“Mom, I’m afraid of going to school tomorrow”. Late in the evening Anna was in bed. He was not crying and maybe today on his return to school will not have feared the virus like yesterday, when she woke up during the night afraid of going back to class. But for Alessia, the mother, there is something wrong: “A 7-year-old girl who is afraid of seeing her classmates again makes you understand the damage that Covid is causing to children”.
The first day in the stalls is over. The bell closed what is in effect a day historical. It is for the institution, which after months of closure returns to host future generations. It is for the students, who are facing a different school. And also for parents, finally “free” from the burden of occupying the whole day of their children. “Now the real smart working begins – laughs a dad -: total silence, full refrigerator and the Simpsons on TV. After all this time spent at home they should keep them at least until 19.30 ”. It will certainly not be an easy year. And the delays of the government leave many doubts about the possibility that this fragile balance can hold up. “Celebrate today, which in my opinion will close everything soon”, whispers another father with a disconsolate attitude in front of a complex in Cernusco sul Naviglio.
The main problem concerns the rules and structures. We know it. THE single banks they are missing, despite the promises of the duo Arcuri-Azzolina. The masks are hidden. The professorships are not all occupied. For the CISL, one in four institutes still have problems (5.6 million out of 8.3 million returned to the classroom today). And the anti-contagion rules they are so rigid, and often complex, that following them all seems a feat. Especially for nursery, elementary and middle school.
Just have a chat with some mothers to understand the extent of the obstacles. The names are fictional, to protect their identity, but the stories are very true. “At my son’s maternal they have eliminated all sorts of materials that are not of plastic or in any case it can be easily sanitized ”, says Elena who lives in the province of Florence. “No more symbolic games, because there can be no fabric, dolls or stuffed animals. But not even reading because books are forbidden. And obviously no puzzles or recycled materials to create freely ”. The Cts it set general rules for all of Italy, but then every region and single school interpreted them more or less rigidly. “For my son, apart from the fact that they will eat inside the classrooms, not many rules have changed – says Alessia, from Perugia – Of course the children shouldn’t get in too much contact with each other, but even the teachers know that it won’t last”.
The elementary theme is even more complex. In a school in San Mariano di Corciano, to say, “children won’t be able to drink much because they go out in bathroom are regulated “. The annex is clear: from 9.40 to 9.50 there are five classes divided into five different toilets. Second round from 10.05 to 10.15 with other five classes. And so on. After all, this is how the municipal rules foresee. To avoid unpleasant surprises, then, it is better to drink little. “They cannot fill the water because the teachers cannot touch the children or everything that belongs to them. It’s absurd, they don’t have leprosy. In addition, the water must be a maximum of half a liter, because then they will not be able to make them his since they can’t send them to the bathroom at any time. I want to see what happens if children get it in their pants… ”. In Incisa Val D’Arno some mothers got worried for the same reason. “They told us that if the water in the bottle ran out, they couldn’t fill it in any way,” says Elena. At the precise request of the parents, the manager assured that the children will not suffer from thirst and that they will make sure to buy a supply of bottles or find a way to fill the bottles without touching them. We will see.
Then there are all the boundary rules. The regulations of the school office of Corciano it is iron. Large backpacks are banned otherwise they do not fit under the counter. No team sports, open classes, study stays or projects against bullying and cyberbullying. And these will be hard times especially for the forgetful: if they forget their pen at home, no one will be able to lend them anything. “If they leave something in class – concludes Alessia – it will all be thrown away. These children will live with the anxiety of everything “.
Anxiety which to tell the truth mainly affects school leaders. The rules are strict because no one wants to get a culpable epidemic complaint. The Italian principals had asked the government for some sort of criminal shield to avoid thousands of trials, but from Palazzo Chigi for now they are turning a deaf ear. In theory, only with a fever of 37.5 and the classic symptoms of Covid should they be sent home. But “some managers – Alessia insists – say they will send them back even with a cold“. If so, it will be a massacre in the fall.
I pediatricians in fact they are already starting to deal with the problems. An eloquent episode took place in Milan and the salient points were told by a doctor to those who visited the clinic. In one school in the morning all the children had their fevers measured and no one presented any problems. But then the races started, one pupil got a little too hot and the thermometer marked 37.5. The little boy was immediately sent home, but he was fine. So the parents went to the pediatrician for a certificate with which to go back to class. The doctor signed, but the school was not satisfied because it requires a certificate of non-contagion from coronavirus. Too bad that without tests not even the pediatrician can do anything. So the baby has been queued for a tampon and will have to stay at home in the meantime. “This year – says Alessia – it will be hell”.
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