As summer approaches fast, we must put children’s wellness first

If we simply assume that kids will be able to “snap back” when things return to normal, we are fooling ourselves.

I know firsthand how challenging this past year has been for parents and kids. The pandemic has forced my two boys to learn from home. It’s kept them from the friends and the activities they love. And it’s earned me and my wife new titles: part-time teachers.

Still, in so many ways, my children are lucky. They have two parents who have the flexibility and resources to fully support their studies and social and emotional development. Not every child has that.

The learning loss this pandemic has triggered is well-documented. One study found that over the past year the average American student has fallen half a year behind in reading and over a year behind in math. This crisis calls for bold action, which is why President Biden’s American Rescue Plan would send schools an additional $130 billion to help educators make up for lost time.

But I fear another crisis is falling just under the radar: the trauma that COVID-19 has wrought on our kids’ mental health –– and the emotional and social development that has been stunted by children not being able to see friends or attend their usual extracurriculars. This demands our equal attention.

As summer fast approaches, we need to put our children’s wellness first. Yes, some kids will benefit from summer school, but many just need an opportunity to reset and reconnect through summer enrichment programs, like camps and recreation programs, that offer opportunities for social and emotional learning, recreation and exercise, arts and culture, and teamwork and leadership.

And it’s critical that we open up these opportunities to all –– especially low-income families who often can’t afford summer programs that can cost thousands. In a typical year, middleclass students are five times as likely as those living in poverty to attend summer camps and twice as likely to visit a museum or attend a performance. With millions of Americans out of work, this inequity will only grow.

Plus, summer programs are often staffed by teenagers and young adults who are also desperately in need of structure this summer. Over and over, I hear from educators and parents in our lowest-income areas about how difficult it is for high school and college students to find work or positive experiences during the summer. Expanding summer programs can help solve this problem, too.

That’s why I’m pushing for funding for summer programs in the next COVID relief bill. This would allow school districts, community-based organizations and municipalities to more than double the number of free or affordable slots provided through federal funding to students in need. It would give thousands of kids across Connecticut and more than four million kids across the country a chance to do something fun in a year when those opportunities have been few and far between.

These kinds of programs have proven results. In Connecticut, for example, the Bell Power Scholars Academy, a YMCA summer camp in Hartford, offers math and literacy courses and activities such as drama, music and physical education. The best part: teachers said the program boosted the self-confidence of 92 percent of their participating students.

We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. More and more people in our state are getting vaccinated. Economic relief is on the way for struggling small businesses, workers and families. And we’re not far off from getting students back in the classroom for good.

But if we simply assume that kids will be able to “snap back” when things return to normal, we are fooling ourselves. We need to prioritize our children’s emotional well-being –– and we can do so by funding summer experiences that give kids from low-income backgrounds the chance to just be kids again.