During quarantine, families have been spending a lot more time together. With all of the time that families spend together, it can get a little tiring seeing the same people every day. Although students are grateful for their families, spending this much time together has had positive and negative effects on family relationships.
With school being in person four days a week, the in-school people are able to get out of the house for a bit and be around other people. For some people, quarantine did not have much of an effect on their families. CHS freshman Kaylie DeMerrit said, “my family did not really leave the house in the first place so nothing really changed. My sister was also off at college for part of it too.” She also talks about how her family has gotten closer over the years. “My family argued but also got closer. Sometimes we were closer and we did a lot more things together and other times we just wanted to get away from each other,” she said.
Although it was hard to be around our family so much, it was also beneficial for the relationship of some people and their families. CHS freshman Emilie Houston said, “overall, as a family, our relationships have strengthened. I know each of the members of my family better now. We have had lots of really fun times together. I understand their personalities and why they do specific things more. I also know how to help them feel better and how I can help them when they need it. We have all grown to become stronger and happier together.” It can be hard for some people to cope with their family for this long but it can also be really great.
Even with the good times of being around family, there have been many instances where it can be hard to be around family for so long. When people are around the same people for a long period of time, little things will start to annoy you that maybe didn’t annoy you before. Although this is challenging to deal with, a lot of families have grown closer despite these hardships. An anonymous CHS sophomore said, “Ever since quarantine began I feel that my family relationships have become stronger. All this time stuck inside the house has caused me to spend much more time with my family than I would have otherwise. One year ago I hardly saw my siblings and my parents were always working. During quarantine, I have been able to see my family a lot more and spend time with them. I have had the opportunity to grow closer to my family and spend lots of one on one time with each of them. A lot has changed since quarantine but my relationships with my family are probably the best changes I have gotten.”
Family is one of the most important things in the world and quarantine helped a lot of students to see that. It may be difficult to love them sometimes but overall, being with family is great. Appreciate your family and go make some memories with them.
