Kids with a Different Experience
There is around 23 million American child living raised by one or none of their parents. This might mean that during the lockdown, there is no division of labor among the parents so that less stress is directed towards the kids.
There are about 16 million American households living in rented apartments. This means that probably there is no backyard to breathe some fresh air and for the kids to spend some free time; and perhaps there is less opportunity for kids to walk around the neighborhood since there is a higher chance of walking close to and interacting with other neighbors, which is not safe during the current pandemic.
Add to this some details of those apartments. The average size of an apartment in America is 882 square feet.
How far can a child run in such an apartment before tripping over furniture? What would be the psychological impact on the kid after a few weeks of being locked up in such an enclosed space?
Would that be a justification for the parent to leave the kid in front of a screen most of the day? We can’t blame parents much at that point, but only the kid will suffer the long-term consequences.
When COVID-19 Hits
Let’s take this discussion to a new level. Did we think about the scenario where one or more family member gets hit by COVID-19? What will happen to the children then?
If the mother, for example, picks up the virus through its frequent and necessary visits to the grocery store and gets sick, then the situation usually will go as follows. She might be allowed to take the COVID-19 test, if tested positive she will be advised to “self-isolate.”
If both parents are living together then there is a good chance she can isolate herself at home with the father watching over the kids.
However, in practical terms, the father would have a job to go to in order to secure an income for the family.
A friend or family member would think twice before they get out of their homes and go spend time in a house where someone is infected. People are simply too terrified to do that.
Hospitals would not admit the mother in unless she gets respiratory complications. So, we end up with a mother either not isolating herself properly at home, leading to the high risk of infecting the kids; or kids with no one to look after them.
Such agony is a story that gets repeated over and over again with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topping 1.1 million Americans.
It is not clear when this pandemic will end. But until then, we ought to, first and foremost, count Allah’s blessings on ourselves and our kids. We ought to know that whatever our kids are suffering from now is not as bad compared to others.
We as parents need to think about the new environment from our kids’ perspective. Their suffering might not be visible to us, yet we ought to feel it and work the best to alleviate it.
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