THUNDER BAY – A Thunder Bay mother-of-four is trying to put electronic pressure on the province to let students in the city return to the classroom.
Leila Coulter’s Change.org petition calls on Education Minister Stephen Lecce to rescind province-wide orders relegating schools in Ontario to be restricted to remote learning only, saying most parents and children are struggling with remote learning.
"We're seeing lots of parents who are having issues getting their kids to even stay online. I've got parents telling me about their kids with anxiety - little kids, young kids who are actually fearful of school and waking up with nightmares. Some parents have older kids who are just completely disengaging and they're not going online. They're not being present with their teachers. They're not getting assignments done," Coulter said.
"Their academics are off."
The fear, she said, is once they've disconnected long enough, how tough will it be to get them to re-engage with their education?
Coulter said children, at every age are struggling with the effects of learning in a socially isolated environment, adding they are meant to be in school with their peers.
Having them learn from home is damaging.
"They're seeing clinical depression in five-year-olds right now. It's awful."
School board officials in Thunder Bay have consistently said they believe the classroom is the best place for students, though last week both the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board and Lakehead Public Schools announced students would have a short window to sign up for planned virtual classes next fall.
Students in Thunder Bay were supposed to return to the classroom on April 19, until Ford announced new province-wide measures the week prior. The Thunder Bay Christian School was offering in-person classes, with the blessing of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, but is back to virtual only under the provincial mandate.
Officials from both boards said they needed plenty of lead-up time for staff allocation, and noted the online option is being put in place in case the situation surrounding COVID-19 hasn’t resolved itself.
"Our numbers are doing well. It seems that we've stabilized. Our past record in our schools has been really good. Our teachers have done a fantastic job. Our educational support people have done a fantastic job with keeping our kids safe," said Coulter, adding she's fully supportive of dismissing cohorts to self-isolate temporarily until it's safe to return to class.
Coulter said at-home learning is also forcing many parents to stay home to watch over their children, which is causing both financial hardship and anxiety.
“Other parents are struggling with working from home, while at the same time trying to help their children with online school. The family dynamic is being negatively impacted as parents are arguing with their children to pay attention, stay focused, complete assignments, and even to stay awake. Children simply are not meant to sit in front of a screen for six hours per day,” she said in her petition.
Students with special education needs are also at high risk, as are vulnerable youth, who also used school as a safe haven from troubles at home.
They're starting to fall through the cracks.
“Some teachers at schools in Thunder Bay are seeing regular online class attendance as low as three students, in classes where there should be 20 children,” Coulter said.
As of Thursday morning, more than 870 people have signed, including high-school student Camden Crupi.
“I’m signing as a high school student who has lost of the majority of my high school years to school closures, most of which were unnecessary and damaging to my mental health, and my education,” Crupi said in a note on the petition page.
“It’s beyond time to open the schools here.”
