A TEENAGE patient in Crumlin Children's Hospital has issued a plea for better WiFi to allow students in his position to keep up with their studies.
15-year-old James Casserly appeared on Newstalk yesterday afternoon along with his mother, Vicky a Fine Gael Councillor and former Mayor of South Dublin, where he revealed he was having immense difficulty with online learning.
The internet access in Crumlin, where James spends a significant amount of time each year for treatment for cerebral palsy, juvenile arthritis and osteoporosis, is incapable at providing proper support for online learning due to a weak signal.
This, James says, is detrimental to both his education and the education of the countless other children and teenagers in his position, particularly now when all learning is done online.
James's mother Vicky, speaking on the show, said James had spent more than nine weeks in Crumlin this year, but WiFi in the building is less 'hit-and-miss', rather "it's miss, permanently".
Ms Casserly called for investment in IT support in hospitals across the country to help facilitate online learning for children who need to spend a substantial amount of time as in-patients, and said children were relying on their parents' data and hotspots to keep up with their schoolwork, which is an extra expense for families.
Without "adequate internet structure" in the hospital, kids and teenagers are also missing out on connecting with their peers through social media, something which is more important than ever with in-person visitations banned due to the pandemic, Ms Casserly continued.
She added that parents who are staying with their sick children in hospital were struggling to work remotely due to the bad coverage, an issue which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Myself and James are Looking forward to joining @andreagilligan on @LunchtimeLiveNT to talk all things #Wifi @CHIatCrumlin. Thanks @IanBegley_ for sharing Jimbos call pic.twitter.com/5JGEytiQx9
— Cllr Vicki Casserly (@vickicasserly) February 15, 2021
James himself said the issue of proper internet connectivity was "really important", and children in his position were not getting the same opportunities as children who are able to connect to strong WiFi from home.
He appealed to Education Minister Norma Foley for help, saying education is really important to him and he wanted to avail of the same opportunities as his peers.
Following the segment on Newstalk, Crumlin's children hospital released a statement to the programme acknowledging that while there is free Wi-Fi available in the majority of its inpatient rooms, "rooms have weaker coverage".
They urged any patient or family member struggling with internet connection "to let their Ward Manager know and every effort will be made by the hospital to facilitate their needs."
The spokesperson went on to confirm that Crumlin hospital "is in the process of carrying out an audit of inpatient room Wi-Fi locations which will identify the inpatient rooms where there is weak/poor Wi-Fi signal".
"Once completed, the hospital will put in the necessary measures in place to improve the inpatient Wi-Fi experience."
See More: Crumlin, Online School, Virtual Learning, WiFi
