Learning in class is vital to children’s education
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into 2021, experts in the fields of education and pediatric medicine agree that measures can and should be taken to safely send children back to in-person school.
The overall benefit to children’s learning and mental health outweighs the finite risk of increasing community spread.
Our collective experience over the last year has shown us that opening schools generally does not significantly increase community transmission, particularly when guidance outlined by the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is followed.
In a recent news release, Dr. Lee Beers, American Academy of Pediatrics president stated, “children absolutely need to return to in-school learning for their healthy development and well-being, and so safety in schools and in the community must be a priority. We know that some children are really suffering without the support of in-person classroom experiences or adequate technology at home. We need governments at the state and federal levels to prioritize funding the needed safety accommodations, such as improving ventilation systems and providing personal protective equipment for teachers and staff.”
No one wants to minimize the risks that may be associated with sending kids back to school. The goal is to acknowledge those risks and take appropriate measures to minimize them, for the sake of children’s overall health and wellness. Creative solutions need to be pursued and funded.
Federal, state, and local funding should be provided for schools so they can provide all the safety measures required for students and staff. The CDC estimates costs for mitigation strategies are between $55 and $442 per student, depending on type of strategy implemented.
School COVID-19 policies should be practical, feasible and appropriate for child and adolescent’s developmental stage, and also address teacher/staff safety. School policies should be adjusted to align with new information about the pandemic. School districts must be in close communication with state public health authorities and medical experts. It is critically important to revise strategies depending on the level of viral transmission and test positivity rate throughout the community and in the schools.
Many parents echo these same sentiments.
Albuquerque resident Rachel Rivera, who is a parent to two teenagers, sent me a copy of a letter she wrote to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, in an effort to highlight what many see as a current crisis in children’s health and wellness.
In the letter she said, “I am writing to you as a nurse and a mother to ask you to please consider allowing our children to return to in-person school, with safe social distancing guidelines. Further, I would advocate for allowing our children to compete in non-contact sports (ex. tennis, track, swimming) within our state, still applying social distancing guidelines.”
Rivera also highlighted the concern that “there has been an increase in children’s mental health issues, weight gain and problems with school performance, as well an increase in child maltreatment in the home.”
As a nurse, Rivera noted more children attempting suicide and at younger and younger ages.
“Many mothers I speak with comment on how their kids are struggling with online school and social isolation. I see it in my own children,” she said in her letter. “The lack of physical activity in particular has taken away a tremendously valuable social and mental health outlet. Despite my best efforts, it is hard to find adequate substitutes for in-person school and organized sports.”
It is encouraging to hear that President Joe Biden also supports taking measures to help schools safely reopen.
On his first full day in office, January 21, 2021, he announced a goal of getting a majority of K-8 schools safely open in the first 100 days of his administration.
Hopefully, New Mexico will also be able to meet this goal.