Photo: Dave Sidaway/Postmedia Network
My last commentary went to press before it could be amended to correct an error not of my making! I discovered something about myself via the online rendering that I didn’t know. I have 6 sisters! That’s enough for a basketball team; 5 plus a manager. Since I can barely stand up, I’ll be manager. The youngest (since they’re pretend sisters), will be water carrier and fetcher of snacks!
There’s a lesson here. Anyone who knows me and read the column in papers in which it appears would have had a “What?” moment. Where did Dr. Jim and Peg hide the other girls?
Wrong words can be read, uttered and spread hither and yon, taking on a life of their own, greying what is true and what is not true.
My point here is that words matter. Words have an intent that conveys what we mean, but how we say them and how people hear them aren’t always synonymous. COVID mask wearing, as example — it’s not mandated. Yet.
Hear the words coming out of the mouths of many of our neighbours south of the border. Scary words are creating scarier times. Inconsistent messaging from the top down is creating a mistrust of science, of medicine. Schools are open and school nurses and educators have policies in place; in the vast majority, children and staff MUST wear masks, but because communities don’t have a firm masking mandate, children are confused: “I must wear a mask at school”; “I don’t have to wear a mask at the market”; “I don’t have to wear a mask at lots of restaurants”, “I have to wear a mask at church.” Back and forth. Forth and back! Children need guidance, adults need guidance. Who is going to guide ALL? Confusion arises when parents aren’t as committed to consistency of message and taking mixed messages out in the community with their children. A hit and miss affair, the very half-hearted effort that can cycle the virus out of control at a speed health care professionals and others won’t be able to get in front of.
We’ve seen the videos on the internet of out-of-control men and women of various ages screaming at wait staff in all manner of retail establishments. Screaming when told to wear a mask while on the premises. Screaming that their rights are being violated and they don’t have to wear a mask. What they fail to understand is that shop keepers don’t have to serve them and are within rights to ask them, nicely to leave. How many of those screamers thought about what they would say before they spewed? Did they think at all? What did they think of their behaviour afterwards? Were their children or grandchildren witness to their infantile outburst? How did they explain the behaviour to youngsters? Or did they? We must remember that children learn what they live; in these COVID times we must be teaching children, by example, that we care about the health of everyone, just as we would hope/expect them to care about us and our loved ones.
Children’s school life has been significantly altered for the foreseeable future so it’s incumbent upon parents and other adults in their world to ensure that their emotional health is monitored, even if on a daily basis, checking in with a “how are you feeling today?” Adults in their world must vigilant, on the alert for signs of trouble/stress. Conversations are important to gauge how they’re really doing and what might be done to smooth their way going forward. Pod play groups, pod learning groups and other networks of social connection can be thoughtfully explored when groups of parents of like mind get together and co-operatively organize. Once a rhythm is established, days get easier and children will thrive. Parents and others can then step back and see that life in COVID times can be just fine. Be respectful and wear a mask. Stay safe.
Carla Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell
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