Grade 6 kids have warm, wise cures for COVID blues

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2021 (2020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With apologies to Forrest Gump, asking young children for serious advice in the middle of a pandemic is like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re going to get.

I know this is for a fact because late last week I spent more than an hour with the wise-beyond-their-years kids in teacher Marlene van der Zweep’s Grade 6 class at St. Alphonsus School in East Kildonan.

I visited the school for I Love to Read Month in the sense I appeared on a video-conferencing app, which allowed me to talk while the students stared at gigantic versions of my head on huge screens at the front of two classrooms.

In exchange for visiting schools, I always make the students write something to find out what’s on their minds. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I gave them this weighty assignment — write a letter describing how to cheer someone up in the middle of a global pandemic.

I honestly didn’t know if they’d have anything to say. It turns out they did. Some of their letters were funny. Some were heart-tugging. And at least one bordered on the spiritual. Get ready to feel inspired, because here are these pint-sized psychologists’ lightly edited prescriptions for curing the COVID-19 blues:

● Cure No. 1: “Comfort, love. That is how you get through the hard times. Think happy. Do not hate the COVID Blues.”

— Ciera, 11

● Cure No. 2: “I make people happy by telling my family some jokes.… You can also talk to your friends/family on FaceTime and it will not be as fun, but it is better than nothing. If you feel sad or want to do something, you can also just play with your dog or cat or fish or whatever you have.”

— Katelyn, 11

● Cure No. 3: “I like to make jokes to make people laugh. Sometimes, to make myself happy during the pandemic, I dance. Whenever I sing, it makes my dad smile.”

— Naya, 11

● Cure No. 4: “A good way to cheer yourself up during the pandemic is, if you have an animal, cuddle with it or even just look at it. Trust me, it helps a lot. Another thing that might help is to draw something you wish to see in the world, maybe someone with their family not wearing a mask.”

— Kennedy, 12

● Cure No. 5: “Make yourself a cake, order PIZZA!!! Go for a walk, put your phone down, clean, take a shower, take a nice bath.… Just remember, you’re loved and have a great day, dude!”

— Brooklyn, 11

● Cure No. 6: “A lot of people have been depressed during Covid. I’m not really one of those people. I don’t really mind that much having to stay inside and wait for it to be over. Sadly, though, online school ruined everything. I was just happy when school was over in June. The pandemic continued on, however.… Now, in February, almost one year after COVID began, we’re still wearing masks, standing six feet away from each other, and having to be behind stupid shields. Let’s just hope that by summer this will be over. Because I don’t want to be an adult when this is over.”

— Gabriel, 11

● Cure No. 7 — “If you ask most people, they will tell you to work out, walk, go vegan to cure blues. I, for one, need my bacon, but a different way to cure the blues (if you are a lazy carnivore kind of like me) would be to simply just let it out. Yell into your pillow, whisper into a scarf. Then, wash the item. Wash your troubles away. After that, you go get some bacon. Or a cheeseburger. Or ice cream. Basically, comfort food. If that doesn’t cure your blues, I don’t know what will.”

— Isabella L., 11

● Cure No. 8: “The way I cure the Pandemic Blues is by talking to people I love. Not in person, but online and making other people smile is the best feeling I could feel… Making people smile is amazing and you should try. You know what? I wish I had a dog. For years, I have been trying to convince them. That would be another thing that could cure the Pandemic Blues. I think I am giving up and that is very sad to me because I know I will never get a dog. I hope this lightens up your day and this will be a good start. Why did the boy’s paper get wet? It fell below C level!”

— Isabela, 11

● Cure No. 9: “Wouldn’t it be nice to leave your cares behind you? Laugh during a day when you’ve got ‘the pandemic blues.’ How would you want to be cheered up? Would you want your friend to cross their eyes and stare at you, so every time you turn around there your friend is staring at you. Or would you want to listen to the story when… the pizza flew off the back seat when your mom stopped the car. Or the time when your blister popped and the juice squirted your desk partner. All my friends laugh when I talk about these true events… laughing feels great in these times.”

— Naomi, 11

● Cure No. 10: “Sometimes bad things happen. Bad things happen and we just don’t know what to do. We can feel angry, sad, depressed and feel like we just don’t understand. The saddest thing in the world is losing someone you love. You can feel broken and shattered inside.… Covid ties a heavy weight to our ankle and sends us to the ocean and lets us sink. No matter how hard we try to swim or kick our legs, we keep sinking down till we give up. We can think we are lifeless, but really we are strong and powerful. We are not weak! We are not worthless! Things seem bad, and they are. Everyone can change this and truly make a difference. Sometimes it takes more than one person to form the heart with our hands. Under the mask, our smiles might be hidden, but not our voices! Just by saying a nice compliment to someone, we can change their day. I think if we all write a kind message or say something nice to someone, it will provide the love we all need right now. We are all in this together and fighting this together.… We will get through this together and we will find the key to unchain us all from the heavy weight holding us down, and we will swim up and never give up. When we finally get through this, we will live together another day, and that day will be great!”

— Evey, 12

I couldn’t have said it better, kids, and I think Tatiana, 11, spoke for all of us in this city when she said: “COVID has been a real pain, but if we stick together (just apart) we can show COVID who’s boss.”

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca