I've been trying to imagine how it would have been if we had been hit with a pandemic when I was a schoolboy back in the 1970s and 80s.
Of course, we didn't have the technology we have today - no cellular telephones, no computers or iPads. I imagine we would have been allowed to gather our textbooks and notebooks to take them home and get busy.
I do remember being very sick back in grade 9 or 10. I had missed a full week with pneumonia. One of my teachers called the house to check on me and said she'd be sending me some homework so I could keep up. One of my friends showed up with a stack of text and notebooks. I was overwhelmed by the simple sight of it all.
I would bounce back and get back to class and about a week later I failed a chemistry test - miserably. That friend of mine who brought my homework over to the house got 100% on his test. No kidding.
I said, "I don't know how you do that. How can you know the answers to ALL of those questions?", I asked.
He said, "I read the book."
I said, "What book?"
He said "The TEXTBOOK. That's why they give them to you."
Who knew?