Children share their perspectives. Perhaps, it is time to make family time go viral in a non stressful and ‘Corona talk’-free way?
COVID19, Coronavirus. Corona Crisis, Lockdowns, Home schooling, WFH, these are everyday terms that our households are buzzing with. Whether its a news channel, online breaking news, a local radio station, the newspaper or the perpetually beeping in serious or comical/satirical Whatapp messages, Facebook projections, Tweets or LinkedIn – all media and social media is blaring with huge numbers and facts and much more on all channels.
Yes. Agreed. It’s a serious issue. It’s caused a stir and a frenzy. And most obviously, it has caused a change in lifestyles of the young, middle aged and old!
In this article – we bring you the views in a simple Q&A format of the under 10s. Maybe it’s time to listen, act, and learn.
Ahalya Raghavachari, close to her first ‘round birthday’, almost 10
Do you like being at home? Is it like a holiday? Normally, I would wait to get back home and rest after a long day at school. But now, it feels a bit strange to be home all day. It doesn’t feel like a holiday. My parents are busy with their work and I am quite occupied with my school work.
How do you manage to not get bored? What’s the best part about studying from home? My teacher has given us plenty of school work and some links to read books on and watch online educational videos. I plan my day in the morning with my mother and try to do all my school-related activities in the first half of the day. In the afternoon, it’s more relaxed and I work on more creative things like artwork, sewing, storytelling and floral arrangements, playing my piano etc.
The best part of this quarantine is that I get to wake up late and be in my pajamas until mid morning or sometimes even until evening! Mum isn’t rushing me to get ready for school….I don’t have to look for my things to put into my school bag. It’s very quiet and relaxing….
And the most difficult part? Not seeing my friends face-to-face in person. We have so much fun together in school and while walking back home. I really miss that, and riding my bicycle with my neighborhood kids. It’s also not nice to be indoors most part of the day. I only get to go out for 30 mins to get some exercise.
What do you really want to do today? I just want this whole virus to disappear so we can get back to doing normal things like we used to. I feel sorry for the old people who are suffering and are alone without any family. So, I made this craft for them and will send it to the Senior Zentrum in my neighborhood. Hopefully, this will make them smile.
Dhriti Muralikrishnan, excited about getting into the double digits… almost 10
Being home: Yes, I like being home. It’s kind of like a holiday, but not completely, because I still have lots of homework.
Boredom: I don’t get bored because we have a timetable in place, and I get to play a lot with my little sister, who is almost 4 years old now. We play ‘school-school’ everyday and I teach her alphabets and numbers. We also have family time every evening when we do different things like painting, dancing, watching movies together and even cleaning the house. The best thing about this quarantine is that I can play with the family.
Challenging part: Not going to school is the most difficult part of staying at home.
By the end of this day: I want to finish my homework and then play with my sister.
Abhigyan Bhattacharya, 9 years old
Being home – is it like a holiday? I like being home, but it’s not such an interesting holiday because I’m quite scared of Coronavirus.
Dealing with boredom: In order to not get bored, I read books or do my homework, play on my PlayStation or watch a movie. One of the best things is that I get to stay up late and read the book that I’m reading right now. It’s really interesting and it’s about the Second World War. The last book I read was about the First World War.
Challenging part: The most difficult part is to stop myself from fidgeting. I always have to keep moving and I can’t go out cycling as much or as often as I would like.
Goal for the day: I really want to finish my work and get free so that I can finish my book.
Niyati Siddhanti, 9 years old
On being home: It feels a bit like a holiday. I do like being home, I am generally an indoors person. Still, I find myself getting bored from time to time.
Coping with boredom: I am able to video chat with my school friends – that helps. I also fill some of my time with TV. I get to spend more time with my mummy.
The difficult part of being home: I keep getting distracted and then fall back on my assignments!
Aim for the day: I want to finish my music interview homework, which is about talking to people about their tastes in music. I am excited about this particular assignment.
Ishaan Parameswar, 8 years old
Being home: Yes, I like being at home. It feels like a holiday, just with homework to do.
Keeping boredom away: I play Carrom everyday, and play with my sister and brother and do my homework. I also watch ‘Schlaumeier’ online in the mornings and attend an online book reading in the evenings on weekdays. The best out of these is watching ‘Schlaumeier’ and playing Carrom.
Challenging times: Doing homework! I like doing my homework on regular school days, but not doing all the school work at home, too. I like to do that in school instead. But it’s only because of the Corona virus now that I need to do it at home.
And the goal for this day: Playing 15 games of Carrom. I also want to play with my friends outside again.
Kabir Jena, 6 years old
Being home: I do not like being at home because I cannot spend that much time with my friends and I cannot play outside for a while. The only thing that is fun is to play with my family.
Keeping boredom away, and some fun: I can homeschool and read lots of books! And, I can play with my brother Kiaan. I also get to cook a lot!
Difficult times at home: I want to stop hearing about Coronavirus on the news.
Target for the day: Online craft lessons, playing with my brother, reading TinTin, Asterix and other books.
Itee Balajee, 8 years old
On being home: I don’t like being at home all the time. It’s not nice because I don’t get to go out and play with my friends.
Keeping boredom away: I have a lot of assignments from school, I read, draw and also play games on my computer and Kindle. My teacher has also given a lot of apps for Math and German. I also do climbing exercises, cook and have story sessions, board games and Uno with my family and online story sessions with Nayana Aunty every week day in the evening. I also attended a workshop by Zurich Museum of digital arts this week which was a lot of fun.
Challenging times: I think of my school and friends a lot , I want to go out and play! And I am bored of always hearing the news about Coronavirus
Aim for the day: I created the solar system with wheat flour balls and paint . I also taught my sister the names of the planets. And I am looking forward to reading a storybook before I sleep.
My takeaways from their views
Personally, what I learned from these children is:
Firstly: as individuals, we need to get off our constant virtual Corona chatter and try to utilise this time effectively in self development, learning and spending time together – balancing the work. It’s time to enjoy that work-life balance and flexibility we have craved all this time. And also to thank the school systems for keeping our children involved in alignment with our own work and home requirements, along with imparting an education to them in this ‘all-new’ form!
Secondly: to quit focusing on the panic of the crisis. It is impacting the little minds and they don’t need or want that in addition to the massive lifestyle changes that they are dealing with!
Third: To create and follow a routine to be productive and set boredom aside.
Fourth: To focus – yes – each of the children state that they have a particular goal to achieve by the end of the day. However big or small – setting and achieving a goal a day seems doable.
Concluding this write-up – a ‘thank you’ to our valued contributors, who are also the parents of these wonderful kids. Thanks for letting us all get into the mature heads of the under 10s, and engage in a ‘reverse-learning’ experience.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed belong solely to the content provider. Namaste Switzerland does not undertake any financial/reputational/legal/misrepresentational impact or other obligations/ liabilities that may arise from the content.
