Calgary parents: Students' safety depends on parents and children themselves
Calgary parents say that the safety of students depends on the students themselves while in school during the pandemic.
Students, wearing masks, are getting dropped off by a school bus in the morning at St. Vincent de Paul Elementary and Junior High School in Calgary on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (Photo by Meng Wei/The Press)
Students, wearing masks, are getting dropped off by a school bus in the morning at St. Vincent de Paul Elementary and Junior High School in Calgary on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (Photo by Meng Wei/The Press)
A month after school started in September, the concerns of parents focused on their children being able to keep themselves safe and still have a healthy early development.
"The school system and governments can only do so much," said Tyson Clem, a father of a grade nine student in Calgary. "It also comes down to individual families, parents, and the student’s actions, themselves."
Clem said he understood the unprecedented situation and they appreciated the level of response carried out by the schools.
"In fact, I disagreed with the initial ‘shutdown’ of the last three months of the last school year," said Clem. "I am concerned that a school could potentially be closed due to an ‘outbreak’, effectively negatively impacting the student’s education, socialization, and mental health."
"Nothing can be done enough, you always need to do better, but relatively they are doing okay,” said May Hu, the owner of Lunch Lady who works closely with schools and children in Calgary.
Hu said that the private schools that she is working with since September have careful preliminary measures in place to ensure her food delivery is following the pandemic safety protocols.
“The children are eager to go to school,” says Hu.
“The children need their social life, and the parents need to go to work.”
The school system and governments can only do so much, it also comes down to individual families, parents, and the student’s actions, themselves. - Tyson Clem
"We'll wait to see what the schools plan to do when it comes to the cold weather," said Clem.
Currently, there are 16 schools in Calgary that have declared having a pandemic outbreak with two to four cases in each of these schools.
Four schools declared an outbreak within the last week, bring the total number of students and staff isolated due to COVID-19 to more than 1,850.
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