Education And Social Media In 1984?

This was a post idea that has been on my list of drafts for quite some time, and now that the Governor of Illinois has ordered all K-12 schools closed for the remainder of the school year, perhaps this morning I will respond to it.

In this time of isolation guidelines, what would life be like?  If we couldn't use Zoom or Google Meets or Facebook Live, how would we be doing.  If we didn't have email or instant messaging, how would we be doing?  If this would have happened in 1984, my senior year in high school, and my senior year and all spring sports and activities were cancelled, how would I be doing?

Okay...so let's imagine education and social media under COVID isolation restrictions in April of 1984.

We would have phones to call family members, and we would be able to use the post office to mail letters and packages.  I'd be able to jog and ride my bike around Taylor Ridge, and I would be able to shoot baskets in my backyard.  I'd be able to mow the yard, and I would probably be helping my grandfather and uncles on their farms more extensively.  Being around my brother probably wouldn't have been easy - not because we had a lot of conflicts, but two teenage boys together would have ultimately led to issues.  I could have still driven the NOVA to drive-through and curbside pick-up places for meals.  I would have likely felt very blessed to have been able to finish the basketball season, and I probably wouldn't have been two upset about missing track.  I would likely be nervous about where I was going for college and if I was going to play basketball.

School?  Would RHS have attempted to continue remote learning without all the technology that schools now have?  We would have had to done it all with paper packets, and that would have been challenging for teachers and administrators. 

As I think back, I have to believe that I would have spent a lot of time trying to find ways to work out and improve my basketball skills whenever I had free time.  I think I have it a lot better now than I would have had it in 1984.