Funny and sad situations when children stay at home during the epidemic

During the pandemic, children often play at empty lots or at the block's cultural house. Photo: Duc Anh

Many funny situations

After the Tet holiday, students in the province only went to school for nearly a week, then more than 800,000 students in Nghe An were scheduled to have a break from February 7 until the end of February to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic. Parents' worries were somewhat alleviated when their children did not have to go to crowded places, where they could be exposed to sources of infection, but along with that were different troubles for thousands of parents when they had to think of ways to manage their children at home.

We often have to think of ways to assign chores to our children. This method was quite effective in the first few days, when most of them worked hard to receive rewards from their parents at the end of the day if they did well. However, after more than a week, it was no longer effective, because they got bored with doing housework and looked for ways to go out to play. As a result, every day the parents had to go looking for their children because they rode their bikes somewhere far away.

Ms. Le Thi Mai in Cua Nam ward (Vinh city)

Unlike Ms. Mai, Ms. Doan Thi Yen in Trung Do ward (Vinh city) registered for many online learning programs to create interest for her child. However, after only the first week, her child did not want to study anymore and instead searched for online game sites to play, and she and her husband were "shocked" when they saw their 13-year-old son downloading unhealthy games for his age, and also connecting with many people online to play online. So Ms. Yen had to send her child to her grandparents' house with a set of subject outlines sent by the subject teachers via Zalo to the parents, hoping that her child could avoid crowded places and help her child review knowledge at home. "However, the outline was only done perfunctorily, and the rest of the time he went out with friends in the neighborhood from noon until late afternoon, making us nervous and worried every day," Ms. Yen said.

The “half-crying, half-laughing” story also happens a lot in apartment buildings, where the density of young families is quite high. According to many opinions shared by the majority of parents, the children obey when their parents tell them to do things, but when their parents go to work, they gather together in a certain house and cause all kinds of trouble.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - Nam Nguyen Sy Sach Apartment, Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City) said. "One day, when I came home from work, I was shocked to see that the carton of fresh milk I had just bought and the box of instant noodles had "disappeared", leaving only a pile of trash. When I asked, I found out that my child had invited his friends from the same apartment building to come over and cook for fun. At that time, I could only laugh it off."

Parents in many rural areas are in a similar situation. Mr. Nguyen Van Tu (Yen Thanh) said: “Before going to work, I told my children to study at home and help their grandmother with housework. However, when I came home at noon, I discovered that my second-grade child had no hair left on his head and had shaved marks. It turned out that the two brothers had used their father’s clippers and cut their own hair.”

Many families are passive when children are absent during the epidemic season. Photo: Duc Anh

There are also parents who complained on Facebook that their two brothers were so naughty at home that they used a hose to wash all the furniture in the house for their parents, and then all the electronic appliances in the house had to be repaired.

There are hundreds of stories that are both funny and sad, but most families complain that their daily lives are turned upside down when their children stay up late and wake up early, or many families have to wake their children up at 5:30 a.m. to take them to their grandparents' house, and then take them home late at night.

Besides, although online learning has been implemented by schools, because not every family has the same equipment, it is difficult for learning to take place regularly.

How to manage?

Many parents come up with many ways to manage their children so that they can go to work with peace of mind, because in reality, many families have young children, only 2-3 years apart in age, so it is very difficult for them to manage themselves. Moreover, many families have grandparents living far away, so taking the children to and from school during the day is very time-consuming, making parents feel uneasy at work. In addition, schools all have a method of assigning homework, so parents also have to constantly follow their children, urging them to complete the homework assigned by the teacher.

Although we know that the amount of outlines that teachers give students is quite a lot, we have also carefully considered the completion time, so that students do not meet up with each other when their parents are not at home. Assigning outlines weekly also helps students consolidate their knowledge regularly, best preparing for the time to return to school after the pandemic is over.

Teacher Dang Thanh Huong - Teacher at Hung Dung Secondary School (Vinh City)

According to Ms. Huong, managing students by assigning weekly outlines in all subjects will help them stay busy all day and forget about chatting, gathering, and watching TV.

Children playing alone without supervision is a concern for parents. Photo: Duc Anh

Many parents believe that the most important thing in managing children at home at this time is to encourage their independence. Children in primary school and below must have someone at home to look after them or send them to their grandparents. Older children in secondary school need to be assigned housework, have their homework checked, and can register for online learning on reputable websites. "It is best for parents to study with their children in the evening, to avoid the situation of handing over the device to their children and then going to work. Children will be "free to do whatever they want" and study less and play more, and "playing online" has no small consequences...", said teacher Nguyen Thi Soa - Hung Dung Secondary School.

Among the many ways to manage children at home, it seems that hiring a home tutor or installing a camera to monitor children is being done by many families.

Grandparents live far away, and because of the Covid-19 pandemic, children cannot go to English or life skills centers like during summer vacation, so hiring a private tutor is also a possible solution. Although expensive, it is still a suitable solution for many families.

Ms. Doan Thi Yen in Trung Do ward (Vinh city)