Driving home for Christmas?

      Hello, lovelies.

               I hear on the news that some University students may not be able to return to their homes and families this Christmas season. They’ll have to stay in their student rooms, not socialising, not celebrating, just keeping themselves locked away until they return for the new term in January. Are they just being young, irresponsible snowflakes that have jeopardised their own safety by partying too much? Or are they young adults, who have just set foot out in the big wide scary world and are being blamed for everything?

               It has been a very long time since I was a student. But I do remember my first day at drama school. I was terrified. I was 18 and believed that I was a full-blown adult ready for whatever life was about to throw at me. How little I knew. I still lived at home with my mother in south London but would travel from south to east to attend the Academy Drama school in London’s famous Whitechapel. And as I stood on the thresh hold of my future, I was almost paralyzed with fear. Was I ready for what was about to happen? Could my sheltered childhood hold up to the pressures and demands that my further education? Would I be able to walk in through the doors without my knees giving out?  I wouldn’t know until I took that first step in. And all these years later, I can look back at my training with joy and happiness. I loved it there. But I had the luxury of being able to go home and talk to my mum about all the trials and tribulations that I faced. For as much as I thought that I was an adult, I still had so much to learn. The world is big. Very big, and I felt like a tiny little fish in a vast ocean.

               So, when I heard about all those universities that have now put their students into self-isolation in their rooms following a surge in COVID 19 cases, my heart went out to them. Listening to the news as I was driving in my car, I was shocked by the dismissive attitudes towards these students. Callers to the radio station were blaming the students, blaming the culture of universities, blaming the 10pm curfew. Blaming everyone but the government. The callers were blaming these young adults, telling them to suck it up and remember what our older generations went through during the war. Like it is a contest or something. Not one of these callers could put themselves in these student’s shoes.

               Leaving home to go to university should be a momentous and exciting step, not the fear of being holed up with other people that you don’t know and not being able to leave their new and unfamiliar surroundings. Not being able to go shopping for anything including food. And with everyone trying to order food online, the wait for food must be excruciating. They’re students not prisoners and being blamed for something that is so far out of their control is ridiculous and downright dangerous. These students have paid a lot of money to be at university. £9,000 plus, for the privilege of being taught online, when they could have stayed at home. They have paid their rent, bills and everything else that has been required of them. Because all the landlords want paying reguardless. These young adults have done absolutely nothing wrong. And yet they are being demolished in the news about their soft, snow flaky ways.    

               Now the government is under pressure to guarantee that these young people will not be confined to their halls of residence over Christmas because of these outbreaks on campuses. Not told that they could only go home if the country “pulls together” and observes the new coronavirus rules. So, this uncontrollable virus will be survived if we pull together? That’s what the government recommends? Just pulling together. Yes, we all must pull in the right direction. But we need more than that from those who are supposedly running this country.

               And at Christmas. A time for family. Not a time to be left alone from all those you love and miss. Cast your mind back to a few short months ago when we too were faced with not being able to see our friends and family. It was awful. So why should it be any different for the students? Should we really be attacking them for wanting to go home? Or should we all take a look at ourselves and remember what it was like for us when we were in an unfamiliar place a long way from home. We will survive this virus. We do all need to work together by wearing a mask, washing our hands and keeping a distance from other people. But locking students up and blaming them doesn't help anyone. But having compassion, understanding and faith in these young adults will help us become a nation of winners, not whiners.