19.05.2020
#attendancelist – join the EFC Foundation online project!
When did you last check with your friends? Do you spot all your friends during e-learning school sessions? Did someone stop showing up or commenting in one of your social media groups, messages, on one of your mutual pages?
Experiencing isolation, homeschooling and home offices is a challenge for all of us. We all cope with it differently. Time shows that some students fall out of the system. Some of them barely show up online since the beginning of the pandemic. Others pop up online, you can see their green Facebook messenger dot, but for the past two months - nobody’s heard from them. They’re online, but socially, life-wise - they’re practically offline. Sometimes it’s mere shyness, which throws us out of the circle now more than ever. But sometimes things can get a bit more serious. The pandemic crisis shook our emotional and financial sense of security. We feel lonely, scared; depression, aggression make unwelcome appearances in many homes. Isolation makes it harder to notice, that someone might need our interest or support.
Join our #attendancelist project! It requires only three easy steps.
1. Look around. Check - who did you lose contact with? Someone from your classroom or group of friends, maybe your TikTok, Facebook, Instagram followers?
2. Check your own attendance list! If you notice someone missing - just call them, text them, show interest. Be mindful about it! Someone missing may be a sign of a simple need to log out, take a break from one’s regular routine. However, your friends might feel lonely. They might need real, honest support.
3. Share. Take about our project, spread the news - use your social media channels - Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Share our graphic - the symbol of our project - add our #sprawdzobecnosc (#attendancelist) hashtags, our link and nominate another person to our challenge.
Do it now! Check your #attendance list and power through isolation!
If, despite your best efforts, you cannot reach out to your friend or you believe that he/she needs help - act! The situation may be very serious and will require a serious reaction. Notify others - contact their favorite teacher or home teacher, the school therapist, talk to your parents. You can also call professionals (Telefon Zaufania dla Dzieci i Młodzieży: 116 111; they’re available 24/7) or contact the closest Crisis Intervention Center - you can find them here. |
We would not manage to bring this project to life without Karolina Kowalska - a therapist, coach, lecturer, who works with young students in one of the technical schools in Poznań. Another huge thank you to OP Andrzej Drozd - priest, Dominican, leader of Duszpasterstwo Młodzieży Schron in Poznań. Check out their thoughts on isolation and the need to act here!