decided to share online, has alarmed her. According to Bauer, the situation is even worse than sad or depressing. The Zoom meeting escalated to the point where parents talked about kids being behind in lessons with no possibility of catching up, failing promising athletes, and even to such extremes as suicidal kids. If you or your kids are in online education at the moment, you might be able to relate to this story to a certain extent. Let us know your thoughts about online learning and what are possible solutions to its challenges, or whether it has become an innovative new way of improving the education system—you can share it in the comments below.
Ann Bauer had a chance to be a guest in a parents’ Zoom meeting with the local senator about schools and it was worse than she expected
Image credits: annbauerwriter
As a guest, Bauer attended a Zoom meeting between parents and Minnesota DFL Senator that discussed a really vital topic: schools. She already expected it to be bad, sad, and depressing, but it managed to even exceed her expectations. She stressed that the meeting involved families from a wealthy district that is probably within the top 5 in the state, whose parents are almost all white professionals. Feeling like those families would be in a good position and that she should be worrying about the ones in real need, Bauer was about to discontinue it.
The parents present at the meeting were almost all white professionals and she thought that when it comes to current schooling situation, they are fine compared to families that are in real need
Image credits: annbauerwriter
Turns out, even somewhat wealthy families are not okay. During the Zoom meeting, some parents shared that they have never seen their kids so dark, hopeless or unhappy—and as she pointed out, those were families living in an area that could be considered the Shangri-La of Minnesota. But even the wealth and the comforts haven’t stopped their kids from hiding in their rooms crying or falling behind in school so much they might never catch up. Parents themselves acknowledged how privileged they are to be able to afford tutors for their kids and provide them with any necessary electronics and they admitted worrying about families that don’t live in the same conditions.
Parents, however, admitted that some of their kids are dark, hopeless, or unhappy
Image credits: annbauerwriter
Image credits: annbauerwriter
What surprised Bauer the most was that the money didn’t make this situation ok, as the families measured themselves against people with actually nothing. In her post, she shared that the parents looked terrified, two fathers even cried, and moms had outbursts. What they were talking about was their and others’ kids being even suicidal.
The parents stated that their kids have been denied a decent education for a full year
Image credits: annbauerwriter
And that their kids are not only missing out on their goals, but are even suicidal
Image credits: annbauerwriter
A 15-year-old that attended the Zoom meeting also got emotional after revealing that she currently is in quite a dark place. The teenager also made a point that “other businesses” have also had to to deal with shutdowns and was reminded, that school is not supposed to be a business.
An eloquent teenager also spoke in the Zoom meeting, admitting being in a dark place
Image credits: annbauerwriter
Image credits: annbauerwriter
Some of the statements got Bauer to a screaming point, but she was on mute
Image credits: annbauerwriter
The Minnesota Senator also spoke about how there were new variants and predictions of a huge surge in cases, and expressed her awareness that authorities are doing their best to keep everyone “safe.” According to Bauer, the Senator was in an unwinnable spot, with no control over teacher’s unions and only thing left to do was to rhetorically question safety, infections, variants, and systems.
Image credits: annbauerwriter
Bauer admitted that the Senator that was invited to speak was in an unwinnable situation
Image credits: annbauerwriter
Image credits: annbauerwriter
What Bauer really stressed is that there is no way to “get the train of public education going again” and that this generation of kids are going to be the ones that are sitting alone in their bedrooms; meanwhile, committees and task forces will be assembled.
She doubts that there is a way to get the train of public education going again
Image credits: annbauerwriter
She even advised the parents of Minnesota to move to different states that have in-person schools
Image credits: annbauerwriter
The post on Twitter received a ripple of comments from people who faced similar situations in online learning, teaching, or having to aid online learners. Some users agreed that regardless of financial status, it is a basic psychological, social, and emotional human need that makes everyone equal when it comes to schooling. One of the comments was a short film portraying what young online learners are going through, which received over 20K likes on YouTube. You can check out some of the mixed reactions below.
And this is how other users reacted to her post
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This is definitely a heavy decision that requires weighing risk vs reward in each community. It also requires having all the facts. It seems to me like calling talk of safety and infections "rhetoric" and "not reality" isn't helpful to the conversation, nor do I think implying everyone wants to "throw a generation of children away like burnt toast" is helpful or accurate. *Nobody* likes that kids can't be kids and go to school, but there are no easy answers. Some parents feel it's worth it for their kids' emotional wellbeing and education, some have already had family members die and don't want to take any risks no matter what. I can't say I blame either side.
"I have chosen to ignore all the regs pretty much from day 1" >> And that is part of the reason why we can’t get this situation under control.
I feel sorry for the kids... if people had taken this pandemic more seriously and did the strict quarantine thing right from the get-go, kids could have been in school for months, now. When you let a virus go nearly unchecked for a year you give it more opportunity to mutate and produce more variants. I wish more people paid attention during the infectious diseases portion of health class/ biology class. Seriously.
Totally, Merrill. I don’t live in Minnesota, but this meeting sounds like my town. We know we’re lucky (many of us can work from home versus so many who have to risk infection or who just can’t work), but this is so hard. Suicidal ideation in kids and drastic behavioral issues are real. And then the fiction that adults can work from home *while* schooling their own kids at the same time is just farcical. At least there’s always some empathetic genius on social media to tell working parents that having their kids at home shouldn’t be so bad because sChOoL iSN’t DaYcArE.
Load More Replies...
My son's school has actually done pretty good this year with the distance learning. They opened up the classrooms for the kids who have learning disabilities or have really been struggling, but overall, it's been going well for him. The ONE thing I've noticed he's struggling with is the lack of social interaction. His teacher won't let the kids socialize during breaks or lunch, which I think is a huge mistake. He's been locked out of Zoom a few times by his teacher for talking with other kids while on break or when she steps away to have her temperature taken. This I disagree with.
Did she give a reason why she wouldn't let them talk? That seems like a pretty ridiculous thing to do to me.
Load More Replies...
One of the Twitter comments literally says, "I've ignored protocols since day one". We can't be surprised we're dealing with a virus a year later when people made no effort to stop spreading it.
Because of the whole school shut down thing my “shyness” escalated into actual Social Anxiety, literally the first time I went back into an actual public space(pool for swim training) I literally broke down and started crying because I wasn’t used to being around so many people on my own in the last year. Also my sisters ADHD got worse because she stopped trying to fight her impulses to go on YouTube instead of HW and that escalated her ADHD. Thankfully both our schools are going back in person in a couple days.
I'm so sorry to hear about all of this, and I wish you both well. Did you not have any way to be around people outside of school?
Load More Replies... Another argument for reopening schools and businesses. Not for reducing the punishing work hours that basically require working parents to commit child neglect. Not for temporary subsidies to working parents so they can take a leave of absence and actually spend time with their children. No, we have to return the kids to institutions so that their parents can work full time, and disguise it as concern for the kids' mental health.
Seriously, why is that not being addressed? We could be debating shorter work days. Less work days but instead things are going exactly back to normal and everything that was restored is going to be depleted again instantly
Load More Replies... The writer of this article didn't read the tweets properly. The teenager didn't talk about 'keeping people safe', that was the senator. The teenager was also not the one in the unwinnable spot, it was the senator. Please fix it, this is just sloppy.
yeah thanks for saying something because that part made no sense to me
Load More Replies... If the only time that their kids "played" was in school, there was already a problem. Kids get to play during recess, if they even have recess. That's it. It's not a great place to learn to socialize to begin with. It tends to get all Lorder of the Flies with so few adults and kids only being around those their own age. They should have formed a bubble with another family so that their kids weren't isolated. If they didn't, that was on the parents. And do they still as yet not understand that if the hospitals get overwhelmed, that the fatality rate of the virus will increase. (Some put the fatality rate without medical care at 10%.) The economy would do very badly. It's not a good situation for the kids. I completely understand. But they can't fix it if they (even after 10mo) don't understand about flattening the curve. Also, they sound like a strong wind would blow them away they are so fragile. Worst thing in 100 years, and people think any bad outcome is someone's fault.
Having said that, I am not saying that kids shouldn't go back to school. I'm from Minnesota. The governor left it largely up to individual school districts in the fall, I believe. But then in December, our numbers were rising very rapidly due to the surrounding states not taking good measures, so we had another lockdown and I think that meant going back to at-home schooling. I can't defend or condemn any individual school's decisions on it until I know much more. It's not a thing one should have an uneducated opinion about. It's way too serious for that.
Load More Replies...
Hey good news, lots of students have the same issues with in-person learning.
I don't think this is good news. The shifting solves no problems. We should strive towards a solution that's fair to everyone, as much as it can be possible. Maybe, and I say "maybe" simply because I'm no expert, when at least half of this mess is over, we (the world) may opt for a combined offline&online method. Run some kind of tests and see which kids are suitable for in person learning, which would be more suitable for remote. Then have in person classes equipped with cameras and video chatting services, so they can interact. Maybe employ an assistant for the teacher to help them with all the equipment and lessons and such.
Load More Replies...
I just can not understand this. In the UK the kids have been at home just the same, having zoom lessons etc but of all my friends and relatives not one family has complained in this way. They are managing, some are even preferring it to actually going to school and hope lessons stay this way, unlikely. These are not poor families or kids with parents of low education What is up with America?
I'm a teacher. The hospitals in my state colapsed, and our government is trying to put kids in school again. They had 1 year to solve pandemics and pretended nothing was happening, did nothing, and now they are trying to put teachers and kids in schools and give no masks, no possibilities. Sincerely, I want to teach, but I don't wanna die - neither want anyone dies. So, government must solve this before putting us in danger
The real failure is that schools never taught kids how to learn on their own, before the pandemic. All the teachers who thought they were clever by saying homework is useless, and kids shouldn't learn to study and research on their own- that's part of the problem
All the catholic schools have remained open and I assure you they have no money for fancy air filtration systems. My school district spent 80 million dollars on filtration systems and in room air purifiers and our teachers still won't go back. The science is in from other countries and from our country. Its safe to send kids to school. We can't let the teachers union stop our kids from school any longer. Its immoral and unjust. The least able kids in our nation who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds who live in locked down cities are suffering the most. Ironic that teachers unions are always spouting on about helping the underprivileged yet are throwing them away now.
The parents are wrong when they say teachers can't be infected by their pupils. But there are ways to let kids meet each other in real life, if you just allow them to have their games, trainings and meetings with some rules and regulations. I can understand that kids are feeling and suffering the isolation so there should be some effort in creating possibilities for them to meet. Even if it's just for one hour each day. That shouldn't be so very hard to do.
Another parent in my town had the wonderful idea of having the kids ride bikes and scooters together in the school parking lot. It was life changing for the little guys.
Load More Replies...
literally just clicked on this to comment on how freakin long the title is
This is definitely a heavy decision that requires weighing risk vs reward in each community. It also requires having all the facts. It seems to me like calling talk of safety and infections "rhetoric" and "not reality" isn't helpful to the conversation, nor do I think implying everyone wants to "throw a generation of children away like burnt toast" is helpful or accurate. *Nobody* likes that kids can't be kids and go to school, but there are no easy answers. Some parents feel it's worth it for their kids' emotional wellbeing and education, some have already had family members die and don't want to take any risks no matter what. I can't say I blame either side.
"I have chosen to ignore all the regs pretty much from day 1" >> And that is part of the reason why we can’t get this situation under control.
I feel sorry for the kids... if people had taken this pandemic more seriously and did the strict quarantine thing right from the get-go, kids could have been in school for months, now. When you let a virus go nearly unchecked for a year you give it more opportunity to mutate and produce more variants. I wish more people paid attention during the infectious diseases portion of health class/ biology class. Seriously.
Totally, Merrill. I don’t live in Minnesota, but this meeting sounds like my town. We know we’re lucky (many of us can work from home versus so many who have to risk infection or who just can’t work), but this is so hard. Suicidal ideation in kids and drastic behavioral issues are real. And then the fiction that adults can work from home *while* schooling their own kids at the same time is just farcical. At least there’s always some empathetic genius on social media to tell working parents that having their kids at home shouldn’t be so bad because sChOoL iSN’t DaYcArE.
Load More Replies... My son's school has actually done pretty good this year with the distance learning. They opened up the classrooms for the kids who have learning disabilities or have really been struggling, but overall, it's been going well for him. The ONE thing I've noticed he's struggling with is the lack of social interaction. His teacher won't let the kids socialize during breaks or lunch, which I think is a huge mistake. He's been locked out of Zoom a few times by his teacher for talking with other kids while on break or when she steps away to have her temperature taken. This I disagree with.
Did she give a reason why she wouldn't let them talk? That seems like a pretty ridiculous thing to do to me.
Load More Replies... One of the Twitter comments literally says, "I've ignored protocols since day one". We can't be surprised we're dealing with a virus a year later when people made no effort to stop spreading it.
Because of the whole school shut down thing my “shyness” escalated into actual Social Anxiety, literally the first time I went back into an actual public space(pool for swim training) I literally broke down and started crying because I wasn’t used to being around so many people on my own in the last year. Also my sisters ADHD got worse because she stopped trying to fight her impulses to go on YouTube instead of HW and that escalated her ADHD. Thankfully both our schools are going back in person in a couple days.
I'm so sorry to hear about all of this, and I wish you both well. Did you not have any way to be around people outside of school?
Load More Replies... Another argument for reopening schools and businesses. Not for reducing the punishing work hours that basically require working parents to commit child neglect. Not for temporary subsidies to working parents so they can take a leave of absence and actually spend time with their children. No, we have to return the kids to institutions so that their parents can work full time, and disguise it as concern for the kids' mental health.
Seriously, why is that not being addressed? We could be debating shorter work days. Less work days but instead things are going exactly back to normal and everything that was restored is going to be depleted again instantly
Load More Replies... The writer of this article didn't read the tweets properly. The teenager didn't talk about 'keeping people safe', that was the senator. The teenager was also not the one in the unwinnable spot, it was the senator. Please fix it, this is just sloppy.
yeah thanks for saying something because that part made no sense to me
Load More Replies... If the only time that their kids "played" was in school, there was already a problem. Kids get to play during recess, if they even have recess. That's it. It's not a great place to learn to socialize to begin with. It tends to get all Lorder of the Flies with so few adults and kids only being around those their own age. They should have formed a bubble with another family so that their kids weren't isolated. If they didn't, that was on the parents. And do they still as yet not understand that if the hospitals get overwhelmed, that the fatality rate of the virus will increase. (Some put the fatality rate without medical care at 10%.) The economy would do very badly. It's not a good situation for the kids. I completely understand. But they can't fix it if they (even after 10mo) don't understand about flattening the curve. Also, they sound like a strong wind would blow them away they are so fragile. Worst thing in 100 years, and people think any bad outcome is someone's fault.
Having said that, I am not saying that kids shouldn't go back to school. I'm from Minnesota. The governor left it largely up to individual school districts in the fall, I believe. But then in December, our numbers were rising very rapidly due to the surrounding states not taking good measures, so we had another lockdown and I think that meant going back to at-home schooling. I can't defend or condemn any individual school's decisions on it until I know much more. It's not a thing one should have an uneducated opinion about. It's way too serious for that.
Load More Replies... Hey good news, lots of students have the same issues with in-person learning.
I don't think this is good news. The shifting solves no problems. We should strive towards a solution that's fair to everyone, as much as it can be possible. Maybe, and I say "maybe" simply because I'm no expert, when at least half of this mess is over, we (the world) may opt for a combined offline&online method. Run some kind of tests and see which kids are suitable for in person learning, which would be more suitable for remote. Then have in person classes equipped with cameras and video chatting services, so they can interact. Maybe employ an assistant for the teacher to help them with all the equipment and lessons and such.
Load More Replies... I just can not understand this. In the UK the kids have been at home just the same, having zoom lessons etc but of all my friends and relatives not one family has complained in this way. They are managing, some are even preferring it to actually going to school and hope lessons stay this way, unlikely. These are not poor families or kids with parents of low education What is up with America?
I'm a teacher. The hospitals in my state colapsed, and our government is trying to put kids in school again. They had 1 year to solve pandemics and pretended nothing was happening, did nothing, and now they are trying to put teachers and kids in schools and give no masks, no possibilities. Sincerely, I want to teach, but I don't wanna die - neither want anyone dies. So, government must solve this before putting us in danger
The real failure is that schools never taught kids how to learn on their own, before the pandemic. All the teachers who thought they were clever by saying homework is useless, and kids shouldn't learn to study and research on their own- that's part of the problem
All the catholic schools have remained open and I assure you they have no money for fancy air filtration systems. My school district spent 80 million dollars on filtration systems and in room air purifiers and our teachers still won't go back. The science is in from other countries and from our country. Its safe to send kids to school. We can't let the teachers union stop our kids from school any longer. Its immoral and unjust. The least able kids in our nation who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds who live in locked down cities are suffering the most. Ironic that teachers unions are always spouting on about helping the underprivileged yet are throwing them away now.
The parents are wrong when they say teachers can't be infected by their pupils. But there are ways to let kids meet each other in real life, if you just allow them to have their games, trainings and meetings with some rules and regulations. I can understand that kids are feeling and suffering the isolation so there should be some effort in creating possibilities for them to meet. Even if it's just for one hour each day. That shouldn't be so very hard to do.
Another parent in my town had the wonderful idea of having the kids ride bikes and scooters together in the school parking lot. It was life changing for the little guys.
Load More Replies... literally just clicked on this to comment on how freakin long the title is
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