Everyone knows how I feel about certain U.S. governors and their destructive lockdowns of our children’s schools. No matter how much “science and data” appear showing how the forced closures are damaging our children, they continue.

Well, last night my daughter texted me a photo of my 8-year-old grandson’s homework assignment, which took her by surprise (my daughter is a teacher and is homeschooling until Emperor Inslee decrees the lockdown over). She knew Declan wasn’t happy about the lockdown, but she didn’t know it was affecting him on such a level.

I’m not embarrassed to admit what he wrote broke my heart. I’ll let his words speak for him. And though the “cleaned up” transcript, printed below, conveys the words, I encourage you to read it in his words as he wrote them, so you can connect vicariously to the emotions of a child kept from his school and his friends.

Name: Declan                                                                                                        Date: 1-14-21

Reread the text “Save Our Park!”

Think about how Jaimie decided to do something about her problem and how she wrote a letter to the newspaper to share her opinion.

Write about a problem you would like to solve in your community. How would you describe the issue in a letter to the newspaper?

“Not going to school is a problem in my community. It is bad for kids. It is bad for me and other kids. I miss being with my friends and learning! And having fun and being around other kids. Being on the playground. I miss school.”