VANCOUVER -- In a 30-second commercial, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry stands at the front of a classroom, speaking to a handful of students sitting at physically distanced desks – images that B.C. teachers say are misleading.
“They only have six kids in the video, and they had a sink in there when there is not always a sink in the classrooms in B.C.,” said Burnaby teacher Jennifer Heighton. “The desks too, they were placed farther apart than what is going to be in my classroom in September. Presenting that as safety measures that were going to be in place, I felt was false advertising.”
B.C. Teachers Federation president Teri Mooring said while she understands the province wants to inspire confidence among parents, it's important to "depict what's going to happen in B.C. school accurately."
“Government undermined their own messaging because when families or teachers take a look at those ads, they were going to know it’s not realistic," Mooring said Monday.
Ironically, teachers say the ad proves one of their key points. In a statement, the government said the number of students in the room was limited during the commercial shoot and the desks were spaced out for heath and safety reasons. That’s something teachers have been calling for in B.C.'s back-to-school plan
“If those measures needed to be in place for that (commercial shoot), then those same measures need to be in place for the classroom as well,” said Heighton. “They were cognizant of those safety measures for one day of shooting for an advertisement. For students it would be five days a week and six hours a day.”
In Monday’s 3 p.m. news conference, health authorities did not address the initial statement about the ad. Dr. Bonnie Henry defended the campaign, arguing that "we need to realize that was not a commercial about what a classroom is going to look like.”
“It’s a public health message,” echoed health minister Adrian Dix. “ I think the provincial health officer delivered that message very well in conversation with children. But what it is not is a representation, it’s not central casting.”
Teachers say they wish the physically distanced classroom depicted in the commercial was what they were heading back to in September. “That is exactly what we’re asking for, and there is funding to do it. There is $242 million from the federal government that has now been freed up,” said Mooring.
So far, that money has not been allocated to districts. And the small class size and distanced desks in the commercial aren’t expected to be a reality when students head back to school next week.
