Covid-19 has changed everything, including children’s futures. Kids living through Covid-19 are facing poverty, isolation, and educational failure. They are “Generation Covid.”
As many parents have lost their jobs due to the lockdown, one in six US children are going to bed hungry. In addition, the US is not prepared for schools opening this fall, and the “endless” social isolation is leading to a mental health crisis among the nation’s youth.
Moreover, remote learning is a catastrophe for some. About 40% of low-income children were doing little or no school work. They are forced to stay at home, cut off from their friends, teachers and educational resources.
友善讓你懂|解說:
Covid-19 似乎改變了一切,包括孩子們的未來。經歷這場疫情的孩子,他們之中許多人正面臨貧窮、社交孤立以及教育失落。他們是極其辛苦的「Covid 世代」。
專家指出,因為疫情讓各大城市封鎖,許多父母因而失去工作,導致目前美國有 6 分之 1 孩童每天餓著肚子睡覺。再加上美國至今疫情仍不穩定,秋天開學遙遙無期,這場看似「無止盡」的社交孤立也導致許多孩子心理健康出現問題。
雖然有遠距教學,但這對某些孩子來說無疑是一場災難。有約 4 成低收入戶孩子缺乏資源,難以透過線上學習做學校功課。雖然他們被迫待在家裡,但也同時切斷與玩伴、老師和教育資源的聯繫。
輕鬆帶著走|學習:
catastrophe 指的是「大災難、大災禍」,形容詞則是 catastrophic(災難性的)。雖然與 disaster 同意思,但 catastrophe 的災難意義更強,通常會用來代表「難以挽回的最終局」,負面語氣極為強烈。
例句:The catastrophe illustrated in the movie really astonished him. 電影中描述的災難場景讓他十分震驚。
本篇其他相關單字,介紹如下: