SEOUL — I decided to send my 8-year-old daughter back to school in late May because I figured we might as well adapt to the new normal rather than run away from the coronavirus out of fear. It doesn’t look as if the virus will go away anytime soon, and I wanted my daughter, Tae-yeon, to quickly acclimate to the changed environment rather than being severed from school life after finishing just first grade last year.
When schools reopened in the spring, after about three months of remote learning, infected cases were not on the rise in South Korea and I had full trust that my daughter’s school and the teachers would strictly follow the government’s Covid-19 guidelines, more so than some other public places.
And the near ubiquitous mask-wearing among Koreans gave me a peace of mind that things would more or less be OK. Teachers and children here, including Tae-yeon, are even more obsessed about wearing masks than adults. That, too, reassured me about sending her back to school.
Whenever she left the house, my husband, an exacting architect, made sure Tae-yeon wore one of the highest-grade masks. Wearing a mask was a habit instilled in her years ago to protect her from air pollution containing the particulate matter prevalent in Asia.
There was a time when returning to school was out of the question in South Korea. The number of infection cases identified on Feb. 29 was 900, the highest thus far, threatening to overwhelm this country of about 50 million people. But because South Korea’s medical system had gained epidemiological tools such as contact tracing and widespread testing after the MERS virus erupted here in 2015, new cases dropped quickly each day. South Korea never restricted movement or had a lockdown, and by early May, the government had relaxed strong social distancing guidelines and encouraged people to get some of their everyday life back. The government issued a 68-page guidebook on how to adapt to what it termed “a new daily life with Covid-19.”
Schools were scheduled to reopen, but then a cluster of dozens of coronavirus cases erupted in early May that was traced to bars and nightclubs. Some teachers from across the country had visited those clubs.
But after cases declined, in late May, I felt reassured about sending Tae-yeon back to school because the measures the school took seemed even better than the ones I saw applied at most places.
So in June, second graders, like Tae-yeon, went back to school for three hours a day in the morning twice a week, then once a week from July after infection cases jumped in the Seoul metropolitan area, where we live. Less than half of the school population was allowed on the K-12 campus at any given time with social distancing. There were only nine kids in Tae-yeon’s class. I could take this risk, I thought, for the benefit of my child’s social development and discipline building, both of which are crucial at her age, particularly since she is an only child.
Still, I worried. But once I made the decision, everything was fine.
Every day, before school, I checked Tae-yeon’s temperature and health conditions and submitted the results online using a government app. A kid whose temperature was above 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, was not allowed to go to school. Kids who may have crossed paths with a person who tested positive were told not to come to school until they were tested and quarantined for 14 days.
Anti-droplet glass partitions were installed at each kid’s desk. Tae-yeon ate lunch at her desk. She said that even with the partitions, she could talk to her friends during lunch time.
I did wonder why I was sending Tae-yeon back to school when I learned that she hardly got to speak to her classmates and basically listened to lectures by her teacher. She told me that kids took turns reading a book aloud — with their masks on — but otherwise kept silent.
After all, she was only in second grade and I don’t expect much academic development from offline school. I mean, the contents of online classes the government offers are pretty good, in my opinion. So in a way, sending Tae-yeon to school during this scary time of coronavirus, with all the restrictions, can be a hassle.
Back to School ›
Back to School
Updated Aug. 14, 2020
The latest highlights as the first students return to U.S. schools.
-
- From Opinion: Find out if your child’s school is ready to reopen, based on coronavirus caseloads and testing rates.
- New York City schools are set to open their classrooms in a month, but many principals fear they won’t be ready.
- Families priced out of “learning pods” are seeking alternatives.
- What’s it like to send children back to school outside of the United States? We asked parents in South Korea, Switzerland and Germany.
Still, I wanted to let Tae-yeon continue experiencing what it was like to be in a peer community; to be a regular student routinely sitting at a desk and listening to the teacher; and to mingle with other kids, if only for brief moments. When I waited outside the school gate to pick her up at 12:30 p.m., I would see her talking to her friends as she walked toward me with her mask on. She got some social life, I suppose.
I also sent Tae-yeon to an athletics class once a week since her school didn’t provide physical education classes. Only five kids, not 15 like before, attended the class and moved around with their masks on for 90 minutes. It’s amazing how Korean kids never take off their masks. Tae-yeon even scolds me when I forget to wear a mask and freaks out when she sees someone not wearing one in the elevator.
It does feel suffocating when I think about how these masks and partitions will still be part of Tae-yeon’s return to school on Aug. 18. I wish my daughter and her friends could communicate freely without masks on and have fun at school. Still, if this has to be the new normal, we have to adapt to it.
Interview and translation by Su-Hyun Lee.
GET MORE NYT PARENTING Sign up for this newsletter and follow @nytparenting on Instagram and Twitter.
"back" - Google News
August 14, 2020 at 08:55PM
https://ift.tt/3aqeG5j
For Mom in South Korea, Sending a Child Back to School Was Worth the Risk - The New York Times
"back" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QNOfxc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
Related Posts :
JoCo-based owners bringing women's professional soccer back to Kansas City - Shawnee Mission Post- Buffs Look to Bounce Back at Denver - CUBuffs.com
- Maine CDC to scale back COVID-19 investigations as case numbers set records - Press Herald
- A Look Back At Moments Of Devastation And Hope In Mideast - NPR
- Tempers flare as Southern California restaurants push back on outdoor dining ban - Los Angeles Times
0 Response to "For Mom in South Korea, Sending a Child Back to School Was Worth the Risk - The New York Times"
Post a Comment