Life
Approximately 947 years ago — give or take — schools around the world shut their doors in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, discussion of the 2020-2021 academic year has been fraught with emotional debate. In-person or virtual learning? What about working parents? What about special services? How do we keep everyone safe? Yet even as many districts continue to plan, others have already had their first day of in-person learning. While questions of long-term success and safety remain to be seen, we can still ask: what did kids think of their first day back to school?
None of the children quoted in this article have gone back to a “traditional” classroom. Many schools have halved class size by adopting a “hybrid learning” model where students are only in school two days a week and learn remotely the other three — classrooms that would normally have 20 students only hold 10. Other districts have reorganized classrooms to maintain 6 feet of separation between desks, and kept students in cohorts to avoid contact as much as possible. Most schools had some kind of a mask policy. In many ways, schools, students, and parents are still feeling through a solution and will likely make adaptations through the year. Here’s what 17 pre-and grade-schoolers had to say about this new normal.
Genevieve, 8
"I was so happy to go back to school, even though [Friend 1] and [Friend 2] aren’t in school on the same days as me. We’ve been in the same class since preschool and now we’re not. But we're still best friends. I can still talk to them on Messenger Kids, and there are other nice kids there."
Powell, 6
"Wearing a mask isn't so bad. It’s important to protect people from coronavirus, and I look like a ninja."
Celia, 4
"At school I get to touch my friends. Everywhere else is 6 feet away!"
Raphael, 8
"I like the school days in school better than school days when I’m in my house. It's more fun to see my friends and play on the playground. But on home days, I get to stay in pajamas if I want. And sometimes I get done sooner. Like, at school I have to stay until 3, but at home I can be done at 1 or something."
Sabrina, 5
"My mask is hot, but I have to wear it. I don’t have to wear it when I come home, though. It’s not forever. I was happy to meet my teacher and make new friends."
Gene, 8
"I like going back to school, but I don’t like that I can't ride the bus this year. I don't like that we have to eat in our classroom for lunch. We stay in the classroom all day except for recess."
Bowen, 7
"It's good!"
Bowen's mom asked if he wanted to elaborate and he said, "No. It's screen time now," and turned on Netflix.
Jasmine, 9
"I am so, so, so, so happy I'm back in school. Being home was boring and it was driving me crazy."
Taylor, 9
"We have to wash our hands every five seconds. Not really every five seconds, I'm exaggerating. It was good, though. I wish I could go back five days a week, but two is better than nothing! Maybe when there's a vaccine for coronavirus, things can change and we can go back to normal."
Sebastian, 6
"I didn't trade my mask or let anyone else touch it!"
Good job to Sebastian's parents, for putting the fear of God in him over this one.
This article was originally published on