Over the last year and a half, the kids have had it rough.

Their normal routines were abruptly shut down, leaving them to face a pandemic not comparable to anything in the last hundred years. 

Kids saw an immediate change in their ability to spend time with friends and anyone outside of their household, causing them to lose access to supports and connections key to a child’s development and wellbeing. School, sports, clubs and recreational activities were put on hiatus or switched over to an online format that, despite best efforts, sometimes didn’t measure up to the in person experience.

With such a sudden and difficult change, it would have been easy to give up and shut down. But they didn’t. 

Instead, many local youths showed admirable levels of determination and resilience as they navigated new challenges – be it learning new technologies needed for online learning or adapting to ever-changing lockdown restrictions.

Beyond that, we’ve seen kids step up to get involved with their communities. There have been small acts of kindness, such as kids cutting grass for elderly neighbours or showing animals at the Friends of St-Joseph’s Manor to give a taste of the fair to those who missed it. We’ve also seen projects developed by youth that aim to better the community, such as the Equipiste project, where students from École Secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge proposed to build bike repair stations across the PPJ.

Rather than giving up, kids stepped up to make a positive difference in the world around them. For that, they should be commended.

The Director General of the World Health Organization warned that children and young people will be most affected by the long-term effects of the pandemic and that it will shape the world they live in for years to come. But if they approach the future with the same strength and determination they’ve shown in the last 18 month, we can be confident that the future is in good hands

Julien St-Jean