Masks On, Sanitize, Air Hugs Only.

This year in teaching has been unlike any I have known in my decade of experience. As I prepared to return to the classroom after distance educating for months and looked at all the new rules, I was already conflicted. As the year progresses I only become more and more aware and concerned about the choices we are making today and how they will affect these little humans in the long run.

I am a grade one teacher and a mother of children similar in age. Grade one is notorious for runny noses, not knowing how to keep our hands to ourselves and difficulty following rules that seem arbitrary. Those little bodies need to move, to touch and explore their world, and receive comfort when they are just too tired, bumped their elbow or miss Mom or Dad. Some can't zip up their own coats, yet we try to teach them mask hygiene. We sing everything...but wait...singing in large groups is a high-risk activity.

Grade one and Covid restrictions quite simply do not mesh well. There are 3 key rules, where I teach, that cause me worry dail

#1. Sanitize In. Sanitize Out.

While hand-washing is preferable we have limited time and bathroom space for my 15 little monsters to wash their hands as, I am not one of the lucky teachers with a sink in my classroom. In my school, the rule is you sanitize into every room you enter and sanitize again on the way out.

I am expected to lead by example. By my one hurried bathroom break, the amount of slime from the build up of sanitizer that comes off my hands is disturbing. How much are these little bodies absorbing through their skin? How much are they ingesting when they take off their masks and put their hands in their mouths (a gross but regular occurrence). How much is going into our water supply and how will that effect their world in the future?

Questions like these are met with uncertain looks and shrugs, phrases like, "But we have to, because of Covid.

So I cringe with every spray of the bottle and flinch at the alcoholic sting in the air after we come in from recess and hope that someone has thought this one through and we aren't slowly poisoning ourselves and our future generations.

#2 In We Go. Masks On Everyone!

When we began the year grades 3 and lower did not have to wear masks except in situations where we would be close together for prolonged periods. This meant that my 6 year olds could sit at their desks facing forwards with me at the front of the class and interact with me seeing my whole face. It meant we could breathe normally, laugh, talk and (secretly) sing.

Set aside the annoying nature of trying to get 15 tiny people to know where their mask is after recess, change them when they get wet (way too often because half of them suck on them! I know. Ew.), and just generally keep them over their noses and not touch them constantly (cue extra sanitizer squirts), there are other serious problems with wearing masks all day for small children trying to lea

When we are young we are learning about our emotions and those of others. Facial expressions are a very important part of this. That has been reduced to what our eyes can express for a good portion of our day.

Proper speech is a big focus in grade one. To correct articulation errors, kids need to actually see your mouth move, where your tongue is placed and when your chin drops. This affects reading and writing too as listening to a word through a mask sounds very different.

Don't get me wrong. The reduction in runny noses, colds and flus is clear proof that masks reduce the spread of germs substantially. But what happens when the masks come off. How are immune systems going to be strengthened if not by the childhood coughs and upset tummies that usually run rampant in those lower grades?

#3 Zombie Arms and Eagle Wings

Kids in grade one are wrecking balls. They have limited body awareness and their movement is very rarely purposeful or planned. So since day one we have had the task of training these little bodies to keep a social distance of 6 feet apart.

The words that were quickly adopted were "Put up out your zombie arms and stretch out your eagle wings. are you moving safely?" This kind of works but not really. For my silliest little beans it is really just a reminder that there are zombies and eagles and they go into imagination mode.

My real issue is maintaining social distance with these little guys at all. To develop healthy cognitive and emotional abilities studies have proven that rough and tumble play, close contact and physical touch is important for early development. Some of these little guys go home to families that are neglectful or abusive and schools are their only place to experience care and comfort from an adult or their peers. They crave hugs, they want to sit up next to you when they read, they want to grapple their friends on the playground to fill this human need. Even my students with healthy family lives would typically sought comfort from their teacher or close contact with a friend throughout their long day away from home.

So how will the effects of removing a great deal of human contact affect how these children grow and develop cognitively, socially and emotionally? Do we break the rules for the little girl who got smashed in the face with the dodgeball, the boy who's Dad just moved away, the child who knows that when they go home there will be no food, no love, no safety?

Of course we do! No way in hell am I the kind of monster who will stand 6 feet away from a crying six year old and offer them an air hug when they are in real distress. And when you jump three reading levels, you better believe we are gonna sanitize and share a real high-five. But it isn't enough! It isn't the same! Every time I see them reach for a hug and check themselves, every time I watch them adapt their game of dinosaur hunter to one with invisible lassos and force fields because they have to keep their space I am aware of what they have lost and I wonder how it will affect humanity in the long run.

Unanswered Questions

So what do I do with these concerns, these questions that have will have no answer other than wait and see? What is our responsibility as teachers, navigating this new world, new rules, every changing reality we face with our students? For me I will always do what is best for the student sitting in front of me. Which means we keep them safe and we consider when the rules need to bent for the overall physical, mental and emotional health of the tiny human standing in front of me. I ask the hard questions, make everyone uncomfortable at staff meetings if I have to, and keep asking until I have an answer that satisfies. Grade one has to be magical and warm and safe. So onward we go, finding ways to make life feel natural and comfortable while following the rules that let us stay together; waiting and hoping for this pandemic to be over so we can play and laugh and learn unrestricted.