The past stormy days, every kid was eager to hear any announcement on the suspension of classes by the DepEd or the local officials. Sometimes it came, to the cheers of the kids, and sometimes it didn’t, to their great dismay.
The announcement always came with the injunction that it was actually the parents who should make the final decisions if it was safe for their children to go to school for it was them who knew the actual situation in their localities. Fair enough. If your kid is sickly, why let him brave the rain? He might end up in the hospital the next morning.
Sometimes, however, we the parents should not be so protective of our kids to the extent that even with just a drop of rain we would tell them not to go to school. Not only would he be missing some lessons but, more importantly, he will be deprived of the chance to learn first hand how to deal with nature’s adversities and other problems. An umbrella or raincoat and rain boots could come in handy to make them safe from leptospirosis and similar diseases. If you cannot afford rain boots then your kid can learn the value of resourcefulness by doubling his socks with recycled cellophane bags earlier used to contain goods from the corner grocery or sari-sari store.
And it won’t really hurt a healthy kid if he gets wet from school every once in a while. A decade ago or in the barrios, kids would only use banana or gabi leaves to protect themselves from the driving rain on their way to and from school. And they (especially the older generation) turned out OK. After all, isn’t the body composed of 75% water?
The actual lessons a kid imbibes from having to brave the rain and other adversities or problematic situations might even be more valuable for him in the future than the ABC’s we parents are paying for him to master in the classrooms.
So the next time the thunder roars while your kid is going out the door to beat the school bell, tell him it is God playfully trying to scare us and that everything will be fine even if it will rain like hell the next hour.
Don’t forget, however, that everything is on a case to case basis. Don’t think like your kid will have to cross seven rivers to reach school when all he needs to do is just cross the street.
**