A Zoom call from my home office connected me across the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland where I was privileged to speak to the brilliant and thoughtful Jane Mulcahy. We shared a raw and honest reflection on how COVID has impacted our well being and relationships. I hope you take the time to watch our discussion. Thank you dear Jane, you are a gifted inteviewer.
Here is Jane’s explanation of our discussion. I want to thank my dearest Cissy White for making the connection for this conversation to happen:
In this unedited* episode of “Relationships Matter”, I interview Robin Cogan (@RobinCogan), a school nurse in New Jersey. We discuss her blog, available at https://relentlessschoolnurse.com/, her worries about the return to school amid the coronavirus pandemic and the rise of the Delta variant and the failure of many States in America to adhere to public health guidance, e.g. on masking in classrooms. We talk about the merits of vaccinating children against the virus, the impact of gun violence on children and school staff and the general importance of safety for learning and relational health. We consider the loss of school as a place of refuge from society’s most vulnerable children and the intersection of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Community Environments (what Ellis and Dietz term the “Pair of ACEs), the importance of trauma training for frontline services, and the fact that we all have a role to play in promoting child wellbeing and flourishing. We examine the structural racism, the debacle around teaching “Critical Race Theory” and discuss how the trauma of racism can manifest in health symptoms. In terms of public policy concerns, Robin wishes to see urgent action on gun violence. * Robin and I decided to leave the many and various interruptions uncut to demonstrate the magnetic allure of the school nurse (even to children like Luke who have never previously met one!) and the realities of being a working mom.
