The poem, titled What If Instead Of Behind These Kids Are Ahead, was published on a blog by American mother of two Jaime Ragsdale, who has said that she posted it on social media after seeing countless “discouraging” messages concerned that the coronavirus is creating a big learning gap due to missed schooling.
What If Instead Of Being Behind These Kids Are Ahead?
What if, instead of falling behind, our kids are advanced?
What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read and express themselves in writing?
What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyards and balconies, sitting near a window in the quiet?
What if they notice the birds and the dates and different flowers emerge and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?
What if our kids are the ones to learn to cook, organise their space, do their laundry and help keep a well run home?
What if they learn to stretch a dollar and live with less?
What if they learn to plan shopping trips and make meals at home?
What if they learn the difference between want and need?
What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good in sharing the small delights of every day?
What if they are the ones who place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, healthcare workers… just to name a few who are taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place?
What if among these children a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and simpler life to truly learn what really matters in life?
What if they are ahead?
By Jaime Ragsdale
The poem, which has divided opinion, suggests that our children might actually benefit from this time of profound stress and loss; that it might teach them to enjoy simple pleasures, develop greater empathy, and value the “previously invisible essential workers”– like supermarket shelf stackers, truck drivers, teachers and health care workers – who are taking care of us now, and in doing so, putting their own lives at risk.
But not everyone is celebrating the What If poem.
“Well articulated,” wrote one woman on Twitter, about an article in Forbes that, as she put it, “shamed many parents”, claiming the poem’s lessons are the sole preserve of the privileged, who are untouched by financial or mental struggles, leaky roofs, or the stress of guiding children with autism or dyslexia.
Dr Katie Waters, a Melbourne clinical psychologist who specialises in treating children and families, understands both sides of the argument.
“Not all parents can manage to deliver all this beauty in home isolation, and I don’t think they benefit from someone else telling them all the other things they haven’t managed to get their kids to do yet [like] doing the colouring activity from the local artist’s Instagram page,” she says, noting that many families have parents who have lost jobs or are, alternatively, working more hours than ever before.
“Every parent is already doing their best to try and help their kids at this time, and that is ‘enough’ as well,” she says.
Analysis:
This article highlights an issue that I have been recently trying to grapple with as a designer within the problem space of virtual learning during a pandemic. Online learning requires home resources, and a problem arises when students of different social-economic backgrounds don’t have the same access to helpful resources. Kids in higher income families can easily function with the right technology and tutoring help while those in poorer families struggle to stay on top of school work. Therefore, the gap between the two groups widens and we have a major issue.
While the message of this poem is a beautifully positive one, I do agree that it leaves out stress felt by families who are genuinely struggling. Throughout my thesis, a big goal of mine is to help shrink the gap between “haves” and “have nots” by creating a solution that considers accessibility to resources. I appreciate this article for highlighting the complexity of this issue without taking away from the positive message of the poetry.
