Containment: how kids talk about it

They don't have a cell phone yet. Too young. In fact, they do not go on social networks to keep a link, even virtual, with friends they have left behind. Containment requires. When they go out briefly, some adults even sometimes consider them as viruses on legs, hypothetical healthy carriers of an epidemic that they have also taken with full force. They, it is the children who, like the others, saw their daily life turned upside down by the fear of an illness in five letters and two figures: Covid-19.

How do they get through this situation they know is new? Promiscuity? Homework at Home? Our witnesses are between 8 and 10 years old, all pupils in primary school. “Big kids” like Baptiste, Liu, Victoria… who each experience this family isolation at home in their own way.

We are amazed by the amount of scientific knowledge they have accumulated since confinement. We are also touched by certain anxieties that they reveal, often moved by their sense of priorities and amazed by their lucidity. Meeting with five children who describe their days to us during a pandemic.

Baptiste, 10, and Guillaume, his 8-year-old brother in Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne): "I'm trying to bury my fear"

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Two rooms, two atmospheres ... They may be brothers, Baptiste and Guillaume do not experience confinement in the same way. Baptiste, 10 years old (11 next week), pupil in CM2, describes a little paradise in his house in Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne). The large garden where his father built a cabin in one of the trees, family life, work at his own pace ...

Baptiste, a very good student, even sees an advantage in this new school organization: “I am not slowed down by the questions of others, especially in mathematics. And if I have friends from my class that I really want to see again, others not at all! It's his math thing. He would also like to make it his job.

For Guillaume, just 8 years old in CE1, it's still a bit vague even if the scientific field seems privileged. He thus describes a sort of “inventive chemist” to “mix lots of products” and would see himself creating “mini-propellants for shoes”.

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He misses him to not ride a scooter in front of the school with two other friends "who don't have a garden," he says. "One of them continues to do it when there is no one left on the street, the other is a lot on his console," adds the 8-year-old boy. Me, I can't do too much because dad is still on the PS4. Mom can yell from across the house, "that's not true!" To defend her husband, we believe you Guillaume.

The two brothers understood well why they could not leave their home. "Containment is to protect yourself and others," they explain. But Baptiste, the eldest, goes further and also speaks unabashedly of this "fear" which embraces him when he hears the count of deaths linked to the epidemic. "I'm trying to bury it deep inside me ..."

Violette, 8 and a half, Paris (4th district): "I may have to wear masks ..."

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“I am still looking forward to going back to school. It's going to be weird to see lots of people on the street. I may have to wear masks and gloves… ”Violet, 8 and a half years old, thinks out loud and is mentally preparing for what life could be like after confinement. Because for this student in CE2 in Paris, staying at home until now is not really a problem. " No, it does not disturb me. I like to stay at home. I even prefer sometimes. So I live it pretty well. "

Between her school work, the podcasts on Greek mythology that she adores and the writing of her novel, that's fine. Yes, Violette wants to become a writer. "I am writing a book about a boy who finds a staircase leading to the clouds, to an unknown kingdom". Nice allegory of post confinement…

Of course, to no longer see his friends, his cousins, his master, no longer play in the parks ... he misses it all. Calls via WhatsApp do not replace them. "We also do Skype with my grandparents, with that they even help me with homework," adds Violette. From her apartment, on the ground floor, she sees the acquaintances of the neighborhood, including a friend of her class with whom she spoke at a distance from her window.

"We watch the news from time to time, not every day," she insists. I know that people should not meet because they can do without the coronavirus, it is especially children who can be carriers ”. We intervene to tell him that nothing is less certain in light of the latest studies. That children are not plague victims. And then the anecdote of her mother, Pauline, enlightens us. She evokes in particular these "black looks" sent by "good souls" during brief outings with her two children, including Violette. We understand then.

Victoria, 10 years old, Champigny-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne): "Even if I catch it, it should not be too serious given my age"

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"It's true that I would like to go out, see everyone again, but I find something to do during the confinement." »Victoria, 10 years old, pupil in CM1 in Champigny (Val-de-Marne), do good luck against bad luck. “In the morning, I advance my homework as much as possible. I'm more concentrated at school than at home, but it's going well anyway. The afternoon is dedicated to gardening, reading, I also cook and I started embroidery. This period is an opportunity to spend a lot of time with family. We also benefit. "

His family, confinement version, is dad, mom and his 8 year old little brother who has just "celebrated" his birthday. But it is also her maternal grandparents who live in the house next door. The grounds of the two pavilions thus allow cuckoos and distant discussions with them. Smart. For the others, calls in FaceTime help to support the absence.

On the modes of transmission of the new coronavirus and health recommendations, Victoria, who also wants to do medicine later, knows her business. A real Director General of Health! To hear him make such a technical speech is even quite impressive. Does the epidemic scare him? "Even if I catch it, it should not be too serious given my age, tempers the student. Children are less affected by severe forms, but I also care for others, of course. We have to be careful. "

The current situation has not cooled his desire to join, later, the caregivers currently on the front line? " No no. An epidemic like that, we meet one almost every 100 years so… ”Ok, Professor Victoria.

Liu, 8, Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne): "I preferred life before"

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Later, Liu would see himself "keeping a zoo" or becoming a pastry chef. While waiting to take stock of her dreams for the future, this 8-year-old student, in CE1 in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), does "calculations and French every morning" from her home. "It's because my master sends me work to do in advance," she explains. Homework ? "I can't do it too much, concedes Liu, but confinement is fine anyway because I have a garden. I cycle there, I play it with my two sisters and my brother who are 9, 6 and soon 2 years old. We also have a trampoline… ”

From her friends, she just has at her disposal a phone number of a friend whom she has already called to exchange. He misses school a little. "I preferred life before," she admits. What does Liu analyze, with his child's eyes, of this new situation that we are going through? "I understand that there is a virus and that there is something that can kill us all. "Faced with this sentence, we allow ourselves to leave the framework of the interview for two seconds to soften and moderate this sentence, with the help of more reassuring scientific data ... It cuts short and it is she who wants to reassure us:" Oh , but I wash my hands well! "

She also understands that the moment we live in is "historic", if only because, to reach her family who is in Paris, just a few kilometers away, she must "zoom in" (Editor's note: platform videoconference) . She also knows that progressive deconfinement is announced for May 11. “Yes, it was Emmanuel (Editor's note: Macron) who said it. "

PODCAST. Life, the virus, the city: the daily life of Tarik Laghdiri, 35, confined to Aulnay-sous-Bois