Make this a year of CAN

 Make this a year of CAN

 

Not sure about you, but I am really tired of the 2020 and the year of CAN’T.   We can’t be in school, we can’t eat in restaurants, we can’t travel, we can’t gather with loved ones!   How much CAN’T can people put up with?   I am done.

2021 needs to be the year of CAN!

First of all, let’s get more kids back in schools.   We know that the schools have not been a significant spreader of the virus.  Schools can open safely.  We also know that even middle class kids are going to lose six months to a year of academic achievement and lower socio-economic kids are expected to lose a full year or more.  That is learning that will not be easily caught up.

We also know that kids with disabilities have a finite amount of time for their entitlement and there has been slim to none discussion about extending that time.  The learning loses for those kids will have life-long impact.

We CAN have a more positive attitude about what is happening.   Right now the positivity rate in Maryland is about 9.5%.  That is really high, but it also means that the NEGATIVETY rate is 90.5%.   Why don’t we announce that along with the positive rate.   My guess is because we are afraid that folks won’t take the danger seriously enough.  But there is a significant danger to the mental health of all of us with the constant drumbeat of negativity.  This situation is particularly true for kids who are showing increasing anxiety, either because they are reflecting how their families are feeling or because  they are so anxious themselves.   We CAN have a more positive attitude and we need to start cultivating that for all of us.

We CAN reach out to our neighbors and to our schools and offer to volunteer.  We CAN volunteer virtually.  There are kids who are learning online by themselves.  We CAN volunteer to coach them virtually either during instruction or later.

We CAN read to kids online.  We CAN help kids create a virtual social group besides school.  We CAN prioritize learning over other activities such as medical appointments and visits with family members.  Too many people are acting as if online learning is something to do when there aren’t other activities scheduled sort of like watching a streamed new episode on NetFlix.  

We all need a YEAR OF CAN.   And we each need to pitch in so we CAN!