Let the kids have a snow day

A. Marie Hamilton
Posted 12/13/22

GOSHEN COUNTY – For many of us it’s an age-old, sacred tradition to wake up and see our school name scroll at the bottom of the television stating the district or school issued a snow day. An endearing tradition which lasted until recently when all of our lives abruptly stopped – at least for a short time.

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Let the kids have a snow day

Posted

GOSHEN COUNTY – For many of us it’s an age-old, sacred tradition to wake up and see our school name scroll at the bottom of the television stating the district or school issued a snow day. An endearing tradition which lasted until recently when all of our lives abruptly stopped – at least for a short time.

However, post-COVID-19 pandemic, which ushered in an era of virtual learning, more and more school districts are opting for virtual learning snow days instead of traditional snow days. Traditional snow days allowed children the opportunity to go sledding, skating, skiing or any other winter activity of their choosing as a community.

It was a welcomed break from the day-in and day-out push of school, especially around the holidays and often gave us a much needed opportunity to recharge our batteries and make a strong push to the end of the semester before winter break.

In today’s society, children are being sent home with laptops, chromebooks, iPads and other learning materials the day before a significant snow storm brings to town a winter wonderland for use for virtual school.

This is robbing children of the splendor of being a child. It’s robbing families of making core memories with each other – because if school is canceled that means there is enough snow outside in which mom and dad could also potentially be home from work.

How many of us remember our mothers (or fathers) waking up and turning on the news to watch for our district, school to scroll through? Or maybe your family flipped on the radio station to listen to the roll call of schools? (For many of us, this is the pre-social media era). How many of us remember the sheer excitement of seeing our schools listed and then our moms (or dads) would start a pot of hot cocoa while we frantically looked for our gloves, winter jackets and beanies before crawling up into the attic to bring down our red flyers?

We spent the entire day outside enjoying a multitude of activities with our friends and family – only coming in for some chicken noodle soup (or tomato) for lunch before rushing back outside until dinner time.

Pediatric studies continue to indicate the effects of this small, yet very significant surge of serotonin can last weeks and in some cases, months, which aids a child's overall well-being.

Here’s the thing, children are only children for a short period of time and it’s time we let them enjoy it while they can. One day they will be adults where snow days are fleeting memories of a bygone era, an age-old tradition they can reminisce with their children about and a warm feeling  in their hearts later in life.

What real harm does it do to children’s learning, socialization, growth, development or even to educators, schools and districts to allow children the rare opportunity to enjoy a random snow day off?

There are far more important things to do on a snow day than school work from home.

How dreadful is it to see the snow outside while sitting in front of an electronic device doing school work than to be outside laughing with friends in the snowy landscape full of adventure and wonder?

Laughter, fun, movement and interaction with friends, family and neighbors cultivates a sense of belonging and citizenship. Two things largely missing in today’s society among our children – who have been put through some pretty intense and unimaginable times in recent years with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. Are these things less valuable than math, reading, writing, history, science and physical education or music inside a child’s home?

There’s snowball fights to have, snow forts to build, snowmen need button eyes and carrot noses – especially during this magical time of year. It’s Christmastime, when we all can afford just a little bit more of child wonder, awe and excitement in our lives.

Sometimes I think as adults who make decisions for children we forget we were once children ourselves and think kids will be “resilient” or “just fine” if we routinely remove things that used to bring us so much joy – sometimes, I wonder if our hearts have grown two sizes too small?

Are we so driven toward achievement and a refusal to have to make up snow days at the end of the school year that we are so stringent of denying children a fleeting opportunity to make core memories? Sure, they can do these things after school or on the weekends, maybe. But not always.

However, more than this reason alone, taking snow days away and opting for virtual learning days makes our homes essentially into schools – when for a lot of families and children, our homes are our sanctuaries. Our homes are sacred places away from the world, away from school and work. In my opinion, it’s not only an invasion of privacy – it’s an invasion of our sacred places to force children, families into virtual learning any time, for any reason – but especially on days that should be designated as traditional snow days.

But, teachers need a little wintery excitement too. Relaxing days where they can crawl up by a fire, read a book – or maybe binge on Hallmark Holiday movies to recharge their batteries also. We aren’t just robbing our children, we are robbing our teachers who, from time-to-time can also be afforded a small unanticipated break.

I think it's time our schools, districts and educators reconsider allowing children an opportunity to have a traditional snow day.