Opinion | Childhood: One of the many things lost at the hands of COVID-19
Mady Dever, Opinions Editor
A messy-haired kid who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old sported a Gryffindor onesie and a worn out face mask. He stood next to me as I waited for the elevator in my building, about a week ago. When the doors opened, he asked without hesitation: “Is it OK if I come in with you?”
In a “normal” context, whatever that word even means anymore, this would have been an absurd question; of course two people can share an elevator. But these are not normal times, and seeing this kid show so much consideration for another person’s safety surprised me. But at the same time, it broke my heart.
When I was a kid, my sisters and I ran around like idiots in grocery stores. I had to rush back through crowds of people to grab the jug of milk before my mom checked out. I reenacted movie scenes in the middle of the post office with an audience of people waiting in tight-knit lines to mail packages. I snuggled next to my best friends at the cafeteria tables in elementary school, sharing Cosmic Brownies and Lunchables. In middle school, I strolled through busy malls with groups of friends, searching for free samples wherever we could get them.
Now, I see kids in viral videos on Instagram and TikTok trying to learn how to operate Zoom in tandem with understanding fractions and the color wheel. I see them fumbling with face masks covered in Hello Kitty and floral decorations.
There is something so dystopian in looking at a child wearing a face mask. Children represent happiness and hope. Yoga instructors urge us to find our inner child. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own woes of taking my final year of college online — and possibly missing out on a real graduation — that I almost forgot about the kids having to carry the weight of a world they don’t fully understand.
Sure, everyone is going through the thick of it. Everyone has their own network of problems that branch off of the pandemic and endlessly grow into messy weeds that will take us years to sort through.
But I got to be a kid.
When hardship strikes your life as a child, it forces you to grow up a bit — face life as it really is. The world is a mysterious, happy blur at 8 years old until something comes along and opens your eyes to the harshness of the real world.
And that kid in the elevator, so aware of his surroundings and the potential he has to infect a stranger, seemed much more grown up than I was at his age. In their most formative years, kids have been away from school, friends and extracurricular activities for an entire year.
But not once have I had this same conversation with an adult. In fact, the conversations I’ve had with some involve me asking, “Excuse me, could you put on a mask?” Even with big, bright, colorful little stickers on the ground marking a 6-foot distance — an indication that appears as if made for children — it’s more likely that many grown adults still seem to find it difficult to abide by them.
There have been countless viral videos of older Americans fighting mask mandates outside of stores that refuse service. And if children had a platform on which to protest mask-wearing, maybe they would too. But from what I can see and remember from being a child not too long ago myself, kids do what they’re told even if they don’t fully understand why.
That seems to stem from a deeper sense of trust in the authority that cares for you. Whether it be your mother or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maybe everyone needs to find their inner child and trust that masks are important — especially when they're old enough to understand why.