On 19th May 2020, we attended our first online Citizenship class in the new academic session conducted by Ms. Sangeeta Aswani, our Citizenship Coordinator. The major part of the discussion was the all round effects of the lockdown and the Corona virus on us as individuals, families and as a society.
We have always been used to personal contact when interacting with our friends, relatives, teachers etc. However, the spread of this virus has restricted our lives to video calling, chatting, conversing on the mobile, computer, etc. In fact, even our classes are conducted online. As a result, the time we spend on the computer has increased greatly, by default. Under the circumstances, it has become extremely important that we pay attention to our posture, food habits, nourishment and fitness.
During our discussion, we realised that the role of our teachers has become more challenging than ever before. Their duties have increased manifold. They have to prepare presentations, videos etc. for their online classes, look after their families and households 24/7, see to their their own well being (emotional and physical), sacrifice their ‘me-time’and try not to give in to additional stress. Though this is definitely more taxing on the woman of the house, our class felt that this has given us increased opportunity to strengthen the bond among siblings and lend support to our parents. We have learnt to share the computer at home and respect each others’ space and privacy when we are online attending classes or if our parents are in their meetings. In fact, it feels good when our parents turn to us for support when it comes to anything related to their applications and technical support on their computers! In our spare time, we have listened to various interesting experiences from our parents and grandparents – stories about how they grew up and the way they lived.
We learnt valuable lessons on how our elders would spend their free time when there was no distraction of digital games and social media. This has led to a better understanding amongst us of how moral and social values have changed over time. We have to be understanding of the financial and emotional stress faced by our parents in these trying times and all that they do to make our lives easy.
Many of us have been lending a helping hand to our parents in terms of cleaning the house, doing the dishes, watering the plants, folding the clothes etc. Many of us shared recipes of how to prepare dal, how to make a round roti, and some healthy salads! Even a simple thing like putting back something from where we picked it up was a big help to our moms! This has lead to a greater sense of responsibility and bonding amongst us as a family.
Due to the lockdown, the environment has healed. The quality of air has become so much better and drastic changes have been seen in the waters of our great rivers. In fact, we discussed the effects of dirty water from the Yamuna polluting the Taj Mahal and how during these last few weeks, there has been only a minimal trace of dirt on the surface of our World Heritage Site. This is enough proof that we need to rethink our method of living and the governments definitely need to tighten the grip on industries that pollute our environment.
Our class thoroughly enjoyed this discussion and I am sure we will be doing some more thinking on to how to make the best use of this lockdown time and emerge as better students, children and future citizens.
Mugdha Arora, class 8D.
In the Press
Admissions
