Three things we've learned from the COVID-19 lockdown

There is much information floating around the internet and the world about the novel coronavirus, but there are least three really important lessons we should all take away from this experience.

Number One: Take care of yourself better. Exercise, eat a better diet and pay attention to your health. Many of the "comorbidities" that people under 70 have are self-inflicted. Of course, some are not, and you do the best you can to keep yourself healthy.

Many of us don't pay as much attention to our health as we should and rely on some pill to "fix" what we've messed up. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in an ICU with COVID-19 a few months back, realizes he needs to pay better attention to his health after what he went through. We often hear about the "quarantine 15" referring to the extra weight people put on by staying home, but some took the opportunity to work out their frustrations and exercise more. Many saw the fact that healthier people faired better in battling the illness than others.

The other glaring fact that stared us straight in the face when the virus hit and the medical community was scrambling was the fact that we don't produce enough medicine or medical supplies here. Number Two: We are too dependent on China for critical supplies of just about everything including, but not limited to, pharmaceuticals. It's clear that the Chinese communist government is not our friend, and being so dependent on them for so many critical supplies is a dangerous spot to be in. Maybe we can change that. If only President Donald Trump had brought that up before. Oh maybe he did, but he's orange and has weird hair and is stupid, so let's not pay attention to that.

The other critical lesson in the shutdown is ongoing, not in classrooms, but in homes. Number Three. We need to find a better, more streamlined and efficient way to educate our kids. It certainly can be done using technology, but not the way it's being done by government-run, union-controlled public schools. Change has been needed to update this 19th century model of educating kids for some time now. Maybe this has shone some light on where the importance needs to be placed, our kids, not teachers unions.

There are some great teachers out there. We just need to find better ways to utilize them and change our antiquated, bloated system. It seems school has become less about the ABCs and more about the AFCs, Agendas, Feelings and Causes. Now working moms and dads are being held hostage by an inefficient system that can't pivot when we need it to. So maybe we'll pay more attention to these things and be better prepared the next time a big US presidential election comes around or a worldwide pandemic, whichever is more frightening or threatening to us.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis' own.