We urgently need to get students back to school
Enough already, let’s get our students and teachers back to school. That is what I implored for the past six months to Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut’s Department of Education and Public Health.
Finally, as of this week some area districts are cautiously returning to the classroom.
While it seems that we are reaching the light at the end of a marathon-length tunnel, the work is far from over. Every day I hear from families and students across the state about how their lives, academically, emotionally and across the board, have become intolerably challenging by removing the one part of their day-today lives that should serve as a constant during their children’s most formative years. We have learned that school is not just about reading, writing and arithmetic, it is also about social interactions and emotional connections.
There is no question that all parties involved have a shared priority of public health and safety first, however as we work through the second consecutive school year turned on its head by this pandemic, it’s high time for the government to give the state’s education system due attention and leadership.
I find it maddening that Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood can provide an entire series of references to families on determining whether their 4- or 5-yearold is ready for kindergarten, yet there still is no resource available to schools on how to determine whether or not they can begin to hold in person classes full-time.
The lack of state guidance is pitting teachers against parents and the tension grows each day, while educational and social emotional learning has suffered.
We would all agree that our state’s front-line medical workers and nursing/assisted living workers and residents needed to be the first to be vaccinated. Then, our oldest and medically vulnerable/ at-risk residents deserve to be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine along with anyone who resides with a high risk comorbidity, regardless of age. I advocated for our teachers and school staff to be vaccinated next, to help get our students back to school.
Great news, Governor Lamont announced Feb. 22, 2021 that educators and child care professionals would be eligible to start
We have learned that school is not just about reading, writing and arithmetic, it is also about social interactions and emotional connections.
scheduling their vaccine appointments on March 1. While this is encouraging news, I want to be clear that this is not enough.
Our state must invest in weekly COVID-19 testing at our schools for everyone to ensure contact tracing efficiency to prevent infection spread.
There must be a clear set of scientific-based recommendations from the state on how school systems should proceed with their reopening plans. Students, parents and staff alike deserve a point of reference to return to so they can manage their expectations in these trying times.
Our state must enable an immediate path back to the classroom. Teachers and school staff need to be vaccinated now so they can return confidently to work and we can start offering full-time in-person classes and restore critical social emotional learning systems for our children in every community (urban, rural and suburban) in Connecticut.
Our children’s educational future depends on the actions the state can, and must, take today.
If only this were “just a joke,” but sexual violence isn’t funny. There are new sexual harassment allegations against public officials in the news. Media accounts tell us that the allegations are serious, but mostly for the potential repercussions for the harassers. Yes, these accused perpetrators will be scrutinized, judged, and possibly punished if they are found to have committed the actions and possible crimes of which they are accused. Any punishment will likely only occur in the Court of Public Opinion however, as criminal harassment cases are rarely prosecuted. Yes, it is a big story when someone with a high profile is accused of sexual harassment — will they be forced to resign, will they be fired, will other accusers come forward?
The story that is ignored, that few headlines will proclaim, are the repercussions for the victims of sexual harassment. More often than not, victims tolerate or defend against the harassment until the perpetrator moves on to another target, or the victims find a way to steer clear of the threat — usually by changing friends, jobs or even careers. A victim’s career trajectory is almost always negatively impacted, especially for younger women and women of color. Their mental health is harmed even by verbal sexual harassment (again, that joke isn’t funny), and one-in-10 women victims experience severe, PTSD-level symptoms. What’s worse, many times the harasser is successful in perpetrating sexual assault — unwanted touching, physical confinement, or coerced sex acts. The victim is then dealing with an entirely new trauma, especially compounded when sexual violence happens at their place of employment.
And while we’re thinking about ignored stories, here are a few facts worth remembering:
81 percent of women and 43 percent of men report experiencing some form of sexual harassment or assault in their lifetime.
77 percent of women and 34 percent of men report experiencing verbal sexual harassment. It’s never appropriate.
51 percent of women report unwelcome sexual touching/groping. Half of all women.
57 percent of women sexually harassed reported it first happened by age 17. Don’t we want better for our children?
In my experience as the executive director of a sexual assault crisis center, always working to support survivors of sexual violence, I sometimes need reminding that not everyone thinks about these issues every day. So I’d like to ask you, reader, to give some thought to the victims of this week’s new crop of “bad guys.” Remember that the people who come forward with their traumatic and personal experience have gone through pain, confusion, shame, and sometimes the complete upheaval of their personal and professional lives, just for being in the proximity of the harasser. Give some thought, too, to the young people in our community, many of them high schoolers, who come to The Rowan Center seeking support for sexual harassment and verbal abuse they suffer at the hands of their peers. These teens experience anxiety, depression, and shame. As one teen reported, “It just really made me feel uncomfortable. Even before, I was insecure about my body, but now I feel really insecure. I should be able to walk the hallways of my own school without the fear of being catcalled.” And the parents who often bring them in- the powerlessness and sadness they feel for their children is heart wrenching; the parents are secondary victims.
We can all help to end sexual harassment and assault: we can all believe survivors, and we can all support survivors. But first, we need to recognize that survivors of sexual harassment are all around us, in many cases, they are us. Let’s keep victims centered in our conversations about sexual violence. Let’s show perpetrators we have no space for them in our schools, our offices, our organizations, and our governments. It’s never a laughing matter.
Mary Forman Flynn is executive director of The Rowan Center, a nonprofit agency providing counseling and support to victims of sexual violence and working throughout Lower Fairfield County to eliminate sexual violence with community-wide education programs. Crisis services are always free and confidential. Sexual violence prevention education for schools, community centers, small businesses and corporations is available. www.therowancenter.org; 203-348-9346.