Back to school in Denmark.  

As each day passes and the effects of Covid-19 policy really hit home, I become more profoundly disturbed by the transformation of the world as we knew it. Even though this “new normal” had been in the pipeline for some time, the suddeness with which people have effectively rolled over and accepted such a traumatic environment as “normal” terrifies me.

I wish I were wrong but I believe strongly that this is only the beginning, there is more to be exposed and imposed upon us. If we don’t wake up and resist, our world will be lost to us and we will be subsisting in the dystopia predicted by so many who saw this day coming.

This is not a life that I would wish upon children – expert medical consensus is that children are not affected by Covid-19 so why the need for these traumatic measures.  Yes, children carry the virus, this is normal and herd immunity is the only way to strengthen our own immune systems and to overcome the virus – or do we accept to live under house arrest for the rest of our lives and to subject our children to such unnatural and abusive lifestyles?

Photo: Schools in Edinburgh.  

Comment from HE, a professor of psychology:

“Research shows social interaction is not only crucial for psychosocial development but also crucial for cognitive development. Psychosocial development influences healthy adult personality. 

There are different stages during a child’s upbringing according to psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. During each stage a child needs to overcome a psychosocial challenge/crisis. 

For example, during the Industry vs. Inferiority stage of children between ages 5-12, schools and teachers influence the child’s development the most and the basic virtue of the child is to achieve competence. 

If children are offered recognition for what they can achieve they will feel industrious and become hard workers. If they receive negative feedback and/or held back then they can feel inferior and lose motivation, leading to developmental inertia. 

In the 5th stage of Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion, the adolescent learns the many social roles they are a part of (i.e., friend, student, citizen, etc). If the adolescent is encouraged to go out and explore they can form identity. 

If they’re pressured to confirm to beliefs of others or held back then they can develop role confusion, feel lost and an identity crisis. If they do not overcome this crisis successfully then leading into the next stage of Intimacy vs. Isolation (18-40 years), they may not be able to form intimate relationships with others and are at risk of falling into isolation and feeling lonely.”

Schools in France. 

Comment from Patrick Corbett, retired journalist:

” I spent a lot of time today thinking about the life we had with our youngest daughter when she was in K-12. So much of our life revolved around her and with her. As well as her time in the classroom, she was in dance, karate, and musical theatre. She played basketball,, volleyball and was a sprinter in track. Her mom and I spent countless hours going with her supporting her and yes sometimes it got boring, (3 hours of dance class?) but mostly we enjoyed it. We became friends with other parents and got to know and care for her friends. No it wasn’t idyllic. It was just normal living and that itself was great. 

So now they want us to embrace a “new normal?” One where we stand on dots 6 feet apart where the kids have to be trained to be afraid of each other, not touch each other, because GERMS. Where we won’t visit with other families, where kids may even have to stay home and learn by computer. 

Human beings are above all social animals; social distancing is anathema to us. It will quite literally kill us through loneliness, isolation and depression. All of which compromises that incredible mechanism in our bodies and spirit–our blessed immune system.

Every day, every week and, before you know it, every year you put your children through this you will weaken their bodies, hearts and soul. They will dry up and blow away before your eyes. Doesn’t that scare you more than something we’ve lived with our whole time on this planet? This is not the plague this is not the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

This is, at worst, perhaps a slightly more severe flu than usual. Flues kill so do car accidents cancer and heat disease. Everyone who dies at whatever age goes too soon for their loved ones. It is in that sense that death is tragic. Otherwise it is part of life. We’d do better to embrace living than huddle at home fearing death. That isn’t heroic no matter how much the buffoon Boris Johnson says it is.

So if you can’t muster the courage to fight for your own freedom to live  do it for your children.”

Back to school in Denmark. 

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Cover image, back to school in Edinburgh.