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Yes, intellectually speaking, 20 months is not an entire childhood. But from a relative perspective- let’s take a five year old- that’s about 40% of his lifetim

Yes, intellectually speaking, 20 months is not an entire childhood. But from a relative perspective- let’s take a five year old- that’s about 40% of his lifetime to date. That feels very significant to him/her. That said, having kids that age, I would say my kids handled this pandemic way better than most adults. They adapt quicker and don’t have the emotional baggage (“masks are an evil plot to control the population” for example) to get through. We have been lucky that they were able to attend school in person though - very strict COVID protocols plus a small population ensured that we never had an outbreak. Things would have been different if we didn’t have that ability.

toss1 5y ago
ok, even if we are talking about a significant part of lifetime to date, it is still a pretty well-spoilt view from any historical perspective. And even new variants and vaccine delays cause us to get to years of lockdown that actually constitutes significant portions of full childhoods, are you arguing that childhoods full of funerals and an adulthood full of diminished mental capacity [1] and COVID sequalae are better? The 'modern' world is not a stable reality, it is a priveliged bubble. In general, and throughout most of history, it is a harsh place with most things trying to kill us. Having to simply take protective measures is as old as humanity, from standing guard through the night watching for other apex predators, to avoiding invaders and plagues, it is a part of what it is to be human (and not even to mention how much easier it is then for other creatures). To view any alteration to our modern routines due to actual biological reality as some injustice is provileged and myopic. Better to turn it into a teaching moment and illustrate how it is a part of history, and in this case, a very mild version of what was previously endured. [1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00324-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5...

toss1 5y ago

ok, even if we are talking about a significant part of lifetime to date, it is still a pretty well-spoilt view from any historical perspective. And even new variants and vaccine delays cause us to get to years of lockdown that actually constitutes significant portions of full childhoods, are you arguing that childhoods full of funerals and an adulthood full of diminished mental capacity [1] and COVID sequalae are better? The 'modern' world is not a stable reality, it is a priveliged bubble. In general, and throughout most of history, it is a harsh place with most things trying to kill us. Having to simply take protective measures is as old as humanity, from standing guard through the night watching for other apex predators, to avoiding invaders and plagues, it is a part of what it is to be human (and not even to mention how much easier it is then for other creatures). To view any alteration to our modern routines due to actual biological reality as some injustice is provileged and myopic. Better to turn it into a teaching moment and illustrate how it is a part of history, and in this case, a very mild version of what was previously endured. [1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00324-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5...