LOCKDOWNS IN LONDON

Words and Photography by Urmila Gurung

Ilive in west London and this is my personal observation on the two lockdowns that my city and my area has lived through. Last March, when the number of deaths increased uncontrollably around the globe due to a new flu strain named Covid-19, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown. This lockdown constrained millions of people to live indoors. Due to the Coronavirus, many were separated from their families and many more lost their lives. The pandemic caused existing inequalities to surface such as homelessness and poverty. The UK has entered into a second national lockdown to help contain the continuous spread of the disease. However, I noticed that even if the gravity of the situation has not changed, the general population in this second lockdown is behaving differently. My impression is that many are not following the rules. For example, not many are respecting social distancing or wearing masks. Whilst on my walks around the neighbourhood, I observed that many are even hugging and/or shaking hands. I am sharing some photos of my impressions.

JOURNEY TO SCHOOL DURING THE PANDEMIC

Photography by Ava-Jayani Karanth

SCHOOL IN LOCKDOWN

I

interviewed4 people. I have called them A ,B, C +D.

Joshua, Scarlet, Soraya and Ruben.

Tiana: Did you go to school during the first lockdown?

A: No, I stayed at home the whole time. B: No C: Physically? No I didn’t, I did online school. D: Na

How did you find online learning? What was offered to you?

A: I struggled at it, but in general it was alright. We used Google classroom. B: I think it was ok but it was a bit stressful learning, considering there wasn’t a set timetable. C: I found it stressful. We were using Google classroom and Zoom. D: Yep, we used Google classroom and it was pretty useless.

What are the differences between online learning and going to school? Which do you prefer?

A: Definitely going to school because you get to be with your friends and you get to do things in the lessons. School is just a better environment to be honest. B: I prefer going to school because you get to socially interact with people. C: Going to school I actually managed to do something productive and online school is still stressful but I don’t have someone watching over me constantly. I like online school but I don’t get anything done. D: It is either online and or in real life and I prefer real life because you actually learn something.

How do you think this virus is affecting student’s futures?

A: Right now for GCSE, as you saw last year, people’s grades are affected and students may not get the results they desire. In general, I do not think it matters towards people who are younger. B: Well obviously not being in school affects grades as it has been proven that learning from home is not as effective as learning in the classroom so it could possibly affect their

Words by Tiana Rendimonti and Illustrations by Soraya Sol

futures, their jobs and colleges so it is negative. C: Poorly! D: A lot because GCSEs are not being cancelled.

During this second lockdown schools have not closed, why do you think they remained open this time around?

A: They don’t want to stop GCSEs. B: I believe they have remained open because students need to be in the classroom because of being more beneficial for learning and for achieving better grades. This is probably why in my opinion. C: To get more students working. D: The government response is not really making any sense to me to be honest.

If you were the Prime Minister, what action would you take in regards to keeping schools opened or closed?

A: Well, I would shut school to keep the learning going. I think it is better to keep schools open. B: So maybe, I would do a weekly schedule where half of the students would be in for half of the week and the other half would be in the other half of the week to maintain social distancing and to make it easier to comply with. C: I would close the schools down because students may be mixing bubbles maybe?

How do you get to school?

A: I get to school by bus or walk. B: I take a bus and two trains. C: I walk, 25 minutes if I am walking normally. If I am powering walking I can brush off a few minutes. D: I take the bus.

Are you or any of your friends affected by the reduced public transport to school? How?

A: Sometimes the tube is closed and some of my friends need a lot more time to get to school. B: Well, I would usually have to take 1 train to school but now I have to take 2 trains but I supposed it’s not a big difference but I don’t think any of my friends are affected. C: I am not affected and I have never asked, so I am not sure about them. D: No

What type of rules do you have in place at school for social distancing?

A: We wear masks around the corridors and inside public places like classrooms; we are supposed to stay 2 meters apart kind of. We have a lunchtime quarantine thing, where we have to face forwards.

B: In the classroom we are not allowed to face each other. We have to be in line so that we are just facing the teacher. We maintain social distancing by sitting 2 meters apart and not having anyone face each other so they are not breathing on each other and it is like being obtained. We have to wear face masks in the hallways and we have to sanitize before we get in each classroom. C: You have to wear a mask always, not in classrooms but always outside. Keep your distance obviously. Do not mix bubbles.

D: You have to wear a mask in the corridors but it is not enforced. You have to wear a mask in-between classrooms.

Which rules are working and which

ones aren’t? A: I think the 2 meters distance rule does not work as everyone is next to each other, but keeping the masks on is a rule followed by everyone, thus so far, so good. B: Well I believe that the sitting apart from each other is working because obviously you can not sit anywhere else if there’s a seating plan but the face masks in the hallways, there are a lot of people who do not wear them so it is not very reliable as hardly anyone is wearing them. C: I don’t know! Most people wear masks in the corridor and at lunchtime if you are not eating. D: None of them are working because the teachers do not enforce the rules that are in place.

Has anybody that you know of has, or had Coronavirus in your school?

A: Not personally, but there are 2 -3 people in our school who have had Coronavirus. They have just had to self-isolate and that was it. B: I don’t know the person in particular but I know someone in my school has just been told that they have Coronavirus. C: Not that I know of, a whole year we had to be isolated because of it. It was Year 10. D: No.

Do you think this virus has affected your friendship groups (e.g. did you (e.g. did you used to eat with certain people in the canteen that you can’t see now?)?

A: Not really as my school does not work that way, you just have to wait for your friends. No, it hasn’t affected my friendship groups. B: There are not really any social distancing rules in our canteen so you can sit with whomever you really want so no, it hasn’t been affected. C: Not really, kind of but not really! D: Not really, no.

What do you think about wearing masks?

A: I actually want to and don’t mind it. I am not going to not wear it. It’s comfy. B: I believe it is necessary as the government has told us but obviously it is not very ideal as it is annoying to wear them but I do wear them because I believe if everybody wears them then hopefully it will make a difference. C: I don’t mind it, but I don’t wear a mask in class as I need to breathe. D: I guess it kind of works to protect yourself from others. However, when I am in a classroom with fellow students I don’t wear a mask and it doesn’t make sense why I have to wear it in the corridor meeting the same students. In conclusion, no one of the young people interviewed went to school during the first lockdown and all did online learning. They all found online learning challenging although they found it was quite relaxing to be at home. However, everyone interviewed agreed that going to school was necessary for learning and most expressed a concern for their future. They felt that the virus would most likely affect their grades or future jobs. In regards to the second lockdown, students expressed that they had wished the government had set up a different system for returning to school, for example staggered days. The reduced public transport had affected some interviewees, however, many felt that it made no difference to their journey. All participants confirmed that their schools were enforcing rules to keep students safe, although one interviewee did not understand why wearing masks is required in corridors and not in classrooms,too. In general, most students interviewed felt that the rules enforced to keep everyone safe were fairly effective and were helping to reduce the virus. A view supported that some year groups self-isolated and kept the spread in control. No-one they knew had suffered from Coronavirus. Life under the second lockdown with its new rules, had not affected friendship groups and all participants were keen to do the right thing and follow the rules.

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