Sunday, December 13th, 2020
This last week a group of Orange County mothers held a protest demanding that schools reopen for full time in person classes. One of the signs at the protest listed schools as “essential” along with hospitals, police, fire and grocery stores. The same group “Parents Against School Closure” created a social media page on December 2nd and by Wednesday December 9th the group had 423 members. The parents claim that virtual education is not working for their children and that some children are suffering from anxiety and depression. Even if they have access to a working computer and reliable internet, some kids just cannot sit in front of screen for hours.
Many people feel that virtual classrooms do not provide comparable educational opportunities as in person class. Young children and students with special needs may especially struggle with prolonged screen time and virtual classrooms. The parents argue that COVID is one risk, but the closure of schools is creating other risks including long-term mental health risks.
The pandemic has affected all areas of life, but the closure of schools is creating some of the more devastating outcomes. Schools are arguably the most important institution in a community: our children and our future as a society are inexorably linked to what happens in school. What does it mean for our children that they are spending a year away from the classroom? The answer, as with most things, depends on the individual.
For some kids it means they are at home with a parent who has quickly adapted to being a part-time teacher as they motivate and assist their child through virtual education. These kids are most likely not getting the same quality of education as they would in person, but at least they have support. Sadly, for other students it means they are at home alone or with a caregiver who is unable to help them navigate the technical challenges of “showing up” for class and accessing work assignments. In the worst case, students have simply “dropped out” for the year and school districts are unable to locate them. In one study of the 78 largest school districts in the country, 240,000 students are “missing” this year (60 Minutes, cbsnews.com).
Not only do schools afford an opportunity for education and a foundation of skills and knowledge necessary for success in life, schools provide countless other services, especially for the most vulnerable of our youth. As a place that children are required by law to show up at five days a week, schools are a good venue to deliver services to kids, and in this country, we place a tremendous amount of responsibility on our educational institutions. Schools are a place to access and eat healthy food through free meal programs. Schools offer opportunities for children to be physically active, learn about healthy living, and attain health services. Students with unstable homes and or mental health needs access much-needed social support at school. Identification of children experiencing abuse at home often happens at school and initiates the process of helping these children. Schools are a safe, warm place to go, and for many children school closure means they spend their days in unsafe environments.
During the pandemic, there has been much discussion about essential workers. “Essential workers” are the people that are necessary for our way of life to go on. Essential means our most basic needs are met, our systems for food and health delivery remain functionally intact, and we can continue to live our lives.
Schools are essential. Without them, many children’s needs go unmet.
What does this mean when the number of positive COVID cases are on the rise and teachers as well as some families do not feel safe going into a school building?
Schools need MORE RESOURCES in order to continue to provide ESSENTIAL mental health and other social services to our youth and provide the most COVID safe environment physically, including testing, contact tracing, and detailed containment. If schools must shut for the safety of teachers, staff and the larger school community, than we need to fill the gaps somehow. We need to continue to think creatively about how to get these services to students.
Here are some ideas to ensure our youth are getting what they need:
- Allow and encourage school psychologists, social workers, and other special service providers to make in person visits for students who need these services but are unable to access them virtually
- Create a new position in each school, a “Support Specialist” (some districts may already have this in place) whose entire job is to focus on managing the challenges around virtual education and virtual services. The Support Specialist would work with teachers, parents, and service providers on overcoming technical challenges, as well as provide educational materials to parents on how to help students with schoolwork and create routines for children at home. Most students, but especially students with disabilities need consistency, routine, structure and academic engagement. If there is not in person class option, then parents and caregivers need help is providing these things.
- Provide teachers with increased resources and training to address social and emotional awareness in their curriculum.
- Provide mental health support for teachers who themselves may be experiencing exhaustion, anxiety and depression.
- Expand mental health services to all students through optional group therapy sessions.
- If schools are still virtual in the warmer months of spring, the outdoor classrooms and programming should be an option. https://www.greenschoolyards.org/covid-learn-outside
- Following the approval of the vaccine, teachers should be right behind healthcare workers.
Thank you to my neighbor and special education teacher Allison Smith Woolston for taking the time to talk to me about these issues.
