(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
Republished September 01, 2014 - 11:39 AM
Original Publication Date August 29, 2014 - 6:15 AM
I always loved back to school time as a kid. It meant new clothes, new school supplies and getting to see all my friends again after what seemed like forever.
This year students have been stripped of that experience and parents have been denied the ability to plan and schedule based on a normal school calendar thanks to the ongoing dispute between teachers and the province.
With teachers still on strike, the beginning of the school year is in jeopardy and that has left everyone — school and district administration, parents, students and teachers — in limbo.
Classrooms are not yet set up, store shelves are still full of supplies and parents are not sure whether to arrange child care into September or hope school will be back in session by the planned Sept. 2 date.
As a parent, it is frustrating to have to tell my child I’m not sure if she’ll get to see all her friends again next week. As it is, she was upset over school ending abruptly in June, leaving students to say goodbye to friends and teachers more than a week earlier than planned.
In our district, many schools allow you to pay a small fee and all your school supplies are provided, which helps reduce that worry, but we still don’t know when school will start or which classes our kids will be in. We don’t know whether we need to hit up grandma and grandpa to watch the kids a little longer.
No matter which side you are on in this debate, no matter your thoughts on wages or classroom size or which side is being the ‘greedy’ one, you can’t ignore the fact students are suffering. Emotionally, educationally and even socially.
They are forced to grow up so fast in this world already, why do we have to take the simple joy of back to school away from them too?
To contact a reporter, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014