The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX

Isabella Smedile
Linda Roach, Teacher
St. John Paul II Catholic Academy
Courage is being able to hold my head high when not having a computer or
the Internet like everyone else, and dealing with the pressure of having to
catch up while using things that I never had.
I had a great life before Covid. We were always busy and didn’t have much
time for TV. I had school, colorguard, Irish Step dancing, sailing, and violin.
I live with my mom, my sister, and my two cats. We never had WIFI or a
computer at home. If we needed to use a computer, we would use the one at
my mom’s office, and that was fine. But then Covid happened.
School closed down and everyone was sent home in March because people tested
positive for the coronavirus in Boston and other parts of Massachusetts. Zoom
classes then started, but I couldn’t go online because I didn’t have the Internet or
a computer at home. I felt very alone and isolated from the world. Everyone else
had the Internet. Everyone else had WIFI. Everyone else’s mom had a computer.
But mine didn’t. So we weren’t able to go online like everyone else.
It was summer, and then it was back to school time. There were plans for all
the schools to open up again. My mom said that she didn’t want me and my
sister to go back into the school then, and that she was deciding what to do.
The school offered an option that allowed you to choose to learn virtually or
come in and be with your classmates. But we couldn’t do either without the
computer and Internet.
My principal said he could help us by letting us borrow a school Chromebook.
Mom was happy we finally had an option, but we still needed the Internet!
Right before school started we finally got the Internet, so we thought
everything would be great.
I went online for the first time in September for school, but it wasn’t
everything I expected. It made me feel very stressed out because I didn’t know
how to use the computer. We only used it a little in computer class last year,
but not enough to make me feel comfortable with it. There were too many
emails, too many tabs, and too many classroom areas!! All the teachers were
expecting everything right away, and asking why nothing was done on time,
nothing turned in, and telling me I should already know how to do this. They
said, “You had three months of this back in the Spring, you should know this.”
I kept telling them that I didn’t have the Internet then, but they said they
couldn’t hear me because my voice is soft.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
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