Young voices: Two kids explain how the pandemic changed their lives
So far, the story of COVID-19 has been told mostly by adults.
Children have rarely had a chance to shape the narrative, yet they will carry it into the future.
They will tell the next generation what really happened.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently visited Trisha Tanner’s classroom in Marietta. The goal was to learn how pandemic disruptions had undermined learning, but a different story emerged.
Two fifth-grade students at Hickory Hills Elementary, Penny Davis and Nolan Waters, did talk about the challenges of attending school online and about how they “catched up” when they were back in person.
But the cousins also described how the adults in their world — their parents and teachers — helped them, and also how the duo helped each other.
They shared how the pandemic delivered them to the same home and classroom, and how it bent their life stories into a new arc.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
