Reaction in Sudbury as students return to online learning

Sudbury -

Jamie Mcdonald’s daughter, Chloe, is in JK and will soon return to online learning for a second time.

She attends Valley View Public School in Sudbury. Mcdonald said her daughter hasn’t been in class since early December when Public Health Sudbury & Districts instructed classes to go online. She said all of the back and forth is taking a toll.

News that she wouldn't be able to go back to class brought her daughter to tears, Mcdonald said. Making friends has become a struggle.

"(She was) struggling to be able to make friends because she hasn’t had the time to build that rapport,” said McDonald.

Elsewhere, Kaya Zelonko said she’s excited for her kids to go back to virtual learning. While she understands it's not a positive experience for everyone, it has been for her daughter Ella, who is in Grade 7.

"She was always really shy and didn’t talk a lot," Zelonko said.

"It affected her grades because the teachers didn’t see that participation and when she did virtual, it was a whole other ball game. She felt super confident to answer questions. She didn’t feel that peer pressure that I guess you would feel in class."

Experts with Kids Help Phone say a return to virtual learning can be exhausting and weary for kids.

"Your young person is not going to tell you everything -- they’re just not going to -- so be aware to have the conversation,"” said Katherine Hay, Kids Help Phone CEO.

"It is OK for young people to not feel great—it's actually OK. It's actually healthy in these times of uncertainty. Don’t discount what you’re seeing, as well. My biggest advice is to make sure your kids have the tools to reach out."

Kids Help Phone has seen a dramatic increase in calls and texts about anxiety, self-image, grief and isolation over the last few years, but Hay said mental health issues were a challenge well before the pandemic started.

In 2019, the organization interacted with children ages 5 to 26 almost two million times. Since March 2020, that number increased to 9.5 million.

"It’s OK not to feel OK," Hay said. "It’s OK to reach out -- in fact the most important piece of resiliency and coping is figuring out help-seeking behaviours. I just see so much courage in young people when they are reaching out."

For more information on Kids Help Phone, which is available 24/7 by phone or text, click here.