Styf: Dealing with the anxieties of working from home and e-learning

I’m afraid. And I doubt I’m alone.

It begins Monday – a school year unlike any other we’ve seen.

Three kids, all e-learning, and me working.

In the spring, we skated along telling ourselves the COVID-19 pandemic was temporary and it was fine that my kids weren’t learning as much and were just scraping by doing worksheets and online games and whatever was on the menu that day.

On Monday, they start a different process, and there is plenty of anxiety on how well it will work, whether I’ll be able to help them out as much as they need and whether they will get anything out of it.

What I do know is that my house, like many others, will have some bandwidth issues.

Between my regular Zoom work meetings and three students in my house, Comcast better be on top of its game as I expand my role as editor to being home-school IT professional and dean of whatever school-related or nonschool-related fights occur between them.

Synchronous and asynchronous sibling fights, to borrow the educators’ new lingo.

While we work through the new system of live virtual learning, lunch breaks and homework (isn’t it all homework now?), I am extremely uncertain how we’re going to make it all work.

It’s new for all of us. It’s a little scary. And, like this spring, I’m sure we’ll get through it, too.

My main worry is the long-term effect of doing school from home, what they are missing without in-person instruction and socialization throughout the day, and if the students in school right now will ever be able to make up for what they are losing.

I know those in high school won’t because they are missing the classroom work in addition to the extracurriculars that are such an important part of growing up.

Think of a coming-of-age teen movie where there was no prom, no Friday night football games and limited social interaction. That would eliminate basically anything important to the plot. It sounds as mind-numbing as much of these past five months has been.

So as your kids restart school and you work on plans for child care, e-learning help and whatever else is about to come up, know you’re not alone.

A lot of us are dealing with these same anxieties and wondering if we’re doing enough right now to raise our kids the right way, give them the appropriate attention and also make sure we’re doing the right things in our own lives.

Good luck. I think we’re all going to need it.

• Northwest Herald Editor Jon Styf can be reached at jstyf@shawmedia.com or 815-526-4630.