(Editor’s note: The Southside Sentinel welcomes back free lance columnist Mary Wakefield Buxton of Urbanna after her summer writing hiatus. Along with regularly sharing her personal opinion columns with the Sentinel since 1984, she is also author of 14 books about life and love in Tidewater, Virginia.)
Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5
by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
URBANNA, VA. —
What a summer. What a year. Since March, Americans have suffered through what I call a “100-year pandemic,” not seen in such fatal intensity since Spanish flu that was such a killer in the World War 1 era.
I have read that a powerful virus could cause someone to wake up in the morning feeling sick and be dead by sunset. There were so many deaths at such a rapid rate that bodies were piled up on streets waiting to be carted away. The special horror of that pandemic was it killed the young and many soldiers who escaped death in the trenches returned home only to succumb to the deadly germ.
Although we have been told COVID-19 is not as dangerous to our young as those of advanced ages, and this is a major blessing, I have felt particular sympathy for our young. Many have experienced a first time exposure to real hardship.
The loss of education being the unkindest cut of all and let’s not kid ourselves about the quality of learning through “virtual learning.” Bright children at ease with high technology may do well in such an environment, but most children need in-person instruction and daily TLC from real live teachers to thrive in school. Not to mention how closure of schools has hurt even more handicapped and disabled children who desperately need structured days and children who would not have daily meals without open schools to care for them.
And that’s only half of the equation. Not seeing friends (which adults can adjust to) is real calamity for the young who need daily social stimulation and “fun” in their lives to develop. Childhood is supposed to be a happy time. We know how tough life becomes as adults when we become responsible for ourselves and it’s sad our children are losing that small envelope of carefree happiness of youth.
My generation, (I was born in 1941 just a few months before Pearl Harbor) remembers troubled times as children as war caused food shortages. I remember Mother’s joy if she could ever find meat for her family even if she had to resort to the black market to get it. The meat shortage was so severe Father bought three pigs to raise and I even remember seeing chickens. I have a vague memory of Father standing at the sink plucking chicken feathers and some colorful language coming forth. But that was hardly much trouble for a child and it never wiped out any laughter. Not even once.
My generation’s big suffering came when we hit our 20s with the Vietnam War. We were anxious to get on with our lives; finish our education, start a family, start a business, earn money, save for a house, the sort of things we call living “the American Dream.” But first we had military duty in the U.S. Navy for four years. Military service is hard, especially during war and many suffered plenty so far away from home.
To this day I take my hat off to anyone who serves in the military. It’s hard and often thankless work. I always think of “Tommy Atkins,” the poem by Rudyard Kipling that charged a shallow society with only respecting soldiers “when the guns begin to shoot.”
My point is life gets difficult and to see our children cut off from a decent education, the social life in school each day and having fun are heartbreaking sights. Thus, the biggest down of all this summer was hearing our public schools would remain closed. If anyone should be considered “essential workers” in our society today, it’s our teachers. Our children cannot be asked to forfeit their education in order to protect elderly adults.
Putting adults before children, when it comes to education, is nothing new. Some Virginia school systems closed during integration during “massive resistance.” Again, the children were sacrificed for adults. It’s just as sad today as it was then.
Let’s get creative and open up our schools. If spacing is a problem, open schools year around and separate the student body into two teams. Or, split the regular school year days between two teams; one team goes to morning classes, the other, afternoon. Use Plexiglas partitions, masks and hand washing just as other public services are doing.
I think of Kahlil Gibran and how he said we shoot our children high up into the sky rather like an arrow travels and it lands where it will. But with closed schools, our poor children are arrows that are never launched. They need to read Kipling! They need to read Gibran! Open the schools!
(The Ups and Downs of Summer, to be continued)
© 2020
