So we are on month 3 of COVID19 here in Asia. We have had some time to figure out how to keep ourselves from going stir crazy. Playing some boardgames with the kids is a better alternative to youtube or xbox all day long.

I know that being stuck in side can be challenging. Going outside with your kids may not be a possibility if you live in a high density population area. So what do you do with your kids when they are stuck at home, getting stressed out or spending too much time online? Answer: Spend time with them.

Scholastic, the company that is known for educational fun books for kids, said that there many benefits for playing games as a family. If you bring out board games, the kid turn off the screen. You can have special time with your kids and allowing you to teach them about teamwork, patience, and how to win and lose gracefully. Board games can help benefit kids’ brains and language development. 

• Board games offer math skills like probability… but don’t tell them that.
• They boost their language skills as they read cards and ask what words mean.
• They sharpen your child’s focus by getting them interested in reading rules, looking at the play board and figuring out how to win.
• They teach the value of teamwork. All for yourself doesn’t work very often in games. Kids learn that if they play dirty, other people adjust their strategy, and usually form alliances to counter a cutthroat player.
• Strategy games are useful developing thinking skills. Working through problems, adjusting strategy to account for twists and turns is helpful.
• Take your mind off things and easy anxiety. Looking at the news full time isn’t healthy. Especially kids don’t need to be exposed to all of the serious problems outside. Let them focus at home with you.
• Show kids how to be a good loser (and winner). Winning is great. Playing in a way that everyone has fun is better. Kids will learn that is okay to fail in a game, because they can always play again and do better next time.
• Unplug. Unplug. Unplug. To much screen time isn’t good for anyone. Let the eyes have a rest and let your and your kids brain unwind.
• Set an example. Put down the phone and have a conversation with your kids. They will talk with you so much more when playing a game.

Here are a few games that we played during our first 3 months of being at home.

The only part of this story that is really new is the availability of social media to spread news about any outbreak of such flu-like diseases. But one should not underestimate a general background awareness of overstretched public healthcare systems around the world, due partly to an ageing population but mainly due to the neoliberal policy horizon. Actions like the initial Chinese response to suppress the ‘whistleblower’ Li Wenliang have happened at the start of previous outbreaks – but now whistleblowers can communicate directly with the world. It is easy to forget that various new strains of flu are routinely reported in the media each year, with greater or lesser morbidity than earlier ones. Governments around the world normally monitor the situation in their own way, which means that the real figures have probably always been much higher than officially stated – both who catches the flu and who dies from it. Much depends on the motivation of the national health authorities to test specifically for the flu’s presence. After all, flu typically operates as a ‘nudge’ to worsen existing health conditions, and those conditions may be the primary medical focus.

We clearly don’t know everything we need to know about COVID-19. But the same applied to all the previous flu epidemics, which humanity has so far managed to survive. What is different now is the level of scrutiny and accountability of the response, mostly due to the recent information technology revolution, especially social media. This very basic socio-technical point has made it easier for the World Health Organization to designate COVID-19 a pandemic. The WHO’s insistence on mass testing (even if it doesn’t catch those who have recovered) also fits the same logic. What is striking so far about the global response are the efforts that societies have taken to reorganize themselves in order to protect those who are perceived as most vulnerable. It is quite unprecedented, especially in a world that is so otherwise imbued with capitalist values.

In the end, COVID-19 is the first virus to go properly ‘viral’, starting with Li Wenliang. That start has anchored the subsequent response. In particular, it has triggered a chain reaction that has exposed the different cultures of risk management around the world, as well as the varying conditions of national health care systems. Think of it as Nature’s brute audit on humanity’s sustainability. Indeed, that may be the virus’ main direct legacy – which means that public health care is bound to improve all round in the long run. However, if the lockdown continues long enough, the virus may end up questioning the modus operandi of contemporary capitalism in a way that long-standing complaints about inequality have failed to do. I expect that the vast majority of the population will manage to cope reasonably well during our period of ‘species captivity’, while consuming significantly less of the planet’s resources – that is, assuming that the increasing energy demands of online activities don’t first cause a short-circuit!

Be calm, carry on and stay well – and see you on the other side!

This message was sent to my various students at the University of Warwick, the day after the UK stepped up its fight against COVID-19 to near ‘lockdown’ level. One course I’ve been teaching for the past couple of years at the undergraduate and Master’s level has been ‘The Sociology of End Times’. I’ll need to add a section on ‘pandemics’ next year…