I'm a high school student. Sending kids back to school is a mistake for kids, their families, and the country.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
- As the country begins to send its kids back to school, debates are raging about whether or not it's safe to do so.
- Issues like safety, parents ability to work, and politics are all complicating the situation.
- I'm a high school student, and I'm afraid of going back, as it could unnecessarily put my family at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
- Victoria Feng is a high school journalist based in Illinois. Her work has appeared in Women's Health, New York Magazine, Digital Trends, and more.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
In the days creeping up to my high school's March 12 school closure announcement, my dad had begun to be increasingly concerned about the rapidly rising coronavirus cases. With other parents, he emailed school officials asking them to shift to remote learning options.
The initial plan was that remote learning would just be three weeks and we would return to the classroom on April 6. But students never got to finish the 2019-20 year in person. Despite the setback, we were optimistic that the summer heat would kill coronavirus and life would be back to normal by the time the fall start to the school year came around.
Now as classes have begun to restart, we can see that coronavirus cases are sliding but still dangerously high. In fact, America recently surpassed over 6.5 million cases.
Part of the persistently high number of new cases can be attributed to caution fatigue and the desire to return to normalcy. At the beginning of April, we were all eager to play our part in stopping COVID-19 and willing to stay at home for a few weeks.
But with no end date in sight, people have begun to feel the dangers of COVID-19 have somehow lessened. On my Instagram feed, the mask-less vacation pictures made it look as if there wasn't a pandemic at all.
But as schools reopen it's important to remember the pandemic isn't over and as a current student, I think the push for in-person learning is a mistake. And there are some clear ways to keep kids and teachers safe, while also providing a good education.
The Trump administration pushed schools to come back
For months, the Trump administration has tried to pressure schools into offering in-person instruction.
In early July, Politico reported that President Donald Trump "put pressure" on governors to reopen schools come fall and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos scolded educators who didn't offer summer instruction.
"Education leaders need to examine real data and weigh risk. … Risk is involved in everything we do, from learning to ride a bike to riding a rocket into space and everything in between," DeVos said.
These are certainly terrible analogies. In 2018, there were just over 1,000 bicycle-related deaths. In contrast, there have been nearly 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S.
Trump later threatened to cut off federal funding for schools that don't reopen, arguing virtual learning was "terrible" last school year. Despite the threat, it later became clear Trump has no authority to cut off funding.
Trump does have a point that the remote learning experience is not as great as in-person schooling. Last year, I, along with many of my peers, witnessed firsthand the awkward silences on Zoom in place of classroom discussions and found lesson plans cut short.
But instead of criticizing schools that are being cautious, the Trump administration should work together with them to create better remote learning environments. Despite hiccups, teachers and administrators are trying their best and need support from the federal government, not bullying.
Helping parents balance school and work
The push for in-person schooling is also based on the valid concern around the difficulties parents face balancing work and kids' assignments. My mom had to help my sister, who is currently in second grade, with classes on Zoom and daily work during spring and joked that she had found a third job — apart from being a scientist and parent — as a part-time teacher.
There is no magical win-win scenario in this situation, but what employers can aim to do is lessen the burden on employees and be flexible with those who are trying to balance full-time parenting and full-time work.
For students that ultimately feel like the only place they can learn in is the school building or families who can't work remotely and don't feel comfortable leaving their kids alone, then going back to school this fall would be the only option. But it certainly should not be full-time like DeVos has suggested.
Flexible plans that allow for remote learning and in-person options, dictated by local officials, offer a better way forward. For instance, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper moved the state forward with Plan B (increased social distancing and schools and buses not at maximum capacity) and allows districts to choose Plan C (only remote learning).
It's about keeping students — and families — safe
Making sure that students get the education they need is important, but plans for schooling in the middle of a pandemic should put one thing first: safety. While it was reported that kids experienced lower death rates (which Trump incorrectly translated to mean "the children aren't affected"), older school staff and family members of students are still at great risk.
If my sister or I got sick from in-person schooling, we would be putting my 81-year-old grandma who lives with my family at risk. My parents, who both work full-time, would have to take time off to take care of us. Getting sick would also mean taking time off of school and being weeks behind, which would have a more detrimental effect on our education.
Out of concern for their students and faculty, many schools have opted for a fully remote 2020-2021 school year. K-12 students may not be living on campus, but the indoor and close confinements of classrooms pose dangerous risks for transmission.
As schools reopen and experience a wave of new cases in fall or winter that forces them to close as well, then schools will be even more underprepared for remote learning.
Until the middle of July, my high school had been saying that they planned for 50% of students to return to school each day. The possibility of going back to school was terrifying as the same problems that caused schools to shut down for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year will exist for the upcoming school year: there is no vaccine, coronavirus cases are on the rise in many states, and cramming students into classrooms or buses together will certainly increase the number of cases among students.
Before we were notified that we could choose the option of online instruction during the 2020-2021 school year (which now has turned into full remote learning), my dad instructed my sister and me to make sure to bring two masks to school (disposing of one during lunch), to shower and wash our hair as soon as we got home, and even suggested we should buy face shields for added protection.
With a vaccine still likely months away, the best we could do was to be prepared to take rigorous safety measures. For young kids like my sister, it can be hard to follow these guidelines during the whole school day.
Until a vaccine is available, coming to school in-person is not safe and many families, including mine, will remain unnecessarily impacted.
Victoria Feng is a high school journalist based in Illinois. Her work has appeared in Women's Health, New York Magazine, Digital Trends, and more. Victoria's freelance work focuses on teens and identity, especially as it relates to social justice.
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