Can I let my children see their friends?
Anika H. Ahmed, MD September 2020
When the pandemic of COVID-19 first became public knowledge, the term most frequently heard and used was ‘social distancing’. What does that mean? It means keeping at least 6 feet away from other individuals. But in truth it is more like ‘physical distancing’ as one can still remain social and stay connected with friends, family, and colleagues. Living in the digital era with technology at everyone’s fingertips can surely come in handy. Socializing can continue but virtually on tele-platforms. Parents need to be firm about letting their children meet friends only on various virtual platforms, which are risk free. Making good use of technology many can play games in large groups, attend online group workouts, attend online interesting courses, and even take virtual field trips of museums and parks together. A lot of socializing can be done in the safe havens of home with no related stress of possible infection.
Everyone and anyone can get infected from droplet infection of a positive case and no one is immune to that. Some may exhibit mild symptoms while others may have life threatening symptoms requiring hospitalization. Parents have to be strict with their children and absolutely deny permission for their children to meet their friends physically. An important fact to know is that children in contact with a positive case might not get sick themselves but are capable of transmitting the Coronavirus to others at home, especially the elderly with chronic underlying medical conditions and weak immune systems.
Self-quarantine, lock downs and isolation have triggered many challenges for people and especially for parents trying to keep children of all ages at home safe from the Coronavirus. Many neighborhoods have come together with different social activities designed for children of different ages. Communities have arranged for children within similar age groups to have some social activities keeping within the framework of ‘physical distancing’. For example, in certain neighborhoods parents have been seen to take their toddlers and young children on strolls in their streets, asking them to count the number of black cars, pink flowers, brown mail boxes, stuffed animals in the windows, or friends and neighbors working in the yard. Many parents ride bikes with the children and try to stick to empty streets or biking trails.
With schools, restaurants and movie theatres closed and restrictions on hanging out with friends and family, it is quite normal to feel lonely and isolated. This is the time for parents to be creative, taking the initiative to connect their children with friends and family on digital platforms without the unnecessary and unacceptable risk associated with physical visits.