Quote:
Originally Posted by ABHI_1512 I feel for the kids locked in their houses...The real development of the kids is in the outside world and it is harsh on the kids to remain locked inside the house because of the fear for the virus. But yes, the choice is with the parents and how they think what’s best for their children should be the sole criteria- covid or no Covid !! |
There are two pictures below. The first one is of my classmates. We met after three decades and promptly got down to the business of making each other feel like dirt.
The next picture is of me and my physics teacher. Twenty years after I graduated. Aside from him, my school days were a blur of very memorable characters in the teaching staff. Without exception, all of the teachers were mocked. But, fast forward a few decades, and I am yet to meet someone from school who has anything but gratitude for the teachers we had. At every opportunity, I go and pay my respects to my teachers if and when I manage to get in touch with them. These are the people who gave shape to my life.
This is what I want for my kids. Fast friends who don't have a single kind word to offer; and teachers who my kids will remember and be grateful for decades after they are done with their formal education.
The way things are going now,.. well, I don't think that our kids are being set up to have any meaningful relationship through which they learn, grow and become better. And as much as I can, I will fight for that to be changed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by v1p3r I agree with the rest of your post, but must disagree with your views on democratising education by bringing it online. There are 2 reasons why it won't help:
1. It is taken for granted, in our socioeconomic circles, that kids can be provided with a laptop / tablet and fast internet. This is not the case for most people. Even in slightly more expensive schools, there are students whose parents scrounge every penny, and those who get scholarships. It is unlikely that they will have access to laptops and broadband. Yes, Jio and smartphone penetration are a start, but they are a poor substitute.
2. Working class parents are able to both go to work once they send their children to school for the day. Most couples whose jobs are, for example, domestic help + chauffeur, or cook + security guard, rely on school to keep their children occupied and educated while they are out earning. With school from home, assuming a family has internet + device access, a parent has to be around to ensure attendance, attention, and discipline. I have no children, but I am given to believe there is a need for children under 10 to have an adult around at all times for online classes, in any socioeconomic group, just to stave off distraction. |
Absolutely correct on both counts.
Two kids were in the news recently for having taken the extreme step just because they didn't have the tools to participate in classes during the lockdown. Very unfortunate.
As to the second point, me and my wife are in that exact situation. I am thinking that if I have to sit beside my child, what's the point of school anyway? The child has no sense of self and independence from the parent during the actual learning. Also, the class is pure pandemonium and the teacher is struggling to hold the attention of 5 and 6 year olds without the benefit of physical presence. All in all, a total waste of time for that age group.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalin1 I have become your fan now after the way you have put forth your points on this thread in the last three months :. |
Thank you. But, in all fairness, there are plenty of people here who have made lucid arguments. Just to name a few -
V.Narayan sir,
v1p3r, and
Turbanator have provided very grounding views as key people in the SME and start-up sectors.
Lobogris,
msdivy,
subraiyr and
mvadg have made some excellent arguments.
Miyata provided highly informative links along with some wry humor. And of course,
vivek95 and
The Rationalist have brought their medical heft to the table. Also, I remember your own "
pregnant or not" analogy. That was quite succinct in capturing the futility of stage-wise unlocking.
For the pro lockdown people,
TRR has made some excellent data backed arguments a couple of months ago; although we have much more data now on both the severity of the disease and the cost of the lockdown;
poloman sir and a few others have invested themselves in providing views that are quite empathetic to the government's catch-22, which I am glad they did, as we always need all perspectives on the table.
All in all, it has been an interesting debate. I have personally learnt a lot here.
Coming to the matter being discussed, the anecdotes are coming thick and fast.
My neighbor is a "we-are-all-going-to-die-if-we-don't-lockdown" kind of guy. His parents, aged in the late and mid 70s, live with his bachelor brother in another part of town. Early last week, both the seniors tested positive and were carted off to some isolation ward. Both sons were forbidden to see them. As expected anxiety levels were high all around. My neighbor's wife was crying and all kinds of distressing scenes in the building.
Here is where it gets interesting.
Both seniors pulled through without so much as a Paracetamol. Remarkably, uncle who is a recent cancer survivor, didn't so much as get a runny nose. All he had was a slightly scratchy throat. That's it. They tested him (and the bachelor son who lives with them) only because aunty was symptomatic with fever. In any case, both seniors are out of danger. In fact, they were never in any danger in the first place.
In the midst of all this, the bachelor son who had tested negative, had been asked to quarantine himself in his house for 2 weeks. That gentleman slipped on something in the house; fell and could not move. He was feverishly texting his brother (my neighbor) to come to his aid. Only, my neighbor couldn't go due to the quarantine at his brothers end. Finally, after a couple of HOURS an ambulance came and took the patient somewhere. Alone. No family with him in his time of pain. Unfortunately, we understand that the severity of his injuries is non-trivial. And for a long time, the ambulance team struggled to find a place for him in the medical ecosystem.
So bottom line today for my pro-lockdown neighbor (in his own words) -
"
Saala DK Bose... jinko Covid hai, unke baare mein sochne ka tension nikal gaya, par jo bathroom mein gira uske baare mein sochke ek dum tension mein aa gaya hoon bhai main. Kyaa karega, kuch samajh nahin aa raha hai mereko abhi. Saala kyaa musibat hai yeh!!"*
Irony died today in my building.
P. S.
* Translation - "
Sith, I am now not tense about the senior citizen Covid patients in my family, but I am really tense about the 30 year old guy who fell in the bathroom. I am at a loss as to what to do and am unable to make sense of the anything now. What a problematic situation!!"