A child´s perspective on Corona

- by Jitka Kranz

The current corona crisis is affecting all of us in a different way. Each of us has a different perspective on things depending on their experiences and personal restrictions. I personally always find it very interesting to get the perspective of people who are not the same age as I am, as I do find it harder to understand those people’s different perspectives. This is the reason why I decided to interview my two siblings. They are a boy and a girl, nearly the same age, 11 and 12. Under normal circumstances they go to the same school in Graz, a gymnasium. I would say that they are very independent for their age and very capable of taking care of themselves. Nevertheless, also they are greatly affected by the interesting times of corona and I would like to share some of their thoughts.

I started off by asking them how they would describe the “Corona – time”. My brothers answer was very prompt. “Well, certainly not good. It’s a big learning process for all of us, and for us children it’s a very boring time.” My sister on the other hand was much more descriptive and said: “It is a time in which we do not sit in the school but instead study at home. It is a difficult time, but also a nice one as we get to spent more time with the family.”

My second question was asking how they spent their time at home and how they get along with their family. I asked this question as I do feel that sometimes things aren’t as smooth. Sometimes my siblings complain a lot about the amount of work they have to master and also about the household activities that I ask them to do, perhaps a little more often than my dad usually would. Knowing that my impression could be far from their perception I was curious to hear their answers. My brother described the situation as following: “I do get along well with my family. Sometimes I am a bit hyperactive though. Many people (him talking about my sister, my dad and I) say that I go on their nerves, but that is not true. Sometimes I fight with my sister more than we usually do. I like to spent a lot of time in the forest.” I have to admit that I found it hilarious that my brother mentioned that people seem to be annoyed with his behaviour “but it is not true!” as if he could talk for others. My sister’s impression seemed to be more aligned with the impression she gives the rest of the family. “I have to study a lot. Sometimes I go out to the forest, sometimes I clean in the house. With my family we get along quite well even though my brother is sometimes very annoying and we fight. The Corona time is not like holidays but its also not the same as sitting in the school. I like the fact that I can organize my time the way I want.”

For myself it has not been very difficult to keep in touch with friends as a lot of us do not study in the same place either ways and hence we are accustomed to online communication. For my siblings though those are very new grounds. My sister does have a phone but she is not using it much. In fact, despite WhatsApp she does not have any social media. My brother however, does not have a phone and hence for him the communication with his friends would prove even more difficult. Additionally, I have to say that in this case the age gab between my siblings proves to be bigger than in other instances. When my brother spends time with his friends at school or when they see each other after school they do not have long discussions about “deep” topics. They are small kids, they run around, play games, build fortresses and ride their bikes, and those things cannot be substituted by phone or skype as easily as they might be for my sister. And so, there was little surprise that he my brother answered the question Hoe does Corona influence your friendships? In the following way: “It does influence my friendships a lot! I am barely in contact with my primary school friends. I am so much happier now when we can see each other. Much more than I used to be before. Now as the regulations aren’t as strict anymore my friend and I meet it the forest to play, otherwise I would not manage it. My sister has a very different impression. “In fact, they do not influence my friendships. I talk to my best friend on the phone via WhatsApp and we do homework together. Sometimes she helps me with Physics and I help her with Math.” I also asked about their experience with online communication and interestingly they both merely complained about our bad internet connection.

Finally, I asked a question that we all wonder about. For how long, do you think will the crisis last? In my impression this is a pressing question that is equally important to shop keepers, politicians, parents, students and also children. Simultaneously it is a question that no-one has a certain answer for. According to my brother the crises will last „one and a half months, maybe less”. How amazing would it be if this little boys expectation would come true. My sister seems to be a little less optimistic, or perhaps a little more realistic, if you will. She says: “I think until its completely over it will be autumn, or maybe even December.” Do the little once think that Corona is gonna go away and we will go back to normal; a “normal” that we knew from before. They do not. “It will be very different! The economy will have changed and also everyone will be very scarred of viruses. When someone coughs everyone will panic.“ „No, it will not be the same because we will have to find our way back to a normal school life. Our class community will be very impacted, and also the shop and restaurant owners. Also, my sister will return back to university, nut that she would anyway, so that will be actually normal.”

How will life look after Corona? Nobody knows! We can all just speculate. I have to say that I find this time deeply interesting. It is a time where things are changing rapidly and in a different way they would not, normally. I am trying with all means to live this time fully and be very aware of what is happening now as I do believe that this time will become part of history, economy and other scholarly books. It is a time of change, and so let’s take the opportunity and change time world for a better!

With these words I would like to say thank you to all our readers! We all hope you enjoyed our blog.