Voices: Technology takes a bigger hold in student social life

It would be hard to find a single soul not somehow altered by COVID-19, and children have been among the most affected. Their routines of school, play dates and extracurricular activities were all upended as a mysterious virus spread across the world.

The Laconia Daily Sun’s Voices project looks to reach out to children of the Lakes Region and collect their stories and perspectives regarding the last two years. The paper will also host an in-person forum for kids at The CAKE Theatre in downtown Laconia on March 12.

As previously reported, The Daily Sun spoke with middle and high school students to hear their thoughts and experiences from the last two years of isolation, rubber-banding schedules and extreme political division. One of the common threads brought up by students was a feeling of being behind, not only academically, but emotionally.

More recently, the newspaper met with students who frequent the local Boys & Girls Club, which has offered a rare opportunity for face-to-face interaction and, in doing so, may have lessened some of the developmental hiccups caused by pandemic isolation.

“I think it's because they’ve had the ability to come here,” said James Holmes, branch director of Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region, “and that consistency at the club has helped them with their maturity and staying on par with their peers.”

However, during the early period of the pandemic, even the Boys & Girls Club had to close its doors for a while.

“Last year in fourth grade I had to go remote learning for more than half a year. It was okay, but I never got to see my friends,” said Olivia, a club member. Fortunately for her, the isolation period was shortened.

“All of our sites opened back up in May of 2020,” Holmes said. “When we first got the kids back, they were really isolated, when they first got back they were really excited to be around their peers, to interact with people again and not be stuck at home.”

Some of the kids were able to use space at the club during the online learning period, potentially countering some of the isolating effects.

“When our kids had the online learning here, they were here with their peers, so they had a lot more interaction with their peers than some kids,” Holmes said. “A lot of these kids are in their prime developmental social age, so this is kind of all they know.”

For young children, the pandemic may have permanently changed the way they socialize.

“We like going to each other's houses,” said one student. “It’s hard to think about because it was so long ago. Now we barely get to hang out with our friends because of COVID.”

In-person activities between friends also became more and more scarce, pushing children further into the digital realm.

“We played little card games sometimes but now we don't really and we used to be able to do a lot of stuff together. It just kind of faded after a while,” said one student.

In addition to not being able to have in-person play dates, time and visits with relatives became scarce as well.

“I haven't seen my grandpa in five years,” one student said, “because of COVID and he left five years ago and he hasn't come back. Half of my life he has been taking care of me. He lives in Vietnam.”

Another girl mentioned a relative who lives in the same town.

“It was my nana. I couldn't see her for a year,” said one student, stating that before the pandemic, she visited her grandmother three days a week.

During their period of isolation, many students found themselves socializing through an array of digital media, from Zoom calls to video games.

“I skipped doing school,” one girl said, “I didn't want to do hybrid so I downloaded Fortnite and got screamed at by my teacher.”

“I played on my Switch a lot,” said another student, citing video games as far more entertaining than watching television. “When you watch cable TV you have to see the same things over and over."

When asked if any of them got bored with video gaming after a while, the answer was a resounding no. “There was always a new game,” one student said.

“There is definitely more tech use, lots of more isolation, so they’re trying to occupy their time with more tech,” said Holmes regarding changes he’s seen in the students. “We’re trying to combat that at the club with more face-to-face interaction and less tech.”

This was apparent when The Daily Sun visited the club. Students were talking together at tables, and playing games together. Holmes cited the importance of in-person interaction between children for their development.

“You’re learning how to respect people and learning how people interact,” Holmes said. “Our kids have always done that, certainly at a smaller scale.”

As for the future, the children’s predictions were all over the map, but share the common thread of expanded tech, and uncertainty.

“I feel like COVID is gonna take over, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better and people are gonna start having crazy ideas like making robots.”

“Virtual reality,” said one student, “People have been thinking about putting it into your brain instead of it just being a toaster on your face.”

“I was gonna say,” added a fellow student, “so you’re basically escaping the cruel world we’re living in now into a new world.”

In addition to technological pessimism and uncertainty, some students expressed hope for the future, and hope that COVID “chills out a little bit.”

“I’m hoping more places will be open, because there’s a lot closed right now because of COVID, and not a lot of people can be in the places,” said one student. Others expressed hope for the day they no longer have to wear masks.

“Mask burning day!” was what one student shouted when asked what he was looking forward to in the future.

“We did get a lot of push back [regarding masks],” Holmes recalled. “We do have to do that reminder now, but now we don’t get the push back. They probably almost feel like this is normal. The mask mandates are normal, this has been part of their lives for two years now.”

Holmes also expressed optimism for the club’s ability to adapt to future challenges, citing lessons learned from the pandemic.

“I think we’re in a much better position to adapt quickly. When this first came down we had to close down a little bit,” Holmes said. “We’ve been operating this way for two years. I think we're more prepared to stay open, be prepared, keep everyone safe, and keep things as normal as possible.”

To learn more and register for the event, visit laconiadailysun.com/voices.