We are failing our children by keeping them out of classroom
There are many critical things being counted this year. Mail-in ballots and more than a quarter of a million COVID-19 deaths come to mind immediately. Yet the true toll of this year on America’s children is far greater than any number anyone is tracking.
COVID-19 has disrupted lives and caused greater loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress to school-age children. The proportion of hospitalizations due to mental health crises among American school-age children has risen sharply during this pandemic.
Researchers are trying to project the long-term learning loss impacts of extended shutdowns. The predictions are grim. We have simply asked children to shoulder too much of the burden.
Mounting evidence demonstrates what public health officials have been saying: If strict safety measures are in place, schools can be safe. Encouragingly, a study by Yale researchers demonstrated early childhood programs have not been a vector for the virus. Outbreaks appear to be tied to behaviors outside of school such as carpools, social gatherings and sporting events where masks and social distancing weren’t enforced. Indoor dining at restaurants poses a greater health risk for COVID-19.
Nothing about operating schools during a pandemic is simple. School administrators need help assessing health risks. They need guidance to implement health safety measures. Teachers are justifiably scared. Schools need funds to be able to implement mitigation strategies such as staggered scheduling, outdoor learning, classroom modifications and additional technology.
Preschools and elementary schools should open before middle schools or high schools because they pose less risk — their class sizes are smaller and their kids move around less during the day. Schools need access to medical consultation and flexible financial support.
In many parts of the world, kids are in school. They are in school because their leaders have made it a national priority to keep kids safe and learning — to do this, they have sent consistent messages and sacrificed other conveniences. They have required masks and closed restaurants. They have provided financial support to all workers and business owners. They have instituted health safety measures to protect teachers and students. Adults all over the world are sacrificing so children can (sort of) be children.
Yet in America, the opposite is true.
Millions of children are still out of school. Millions have access to limited school but nothing close to what they need to thrive. Millions more might soon be out of school if current trends continue.
The inequities across the country are staggering. While we don’t have a number to track just how much of a toll this year is having on children, we do know that it is much worse for children with disabilities, children living in poverty and children without access to technology. Children of color who are growing up in communities disproportionately hit by this virus are facing unimaginable — and compounding — stress. When very young children experience toxic stress, it can compromise the architecture of their developing brain and have lasting consequences on their learning, not to mention physical and mental health. There can be no doubt that our inaction today will exacerbate inequality for decades to come.
We need to keep kids — safely — in school and in child care.
As community transmissions increase, and the country braces for the aftermath of Thanksgiving and upcoming winter holidays, schools will have to readjust plans. Going fully virtual should be a last resort and it should be temporary. Schools should be given resources so they can adapt and go live again as soon as possible.
We should be encouraged by how well it has gone in places that have tried responsibly. We should applaud cities that are trying. As a country, however, we simply haven’t tried hard enough or for enough children. It is time we made it a national priority for all children. Let’s start planning how we are going to double down on learning recovery.