Our kids will remember this year forever. Photo / PhotoLife
Our kids will remember this year forever. Photo / PhotoLife
2020 has been a tough year for everyone - and one we're not likely to forget in a hurry.
But Kiwi families wanting to have a permanent reminder of 2020's upheavals now have the option of immortalising our various lockdowns with their children's school photos.
PhotoLife, a photo studio based in Auckland, is offering a Covid-19 themed frame for its photo this year which proudly announces "I got through Lockdown 2020".
The design, in the same yellow and white colour scheme as the official Covid messaging, also features some of the Govt's key message around the pandemic, reading: "This is a Covid-19 announcement. Wash your hands"
It also features two of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's catchphrases: "Stay safe, be kind" and "a team of five million".
PhotoLife director Greg Chadderton told the Herald that the company had been offering the service since we came out of our first lockdown earlier this year.
Chadderton said the photos were a big seller.
"We wanted to have a memento that parents could purchase, because this has been a unique year," he said.
Chadderton said the lockdowns had proved a struggle for PhotoLife, which relies on business from schools.
"As long as the schools are open we can survive but when they're closed it's very difficult".
The photos have been a big seller. Photo / PhotoLife
Earlier this year, some schools reported that children returning after our first lockdown showed signs of mild trauma.
Otago Primary Principals' Association president Shelley Wilde told the Otago Daily Times in June that some children had clearly been affected by their experience.
She said the vast majority of children were pleased and happy to be back at school, and had responded well to the new "safe normal" hygiene and physical-distancing practices.
However, some pupils were anxious about things such as making sure their hands were clean all the time, and some were taking advantage of the Chatbus (a counselling service for children) who might not have before.
"Some of that might be related to relationship difficulties that occurred during lockdown," she said.
"It's not obvious. I think it's still too early to tell. At the moment, they're happy to be back together and realise they love school.
Wilde said teachers would monitor children for signs of "medium-term trauma".
Similar behaviour was being seen among teenagers, Secondary Principals' Association president Linda Miller said.
"The majority of students have come back into school and are catching up, but certainly we're seeing increased numbers of students accessing counselling and things like that.
"So for some students, it's been a pretty rugged time in lockdown."
