This great article by Hallie Cotnam at the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) notes that there is one group of people not on lockdown this summer: Kids.
Once school is out:
…there will be no summer school, no camp, no lessons and no team sports — there will be virtually no organized activity of any kind. While their parents toil away and family vacations remain in limbo, many kids will be gloriously, thrillingly free to do just about whatever they want.
They’ll be playing like it’s 1975.
Contrast that with pre-pandemic 2020, when kids had every second filled with some activity, or they were on their way TO or FROM that activity. That’s what she does, with a hopeful quote from yours truly: “What I’m seeing is communities being re-knit by the coronavirus catastrophe because the kids are outside on their bikes.”
I hope you’re seeing that, too! – L
Public domain photo by of girls playing Double Dutch in Chicago, 1973. (– U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
1 Comment
With playgrounds and swimming pools closed, outdoor movies and concerts cancelled, and most parents afraid to have their kids play with others, so no or few playmates , how is this summer anything like 1975? What have you been smoking ?
I found a few outdoor day camps (most had closed) and I am thrilled for my granddaughter to get to be around peers her own age and fish, forage and do camp craft. Most kids I know will be just as restricted and socially isolated as kids with the most protective and agoraphobic parents of the 70s. very emotional and socially damaging times.