I loved the first day of school. Absolutely loved it. Twelve years of elementary/high school, four years of university, and then 20 years working in a high school setting. That’s a lot of first days. I loved them all. Except one.
I was living in a city of about 15,000 when I began grade 8 and that meant a move into a junior high school. It was intimidating. The building was big, loud and unnerving, and with five different classrooms of grade 8 students we seemed to be so far removed from any of our friends. The excitement of new classrooms, new teachers and new lockers was lost for me in the midst of the anxiousness and unease. I knew I would be in that school for just a short time—about six weeks—because my family was moving to a new community. I wasn’t quite sure what to feel: relief over knowing I could leave this intimidating place, or more unease knowing I was going to have to go through another first day in a brand new place.
Significant numbers of students find the first day of school to be a daunting experience, noting particular concern over fashion, fitting in and bullying. School divisions, mental health professionals and government agencies have vast resources to help families deal with the stress that going to school can bring into the lives of our young people. But it isn’t just children feeling this stress. Adults have been re-entering a world that looks and feels somewhat different than it did a few months ago.
To limit the spread of the coronavirus, millions of people were asked to work from home. This has caused a greater shift in how some companies and employers view the workplace, and has given employees fresh eyes into how they work most creatively and efficiently. It has also given rise to conversation about elements of the workplace that need addressing.
One poll found that 60% of respondents would prefer to work remotely as much as possible, either because it is working really well or because returning to the workplace means having to once again confront time wasting chit chat, office politics, gossip and bullying. Some said they were feeling so anxious about returning to the work place they likened it to a first day of school. But whether we continued our jobs as usual or found ourselves facing major adaptations, maybe we can take some lessons learned and bring them into an ever-evolving situation.
Moving huge segments of the work population into their homes resulted in countless video meetings taking place in personal spaces and that shone a different light on co-workers. There was a chance to see décor and style, mess or tidiness, and family interactions, and this provided a more genuine sense of one another. It’s something worthy of holding on to; allowing people to see who we really are. Others talk about the communication they received from bosses encouraging them to take breaks, make time for exercise and get enough rest, describing a level of care they hadn’t felt before.
This was not the experience of everyone, of course. People have lost jobs, the digital divide is more apparent than ever, and some employees weren’t given the kind of support they felt they needed to continue working. We can learn from that, too.
We have heard so much in the past weeks that returning to anything has to be done right. Agreed. But in addition to protocols and precautions recommended to keep us safe, we need kindnesses and courtesies that keep things civil. Whether we work indoors or out, behind plexiglass or in full PPE, in a cubicle, on a line, in an office or warehouse, the best things about what we do on the job should be the people we do them for and the people we do them with. There is so much that remains beyond any of our control, but how we chose to treat one another isn’t. It’s within our hands to make anyone’s first day--and each that follows--a good day. That’s my outlook.
