Back To School - Why Society Is So Lonely

Last September my kid moved to a new school where all the kids already knew each other. So I would check in with him. “Who did you play with today?’ ‘No one’ he’d reply. And my heart would break. On the third day, I decided to enlist the help of the other moms. Some were lovely and helpful and empathetic. But a couple were quite distant, dismissive. And I felt like a little kid again myself, awkward and lost, trying to make new friends in the playground.

There’s a post doing the rounds on Instagram about the importance of making shy or new kids feel welcome. We live in a time where people are lonelier than ever, where the Gen z generation in particular is experiencing record levels of loneliness. And it’s because we’ve lost all sense of community. I personally would never leave another woman standing by herself or allow another person to feel excluded. And I’ve raised my son to be the same. So I’m reminding not only the kids but the adults. Raise your kids to be kind, to include others and to think of themselves as part of a community. And apply those rules to yourself.

Can Our Schools Raise Good Citizens

My son started kindergarten today. Why is the first day of school such an emotional experience? It really was for me. So much more than I was expecting. I also wonder whether in these fraught times, there's a heightened sense of anxiety about how we raise good citizens and also, the world we're sending our kids out into.  

Can we entrust our schools to teach our kids civic responsibility and the need to respect their fellow humans no matter what creed, race or sexual orientation? This requirement has risen from midway on my list of school criteria to the top 3. Our kids spend around 70% of their time at school, absorbing lessons from teachers and fellow pupils alike. If we're to change the world for the better, we have to look to how we're raising the next generation and the values we're instilling in them.