Amid the stories of stockpiling toilet roll and hand sanitizer, and some dubious members of society cashing in on the panic, it's heartwarming to hear the stories of communities pulling together, and of children making the best of their current situation. Children in Japan are currently in an extended lock down to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, but decided that this was absolutely not going to stop them connecting with each other, and having fun. One group of Japanese elementary school children got together to host their own graduation via Minecraft.
With Coronavirus bringing most of the world to a halt, and all gatherings now being cancelled, the children were upset that they were going to miss out on an occasion as exciting as graduating from elementary school. There were said to be eight children involved in the building of the Minecraft ceremony, and they all live in different regions, but meet up to play online together whenever they can. The ceremony is said to be an important one within Japan.
The children went all out, to design a graduation hall, and even incorporated music, speeches, diplomas being handed out, and created a feeling of joy from those 'watching' the event in the auditorium. One of the boy's fathers then took to social media to share a video of the finished graduation ceremony. He said "They spent all day online together playing games and laughing. I'm glad they all had fun." Lots of people clearly agree, as the video and pictures that he also shared, have had lots of shares and positive engagement.
One of the children's fathers then went on to explain that the ceremonies can often be long and boring, and children don't always relate to the long speeches given by adults. However, he felt that the children really captured the essence of the ceremony, and brought it into line with what children would actually want from a ceremony celebrating them. He said "The ceremony is boring and with long speeches given by adults. However, they extracted the most important parts for themselves during the graduation ceremony. I think it created wonderful memories within both directing and performing." Let's keep the good news coming, during the Coronavirus pandemic.