Schools have restarted. Since last year, this return to class has looked different. Masks are a must, and although I feel there is a blatant lack of social distancing, schools are doing their best with what they have. Ventilation systems have been upgraded in many schools across Ontario, but all these measures have not succeeded in stopping the spread. In fact within days, cases of Covid in regional schools have popped up like crazy, and are far worst this year than ever before. As of press time, we were sitting at 5 outbreaks in schools and 1 in a daycare.

Of course, this less than normal return to school has raised concerns from parents, educators and the community at large. Bleeding hearts want to know where this pandemic leave our kids, mentally. Will the lack of human contact have a lasting effect on their mental health? Will not sharing smiles with one another leave long lasting scars? Seriously?

Kids are extremely resilient and adapt to situation a lot easier than adults do. If a kid end up having issues, it will be more because of the reactions they’ve seen adults have, and this issue will span from not being able to reconcile how they feel with the cues they are picking up from adults around them who tell them how they should feel.

Case in point.

Little Johnny is in school. While he is on recess, he is allowed in the yard to play and that’s where is focus is. He lives in the moment, playing with his friends, running, laughing and just having fun. I really doubt that the kid gives a damn about the mask he’s wearing in the school yard.

If Johnny keeps hearing “I’m so sorry you have to wear a mask, it must be so hard all day, it’s not right, your teacher can’t see your smile”, Johnny will eventually start feeling guilty from having so much fun while wearing a mask. The cues he’s getting from his parent dictates that it’s a sad time; he’s not supposed to fee that damn happy! After all, there are serious things going on in the world! The government is trying to shut us up and take away our rights.

What people seem to forget is that when it comes to our kids, we control the narrative. Yes, there are external factors that matters, but by changing the way we reacting to these, by focusing on turning a negative into a positive to help them get through this hard time, we give them the tools required to land on the other side not only in one piece, but better for it.

Here are 10 things that are far worse for your kids than being asked to wear a mask at school during this pandemic

1- GETTING COVID – That’s self explanatory. Yes, they will survive but there is no knowing the long term effects of Covid at this point.

2- NOT GETTING ENOUGH EXERCISE – Kids should be getting a good 30 minutes of exercise daily.

3- EATING CRAP – They might be exercising but if you feed them processed food, sugary cereal, fast food and not enough fruits and veggies, they are at risk of developing a slew of illnesses later in life.

4- NOT GETTING ENOUGH OF YOUR ATTENTION – More than interaction with other kids, your children need YOUR attention. Put that damn phone down.

5- VIDEO GAMES THAT ARE NOT RATED FOR THEIR AGE – Do you even check what your kids play?

6- VIDEO GAMES THAT ARE RATED FOR THEIR AGE – Too much screen time is detrimental to their growing brains.

7- TIKTOK AND YOUTUBE – These platforms are saturated with things kids should not be seeing or hearing. The innocent video dubbing app “musica.ly” has transformed into a ridiculous content sharing tool, pushing various ideologies that probably do not align with your own views, distributed in easily digestible bite size morsels that kids gobble up. It’s literally filling their heads up with garbage, and is a HUGE waste of time.

8- BEING PUT DOWN OR BULLIED – Please talk to your kids kindly, and please speak to them about being on the giving, or receiving end of bullying.

9- BOTTLING UP THEIR FEELINGS / NOT BEING ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS – allow your children to come to you to say how they feel and if they are unable to express how they do feel, get them help, early.

10- PREDATORS, online and otherwise – they lurk in the shadows…

Speaking of predators

I’ve been seeing a lot of outraged parents screaming “A pedophile who is vaccinated can now enter Benson centre, but an unvaccinated parent can’t!” If you’re one of them, I have a questions for you.

Pedophiles have always had more rights here in Canada than in many places in the world. Have you been advocating for stricter restrictions and rules prior to this mandate? Have you lobbied for the sex offender registry to be made public? Have you ever written a letter to your MP or MPP about it? I know I have… Why is it suddenly a problem now that the spotlight is on you? Is this just a lame attempt at deflecting?

Those who had no issue with pedophiles living in hiding among us before this mandate have no business complaining. They are just using scare tactics to create a false equivalence, and try and prove a point that in my books, is utterly hypocritical. How about we keep the spotlight on the real problem: the unvaccinated.

“I’m sorry, but it’s too late” -Alabama doctor on treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients

“The patients are younger. They have fewer preexisting medical conditions. And at my hospital, over 95% of these hospitalized patients share one common feature: They’re unvaccinated. ” -Nicolas Johnson, Critical Care Doctor