This made me think about other life events that cannot be delayed. Eighteen months of on-and-off lockdowns have made many of us acutely aware of lost time. For some, who started lockdown in their early 30s, say, the experience will have amplified desires to start a family.
Recently it was reported that BreastScreen NSW was shut during lockdown. This seemed insane. I’d spent the past nine years reading the poster in the bathroom at work telling me that, while a manual test can feel a lump the size of a cherry, a breast screen can find a lump the size of a pea. A delay of three to four months imposed by lockdown will have an impact on treatment. Dr Robert Bezimienny wrote about the impact of patients belatedly reporting symptoms from heart concerns to cancer due to fear of COVID exposure, or not wanting to put pressure on the health system.
But nor can experiences delayed be made up for. More children drowned last summer due to children not having swimming lessons during lockdowns. Experiences build on themselves, like a child’s sandcastle, grain upon grain. Having a gap in them is to never reach the heights intended.
For adults, our brains are pretty much set, but the child and teenager’s brain is constantly developing and learning, and that happens through experience. With fewer experiences – though more of being at home on their own – their brains are going to shape differently.
You cannot have a rush, post-lockdown, on the experience of arguing with a friend over whose Beyblade toy is the best, or how to ollie on a skateboard. Kids have lost those experiences. And while, yes, they will have other experiences after lockdown, they will be built on a gap where experiences should have been.