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(Describer) Titles appear over computer generated images of the rotating earth and the Covid 19 virus. Barbara Harrison Media. Kids speak out. Today.

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(Describer) Coronavirus. Covid 19. A floating medical capsule spills its contents.

(Describer) Title: Episode 7.

Hello, and welcome everyone to "Kids Speak Out." We're glad to have you with us today. I'm Barbara Harrison, and we've got a great group joining us today, including a special guest from the graded school, the American school, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Let's welcome Erin Rafferty.

(Describer) Erin is a slim woman with brown hair.

Let's see who's in the gallery right now. Would you all introduce yourselves? Hi, I'm George. I am in year 12, and I live in England. My name's Niquiel. I'm in Washington D.C., and I'm in junior year of high school. Hi, my name is Olivia, and I'm a junior in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Hi, my name is Pedro. I'm in grade 12 and I live in Vancouver, Canada. Hi, I'm Sophia. I'm in year 11 and I live in London. Hi, I'm Brooke. I'm a sophomore in high school, and I'm from Sausalito, California. Hi, I'm Charlotte. I'm year 12, and I'm from Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Hi, I'm Isabella. I'm a college freshman, and I'm from Sao Paolo, Brazil. So great to have all of you with us. This is also such an important time for--for you guys socially. Because as--as-- in high school and college, you really kind of buy in early on. I mean, 12 years old, looking forward to what it's gonna be like when you're in high school and then college. So who--who's upset about missing that part of life? I'm quite upset about that. 'Cause, um, in the last year-- So I have five years of my secondary school, and I've made quite a lot of friends in the year above me, which I will now not be able to see again if I don't go to, um-- if they don't come back in the summer term. So it's a bit of a shame not to be able to, uh, like see--see any of them again. Um, but on the other side of that, I feel like I still have some social element with my friends, 'cause all of us FaceTime a lot, and we speak a lot. 'Cause everyone's at home, so we all, like, still have contact because of social media and things like that.

(Describer) Sofia.

Yeah, so I'm changing school, um, at the end of this year, and it's-- it was quite difficult because I'm saying bye to the people I've spent almost every day with for the past five years. And also, there were meant to be some days where the new school students would all meet together and get to know each other before the academic year started. But that's now being taken away. So there's kind of, like, in the back of my head, the stress of having to start a new school and knowing no one. Um, so yeah, the social aspect of this isn't the nicest. but as George said, there's FaceTime, and it's nice to be able to keep in touch with everyone still. Brooke, how about you? Yeah, I think that socially, it's pretty difficult, because I think in the beginning, we were FaceTiming a lot. Like, me and my friends, we'd FaceTime, like, after class, during breaks. 'Cause I think the thing that's difficult for us is that, I don't know about everyone else, but we're doing still, like, normal schedule. Like, we have a lunch break, passing periods. Like, it's still, like, a normal day, you're just in your house. So it's kind of weird when it's, like, lunch for an hour and we're all FaceTiming. Like, talking to each other while we're eating. It's just different. But I think slowly, throughout time, it's become, like-- we've all stopped talking less. 'Cause we're so sick of being on our computer all day, that I think it's just-- I don't know, I think we're all losing touch slowly. Which is sad, but it's also--I hope, like, soon things will change, and we'll all be talking again.

(Describer) Nikhil.

Kind of to speak to that, I know a lot of the seniors at my school were really--really upset because it is-- you know, going from one grade to another is one thing, but actually graduating, and losing that experience-- if you've been at a school for ten years, and all of a sudden, like, this moment that you looked forward to, you know, for half your life is not gonna be, like, the same? And, you know, like, your senior prom, your graduation-- all that going away is-- it's a really tough thing. So I know at least for me it was tough even just being a junior, but I feel even worse for, uh, people who are seniors. I think one of the difficult things-- like, sort of, like, the paradox of the Coronavirus and the quarantining, is that in a lot of other crisis moments or situations, you're going out on the street and you're seeing with your own eyes what's happening to people. Like, you can-- you can sort of see, you know, people on the streets, or people dying and that sort of thing. But the paradox of the quarantine is that you don't see anyone outside of, like, the people you live with, and so it's very hard to have this, like, grasp on what's really happening outside and what's really happening-- like, what is reality? Because you're not seeing it every day. It's like it's so different than when-- if you're talking about, like, poverty, or something that you-- you see homeless people on the street, and you see people suffering and that sort of thing, where you can see it and you can-- and it's so much easier to sort of take it in and come to terms with it. Because in this case you can't see it. You're not--no one's like-- you're not seeing people at a hospital. You certainly can't go to a hospital unless you have it. So if you're at home, you're not seeing all these people that are dying. And all these statistics? Like, every day I get another beep on my phone about how many people have died, and it seems almost surreal because I'm not going outside so I'm not seeing this. Like, it's--it's hard to see to sort of come to terms with it, because you can't see it. And that's the-- I think the hard thing about being in quarantine is that you end up forgetting-- or not even forgetting-- it's just--it's hard for you to understand almost. If you're just--

(Harrison) I don't know whether it's just because I have been involved in the news business for so many years, but I'm kind of glued to the newscasts that show so many people and so many statistics that--that tell us just how dangerous, uh, it is in the world. And not just here in the United States, but in other--in countries all over the world. Are any of you, um, addicted to watching these stories on television? Yeah, so at my house we watch a lot of news in the evening, and just every day seeing the numbers increase and increase, and all the footage of these new morgues, and just, it's really quite overwhelming. And it's--for myself, it gets quite a bit too much sometimes, so I have to, like, remove myself from the situation. But then I also kind of feel guilty for doing that, 'cause I'm kind of forgetting about all the people who have lost family members or friends, who have to deal with either the virus themselves or people they know. Um, but I think the news is really quite hard to understand and really get a big picture of everything, because right now it's just the Coronavirus that we're hearing about and nothing else. So it's quite intense sometimes.

(Harrison) There are so many things happening in the world today, that you want and need to talk about. -Hi, I'm Charlotte. -My name is Drea. -I'm Isabella. -Hi, I'm Niquiel.

(Harrison) We invite students from around the world to speak up, to ask questions-- Minorities are on the lower end of the spectrum. It's just hideous.

(Harrison) For more information go to www.kidsspeakout.me. I've been studying-- I do Economics at A Level, so I've been looking at the economic sides of the Coronavirus for the last two weeks in my classes. And it's quite, like, staggering the difference that it--the, uh-- the Coronavirus pandemic has had economically compared to the dotcom crash, the 2008 financial crash. So I find it quite an interesting case study at the moment to look at, because it was something-- it'll be something people will be talking about for years. Well, and you know-- I'm sure that you have heard, certainly if you're following the economics of it, the, um, incredible impact it's having on people who are losing their jobs and not able to put food on the table. Um, I--I suspect that everybody who's with us today hasn't had that--that issue, but it's something that we do need to think about as--as a global community. How do we address some of the things like that? Isn't that right, Ms. Rafferty? Absolutely, um, I think it's impressive to hear each of you, the students, speak, um, knowledgably and well-informed about the issues of the day, and I think it--it raises the importance of how, um, critical it is to be a critical consumer of media. To know sources that are giving you reliable information and then how to digest that information, um, to make smart choices as voters, as maybe soon-to-be voters some of you, um, and as actors in your society around you. It seems absolutely imperative that we be exercising those judgements now. Uh, in Canada, are you seeing the, um-- a lot of the devastation of this disease on your newscasts, Pedro? Yeah, that's basically all we see on the news right now. It's all about the Coronavirus. Especially about Quebec right now, 'cause that's where it's the worst right now. San Francisco is one of the places that started, um, quarantining very early. Uh, how long have you been at home, uh, in Sausalito? Brooke. Um, I'm pretty sure it's been over a month. I think it's been five weeks now. Five or six maybe? But, um, yeah. We did it pretty early, and I remember the day of everybody was so excited. 'Cause we were like-- we were hearing about it throughout the entire week, like, "We might go-- start doing online school," and everybody was like, "Can we, like, hurry it up? Can we do it now? Can we start?" Like, everybody was so excited, 'cause we were like, "We could just wake up and open our computer." And I remember the first day everybody was like, "This is so cool!" And the next day it was just--"I want to stop." Uh, Niquiel?

(Niquiel) Yeah, definitely similar, uh, story here. We've been in, you know, at-home learning for a similar time, uh, to what Brooke described. And I remember the last day of school, uh, over here, people were going nuts. It was, like, people were playing loud music outside, and not going to their last classes of the day. It was like a complete celebration. And then it had to be, like, two weeks in, people started to realize what-- what we were actually getting into. And now people are, like, begging to go back to school. Uh, I think, yeah, and ahead of it, it did seem like it was gonna be fun to a lot of us. I hate to say "fun," but certainly not, uh, did we expect it to drag on. And now we are not sure when it's gonna end. Anybody got-- Got any guesses on-- on when they think this will all be over in their areas? Um. Oh, sorry.

(Describer) Charlotte.

Um, I was just gonna say that, uh, the head of Ofsted-- the old head of Ofsted-- That's kind of the, like, the British, like, regulations for school. Um, I think he said that 1st of June was the-- was the earliest that schools are thinking about opening, but I genuinely don't think that they're gonna open for the rest of the year, so-- So-- Oh, go ahead. I would say that, like, in this quarantine, they'll have to, um, start letting people out slowly. So they might, I don't know, let schools go back but keep workers at-- at, like--at home. Or let maybe an age group out-- 20s to 30s, our main workforce. Or, like, stagger it in a way so that we can have some sort of buildup, um, of, like, people being productive and not being at home, whilst trying to not allow a second peak.

(Describer) Barbara Harrison Media.

(Harrison) Asking questions, sharing opinions, that's what "Kids Speak Out" is all about. Sometimes adults don't have all the answers. We invite students from around the world to speak up, to ask questions and offer opinions on the topics of the day. You can join us. For more information, got to www.kidspeakout.me And--and, um, if it does happen that it--that it ends, um, Erin--Ms. Rafferty, where do we--how do you kick that off? I mean, do you suddenly just say, "Okay, everybody come on back to school" and-- Or do you want to end, uh, in some sort of way that--that you can test everybody on what they've learned via the, uh, distance learning? If we were to go back early, certainly, in my frame, um, it wouldn't be so much testing, because we've been doing, like, little mini assessments along the way, but rather, like, I would think it would be very important to capture a reflection, um, for the students on, you know, what was all of that for you? And what are we taking forward with us about, um, what seems to stick, and--and if there were some learning moments about how learning works for us, that we can reflect on before we go forward. That seems the most important thing to do. How many of you feel like you are really a part of a real historic event? And I'd like to hear from you all on that. What do you think? You think this is gonna go down in history? People in, uh, 50 years will be reading about what you did at this time?

(Describer) Brooke.

Yeah, me and my friends were actually having a conversation last week about just saying how, like, this is-- as, like, bad as it is, it's also, like, just a very historical thing that--we were also saying how, like, when we're older and we have kids, and our kids are complaining about school, we could just say, like, "Well, at least you didn't have "online school during the epidemic

we were a part of, like--" [chuckles]

We'll be able to say that at one point, so I guess at the same time, as bad as it is, it's also pretty cool to be able to witness this, like, firsthand. Any other reflections? So one of my-- one of my friends from school, for one of her classes, they're actually asking them to write weekly diary entries that are gonna be put into the archive at my school for later use, which is kind of cool. She feels like she's doing the same thing every week, so she doesn't really know what to write about. But it is, um, an interesting initiative to think that you're writing something that maybe people will analyze or talk about in 30, 40, 50 years. That's a good point.

(Describer) Olivia.

That's kind of similar to what we're doing for my history and English class. This show and you'll see how you felt.

[chuckles] When you look back on it.

Pedro? Uh, yeah, I feel like, uh, we are part of history, both, well, due to the pandemic as well as economically. This is just a very-- like, marking part in history, due to the, well, the possible recession and how difficult things are getting for everyone. Uh, it's just-- I don't feel like I am taking part in history. But history is being made outside my house. It's just, I'm kind of losing track of reality stuck at home, so--

(Describer) Sofia.

Um, well, I think that this is definitely going to go down in history in terms of economically and also medicine, and discoveries that we make to do this. Um, I think as Niquiel said, with all the internet we have now, we'll have a lot of things and research to look back on in the future. And I think-- as it's a global pandemic, it will really be something that we learn again in history lessons, in, um, university to learn about science-- I think it's something that will really be known in a few years' time to come. I'd like to ask Erin Rafferty if she has any last advice. We've enjoyed having you with us so much today. Anything you want to leave the kids with? Well, I'd like to thank everyone. This is a good example of, um, the kind of environment that's created when everyone's sort of all-in in a-- in an online kind of community. It's--it was brief, and I, of course, don't know you very well, but it's clear to me that you're resilient, you're resourceful. You're staying plugged in to what's happening beyond your--your walls while also kind of understanding the importance of following those requests from health experts. And I think you're a tribute to each of your schools. So while I understand that the future may seem um, uncertain and therefore kind of nervous-making right now, I would also ask you to go back to that sense that you have of-- of confidence, because it's very clear that you're making learning happen for yourself right now, and that that will continue to happen whatever environment you choose to do so, uh, in the next steps. So, as we say in Brazil, parabéns, congratulations to each of you. Well, that was a lot of fun, and very informative too. We want to thank everyone in the gallery, and again to teacher Erin Rafferty for being with us. And we thank you for having joined us to watch it all. We hope you learned something as well. If you want to go to our website, kidsspeakout.me, you can learn how you can be involved. And we hope you will join us at some point. Until then, have a great day, stay safe, and we'll see you next time.

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(Describer) Titles appear over computer generated images of the rotating earth and the Covid 19 virus. Barbara Harrison Media. Kids speak out. Today.

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(Describer) Coronavirus. Covid 19. A floating medical capsule spills its contents. Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.