Niagara Falls student launches online petition urging Ontario premier to reduce class sizes

While Peter Szick is looking forward to returning to school, the Grade 6 student is also more than a little anxious.

The 11-year-old Niagara Falls boy has Type 1 diabetes. If he was to contract COVID-19, he fears he may not be able to recover as quickly as his classmates.

I am very concerned about my health," he said. If anyone gets it, they could get really sick, but I would get it worse because my immune system doesn't work that well."

Peter and his younger brother Aaron are scheduled to return to Father Hennepin Catholic Elementary School in mid-September.

Peter recently launched an online petition on Change.org calling for smaller class sizes.

His petition urges Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce to ensure there is at least one metre of distance between students and a maximum of 15 students per class.

We deserve to be in class learning with our teachers and socializing with our friends," the petition said.

It is our right to be in our classrooms and it is not wrong to ask our government leaders to protect us. We are just kids who want to be kids again and need our adults in powerful government positions to protect us so we can have a future."

To date, more than 1,700 people have signed his petition.

His mother, Dana, helped Peter create the petition as a way to give a voice for children experiencing anxiety as the new school year approaches.

He was really having a hard time ... he was really nervous about going back and, after speaking with his doctor, I thought we need to give him something in order to have some control over a situation where he has no control," she said.

This has given him so much more confidence," she added. And, at the same time, it's like nobody is asking kids what they want or how they feel. Now, he's giving voice to those kids."

Peter enjoys school and is looking forward to being with his friends, but wants to make sure that everyone is protected.

We should have the right to go back to school, but we should also be safe and the government's not doing that," he said.

The petition has been shared on social media by several local politicians including Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates and Jennie Stevens, MPP for St. Catharines.

Stevens is pushing the province to cap class sizes at 15 students at both the elementary and secondary school levels. She said more provincial funding is needed to help ensure the safety of staff, students and the families of those students.

The Szick family also sent the link to Montreal Canadiens forward Max Domi. The NHLer has the same form of diabetes as Peter and uses the same continuous glucose monitor.

According to Niagara Region Public Health, there have been 62 reported cases of people under 20 getting the virus out of 935 total cases reported since March 13.

Alison Langley is a St. Catharines-based reporter for the Niagara Falls Review. Reach her via email: alison.langley@niagaradailies.com