[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Strongside

I find myself feeling bad for these kids more and more lately.

This is already a generation that doesn't know how to talk to people or interact with humanity without the use of a screen or the internet. These kids have never known a world without social media. Internet hatred, stupidity, and misinformation has been part of their lives since inception.

And now this COVID crisis has forced kids to lose the one aspect of social interaction (school) they have left.

Certainly they aren't the first generation to deal with ****ed up circumstances, but this just sucks. I think back on my middle school and high school days and I remember them fondly. Sports, mingling between classes, skipping out on Algebra to go eat at Taco Tico, learning how to navigate social norms and structure...

This isn't a "Send these kids to school no matter what!" post either. I just think there are lasting implications tied to the decisions adults are making for these kids with regard to their school and their future.

I think they were already going to have some level of ****ed-up-edness no matter what, but add this on top of it, and yikes.

Yeah, it sucks. My oldest missed his spring soccer season and my middle son missed his 7th grade track season. He already had USATF and AAU times from nationals (in the 200, 400, and 800) that would have shattered the school records. That sucks, but what really stinks was all of the training that he would have done in pursuit of those goals. Now, we're simply hanging on for football and really praying that basketball is here in winter. AAU tournaments have kept the kids playing, but cancelling the school season would be tough.