The executive director of family advocacy group The Parenthood,Georgie Dent,said working parents of school-aged children had been asked to do “the impossible”,and there would be no“freedom day” for them until their children were safely back at school.
“It’s not just the actual schooling but all the additional domestic work that goes with having kids at home 24/7,” she said. “Every meal,every snack,the physical space,as well as time,and that’s not going to change until kids go back to school.”
Parents have also been tending to the emotional needs of their children. “Every parent I’ve spoken to during lockdown,at different points there’s been one child that’s had a difficult time. Managing that is incredibly difficult – it’s draining,it’s emotionally charged,” said Ms Dent.
“When you’ve got this relentless cycle,without the break of school and sport,it’s a huge burden on parents and children. Every working parent I know is exhausted. I’m supposed to feel elated[by the lifting of restrictions] but I feel tired.”
Dee Mills,who has sons in kindergarten and year 3 at Maroubra Bay Public School,said she worried less about her boys’ academic development during this year’s lockdown than she did last year,when she began schooling them at 7am so she could do her own work from 11am.
“I did as little as I could,I knew I could not sustain this for months,” said Ms Mills,who runs her own business. “For my kindy[child],we had to do a bit of back up. But we’re busy,we’ve got work to do.”
The more difficult task has been managing the boys’ noise and needs as they bounce around the house playing with Nerf guns while she is trying to work. “They’re not allowed to put on screens until 3pm,” said Ms Mills. “Until that time,there’s lots of yelling – ‘you’re too noisy,go outside and play’. It’s still having to direct that play.”
She also admits that occasionally she has been so consumed by work that she’s forgotten to feed them.
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“I was actually in a Zoom meeting,[and] the boys stuck a note through the office door,saying ‘when lunch?’”
The respondents to the Macquarie University study also said there had been silver linings to lockdown;some families have enjoyed the flexibility,the family bonding,and the lack of travel time.
Ms Mills found that too. “They play awesomely together. My eight- now nine-year-old can make his own breakfast,he can fry eggs,” she said. “There’s been a lot more learning how to live closely together;they would not have had that before.”
The next phase of Macquarie University’s study will involve the experiences of teachers and students. Researchers arestill interested in feedback from parents.
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