A dad-of-two has spoken out about juggling working full-time and trying to ensure his sons’ education isn’t suffering through not being at school.
The parent opened his heart to the Lennox Herald and said he is worried for his and his boys’ mental health as a consequence of the situation.
His younger boy, according to him, was bored for large parts of the day after the last remote learning experience in March and he is concerned that this time round will be more of the same.
And his older son, who is in secondary school, he says struggles to motivate himself without interaction with his peers and with he and his wife both working full-time, they are not always around to help him.
He explained: “My older son can’t get himself motivated at home.
“Before this latest announcement, he actually said to me ‘I am dreading a lockdown. I need to go to school. I need that routine’.
“I feel pretty upset.
“Our hands are tied in how we can deal with the situation in a way. I am worried for everybody.”
He explained how the amount of work being sent wasn’t sufficient in keeping his younger son occupied for any length of time during the last lockdown which began in March last year.
The worried parent said: “He was all ready to go and some work would come on about 9.30am.
“He would probably do that within an hour and then he would ask the teacher what else he could do. For the rest of the day, he was bored.”
The boy spoke to us and when asked how he felt about news that school wasn’t opening until February at the earliest, he said: “Horrible.”
Speaking about the situation last time, the boy added: “I was only getting an hour and a half of work. I would get my work at 9.30am and it finished about 10.30/11am and the rest of the day I was bored.
“I have got my friends’ phone numbers and have got them on some of my video games.
“I just wish they would give me more work so I’m not bored.”
Despite the problems, he is facing the dad counts himself as one of the “lucky” ones and worries about the impact school closures are having on others.
He explained: “We have got really good equipment and internet connections but what about those who don’t?
“I class myself as being very lucky but my main concern is the people round about us.
“Their mum’s mobile phone might be some kids’ only internet access.
“People are starting to lose jobs.
“A lot of people have to work. There are people on minimum wage or zero hour contracts. How are they managing?”
Going back to his own predicament, the parent says the school closures are only the tip of the iceberg with everything else that the children have lost out on during the pandemic.
He said: “Everything has been taken away from him. The social aspect is really affecting him more than anything.
“His brother is five years older and they don’t have a lot in common.
“Both of them play rugby but they only had that for about a month and then weren’t able to do it again because of the restrictions.
“One of them is also involved in swimming but he has hardly been able to do that before it was shut down again.
“When I told him about this latest closure, he was gutted.”
When the announcement came through just before Christmas that the schools were to remain closed until at least January 18, the dad was already on a festive break from his work and was scrambling around trying to get annual leave organised to cover the couple of weeks.
But with the extension until at least February 1, he says it has now become a juggling act again.
The dad went on: “If the council comes up with a good plan and gives my youngest three to four hours of work, meaningful work, I would be delighted.
“As for the teenager, he can’t motivate himself. I am trying my best. How can parents homeschool if they are both working?
“It has been getting me quite angry.
“I understand where they are coming from with the lockdown but it has actually been affecting me as well mentally. I feel really upset.
“The youngest one is gutted about it. They are saying February 1 but, in my opinion, it’s going to go on a lot longer than that.”
A West Dunbartonshire Council spokeswoman said: “We understand the challenge school closures present for our parents, carers and young people.
“Our schools and staff are working hard to support them and we are well prepared for this lockdown period with remote learning plans across our schools.
“We are engaging with our young people, online via Google classrooms and through our virtual learning platforms ourcloud.buzz and Campus@wdc where age-appropriate lessons are set and work available for pupils to complete at home.
“Schools are continuing to provide advice and guidance with teachers maintaining contact with families and we would encourage any parents/carers who are concerned to contact their child’s head teacher for support.
“Details of our educational psychology service and free online mental health support service, Togetherall, have also been shared with families to enable them to access additional specialist support if required.”
-- to www.dailyrecord.co.uk
