Students in Windsor protest the pause on school sports on October 7, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Kelly French)Students in Windsor protest the pause on school sports on October 7, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Kelly French)
Windsor

Students take to the street to voice displeasure over pause on school sports

About 100 high school students in Windsor are putting school boards and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit on notice that they are fed up with the pause on their favourite school sports.

They walked from W.F. Herman Academy to W.C. Kennedy Collegiate Institute Thursday morning in a show of solidarity with those who miss the socialization, exercise, and distraction of extracurricular activities.

Before the school year started, the health unit recommended the Greater Essex County District School Board and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board hold off on school sports, clubs, and in-person assemblies until at least October 1 in a bid to control the spread of COVID-19.

The recommended deadline passed last Friday, but Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai has repeatedly pointed out this week more than 200 cohorts of students have been dismissed since the beginning of the school year. That is four times as many as this time last year.

On Tuesday night, trustees at the public school board passed a motion calling for the resumption of extracurricular activities as soon as the health unit deemed it appropriate.

But for Kelly French, a parent who accompanied the students, none of it makes sense.

"Why can I have my son play football with an organization that you have to pay, but you can't have it at school?" she asked.

French has two children eager to resume their sports, football and basketball, and she believes the wait has taken a severe toll on their mental health.

"These kids are begging for their lives back," she said. "I have a son who has broken down more than once over the past few years because the rug was just pulled from under these kids."

She fears kids who don't have that outlet to pour out their frustrations and anxieties will turn to drugs.

French claims her son has lost three friends in recent months to drug overdoses.

Holding back tears, she fears more kids will be lost.

"I think I've seen more kids lost in these last couple years due to drug overdoses, fighting -- They don't have any positives to go to right now," she explained. "It's scary."

Nesathurai said earlier in the week that public health officials are in constant contact with school board officials and the dialogue is ongoing.

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