Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 22:43     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:Is the class entering kindergarten still going to have issues with behavior and Potty training becuase of COVID? I know most kids are still straggling even though it was a few years ago.


My daughter was born on march 2020, I never heard of potty problem due to covid in her daycare or her kindergarten class. Def. most kids I know are NOT straggling.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 21:17     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't struggling because of covid; the kids are struggling because of the prevalence of smartphones and other tech.


Nope. They are struggling because of poor parenting.


I don’t understand this line of thinking. There have always been bad parents who didn’t care or had too much other stuff going on. Remember the “affluenza” kid who was 16 in 2013? Remember some of your own friends growing up and how many of them would say that their mom worked odd hours and left them alone or in the care of some much older relative, or how many kids came from chaotic homes with a step-parent who was abusive or this that and the other thing? It’s something you forget until you have kids of your own, or at least I did.

The problem is the schools have no kind of meaningful discipline any more. Kids can basically just do whatever and get in very minimal trouble for it. It seems like the only thing they come down hard about is weapons offenses. But regular fighting, drug use, smoking, tardiness, using your phone in class, wearing headphones with your hood pulled up, bullying, online/cyber bullying in big group chats, throwing chairs and tantruming in class, cursing at the teacher, skipping class and cutting school, it all just seems to be whatever these days. No one is getting suspensions let alone expelled. If there are no consequences, the behavior doesn’t change and nothing matters.


Much of what you said is a problem at school is also a problem at home, and parents are to blame.

- Parents do not discipline children for anything.

- Kids can do whatever they want, and they get in minimal trouble for it. They steal, talk back, are disruptive, destroy property, leave their trash everywhere, lie, and use substances, and parents do nothing about it.

- They use drugs, are tardy, use their phones when they aren't supposed to, bully others, throw tantrums, curse at teachers, and cut school, and parents do nothing about it.

- Parents do not dish out consequences for anything.

- Parents get angry when teachers email regarding inappropriate student behavior.

- Parents laugh when kids are disrespectful and disruptive in the classroom, community, or in public.

- Parents blame schools and teachers for everything.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 20:58     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't struggling because of covid; the kids are struggling because of the prevalence of smartphones and other tech.


Nope. They are struggling because of poor parenting.


I don’t understand this line of thinking. There have always been bad parents who didn’t care or had too much other stuff going on. Remember the “affluenza” kid who was 16 in 2013? Remember some of your own friends growing up and how many of them would say that their mom worked odd hours and left them alone or in the care of some much older relative, or how many kids came from chaotic homes with a step-parent who was abusive or this that and the other thing? It’s something you forget until you have kids of your own, or at least I did.

The problem is the schools have no kind of meaningful discipline any more. Kids can basically just do whatever and get in very minimal trouble for it. It seems like the only thing they come down hard about is weapons offenses. But regular fighting, drug use, smoking, tardiness, using your phone in class, wearing headphones with your hood pulled up, bullying, online/cyber bullying in big group chats, throwing chairs and tantruming in class, cursing at the teacher, skipping class and cutting school, it all just seems to be whatever these days. No one is getting suspensions let alone expelled. If there are no consequences, the behavior doesn’t change and nothing matters.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 19:30     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't struggling because of covid; the kids are struggling because of the prevalence of smartphones and other tech.


Nope. They are struggling because of poor parenting.


I think its both. Overall poor parenting AND technology, which is overused due to poor parenting.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 19:10     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't struggling because of covid; the kids are struggling because of the prevalence of smartphones and other tech.


Nope. They are struggling because of poor parenting.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 18:40     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:Honestly, as someone with two pandemic babies (a 2020 and a 2021) I think the pandemic was hard on PARENTS with babies, but not really bad for the kids. I mean, someone was changing their diapers and feeding them milk and all that jazz, and they were too young for excessive screens.

From talking to teachers at various levels, the hardest hit roughly in order from worst to best were 1) the kids in K/1st, as doing those grades online is impossible and they missed crucial reading skills 2) middle schoolers, who missed crucial socializing and basically arrived to high school with the maturity of 5th graders and 3) the toddlers (ages 2-3) who spent WAY more time on screens then they would have otherwise.

So those kids are now in middle school, early college, and like 3/4th grade.


This is a very smart take. The class most affected by COVID in my opinion is just finishing 7th grade now. Those who didn’t do well in online school basically missed half of 1st and all of 2nd grade, and their academic and social skills reflected that.

Of my own kids, the one who did some of 5th grade and all of 6th grade online missed a lot of organization/executive function skills.

But the current crop of pre-k and k kids didn’t miss much of anything. They are just dealing with what all kids have to deal with now: distracted, screen addicted parents.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 18:31     Subject: Re:pandemic babies
My son is starting K in August and luckily had no interruption in his daycare or preschool. His baby year his daycare provider wore a mask but that was it. I think they will do well actually!
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 18:25     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:Blaming the pandemic, over five years later, for kids' behavior and/or academic gaps is ridiculous. If your kid hasn't recovered skills after five years, there's either a learning issue or a parenting issue. Or both.

BABIES from the pandemic are fine. It is insane to even call them Covid babies, as though there is some horrificmthing they experienced.

The term has more to do with what the parents experienced. My youngest was in K this year, and I did find that the first time parents were a lot more anxious about everything school related.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 17:55     Subject: pandemic babies
I am a kindergarten teacher and this year was probably lease affected by Covid. Previous years had something that maybe could be tied to Covid if you looked hard enough. With the exception of the first year back in FCPS school- that group is in 4th grade now and was a hot mess in kindergarten.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 17:44     Subject: pandemic babies
If you were an infant when covid hit, this is a boon for you. More time with your bio parents. If you were 5+ then it was almost universally bad.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 17:41     Subject: pandemic babies
Blaming the pandemic, over five years later, for kids' behavior and/or academic gaps is ridiculous. If your kid hasn't recovered skills after five years, there's either a learning issue or a parenting issue. Or both.

BABIES from the pandemic are fine. It is insane to even call them Covid babies, as though there is some horrificmthing they experienced.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 17:36     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't struggling because of covid; the kids are struggling because of the prevalence of smartphones and other tech.


+1

Plus lack of parenting
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 17:00     Subject: Re:pandemic babies
My nephew was born two months before the pandemic started. He just finished kindergarten. He showed up the first day fully toilet trained, a great attention span, capable of following three-step directions and ready to share, learn to read, and make new friends. He'd gone to two years of preschool and had school experience.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 16:56     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Honestly, as someone with two pandemic babies (a 2020 and a 2021) I think the pandemic was hard on PARENTS with babies, but not really bad for the kids. I mean, someone was changing their diapers and feeding them milk and all that jazz, and they were too young for excessive screens.

From talking to teachers at various levels, the hardest hit roughly in order from worst to best were 1) the kids in K/1st, as doing those grades online is impossible and they missed crucial reading skills 2) middle schoolers, who missed crucial socializing and basically arrived to high school with the maturity of 5th graders and 3) the toddlers (ages 2-3) who spent WAY more time on screens then they would have otherwise.

So those kids are now in middle school, early college, and like 3/4th grade.


This is spot-on.


+100 my 2yo loved being home with us. He was too young to really miss his daycare friends. But he went back and went to FT preschool so as a 2nd grader now I don't see any issues from that ancient history.

My baby both during Covid doesn't remember anything but did daycare after awhile and preschool, will be starting K in the fall. They don't remember Covid of course.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2026 16:52     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:The kids aren't struggling because of covid; the kids are struggling because of the prevalence of smartphones and other tech.


My sister in law does this. She insists her daughter can't make it through dinner without an IPad because she has ADHD. Except we've managed just fine by actually talking to niece (who is the same age as one of our kids).

It drives me totally nuts, niece has Ipad on full volume and plays high pitched screamy YouTube videos.