Did I mention that Mommy Mentions is finally writing into 2021?
OK, I didn’t. Now I am.
Happy belated new year. After a chaotic entrance into 2021 and a monstrous ending to the first month of the year — for many of us in Northeast PA, that meant 12-plus inches of snow — I need to do better in talking about things related to my kids, your kids and myriad parenting matters.
With the snow came the need for snow days, or in some cases, snow days with virtual instruction. Sorry, kiddos. With the chaos of the coronavirus plaguing the end of the 2019-20 school year, schools and districts had to improvise education plans by resorting to online instruction. So snow days won’t be quite like they used to be anymore.
For some families, virtual learning creates problems. For one, not everyone has access to the internet in this modern age. Some do have access, but it comes limited. Allotted gigabytes disappear fast when more than one student uses a personal hot spot or wifi. Districts offer hot spots, but not everyone gets one. In some cases, the district hot spots are loaned out on a first-come, first-serve basis. More students seem to need them, as parents’ jobs and salaries have changed or even disappeared since the pandemic really settled in last March.
Schools need to push for funds to ensure that all students have virtual accessibility. If not, those students lacking such accessibility will fall behind. It could take days or weeks to catch up.
The mom of a dancing teen and a tween who enjoys scouting and hockey, Katie Campomizzi-Clews is a copy editor at The Republican-Herald. She began her career at The RH as a staff writer following graduation from Lycoming College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a minor in psychology. She shares her experiences of balancing work and parenting and takes a look at issues, events and trends concerning parents and children.
