When Will Schools Reopen? Let’s Talk About What’s Right for Kids

We all know that school is important for kids. We send our kids to school to learn, to be good citizens, to socialize, to play, and to work. When COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in mid-March, schools closed, and more than 56.6 million children and young people were forced to learn from home. The impact on kids’ developmental growth and well-being has been immense: missing out on guidance and conversation with teachers and counselors; interactions with friends; extracurricular activities and sports, proms, graduation celebrations; and meals—for some the only one of their day. Distance learning has further unveiled the digital divide and highlighted the inequities in educational opportunities across school districts, counties, and states. School closures have heightened psychological distress and raised safety concerns for kids in homes where there may be abuse. It’s been hard for everyone.

When we talk about reopening schools, however, the focus frequently shifts away from the difficulties our kids and young people are facing to schools being the lynchpin to reopening our economy. While it is true that in order for the economy to reopen, working parents need to ensure their children are being cared for, this should not be the main consideration in how and when schools reopen.  Why aren’t we thinking about how we can reopen schools in the context of what is best for kids’ development, health, and well-being: what they need, and the precautions that must be in place at schools to ensure the safety of all students, teachers, and staff? Yes, schools are a critical part of getting our economy restarted, but it is symptomatic of the broader challenges kids face in our culture when we are not thinking first about our young people and what is right for them. 

Americans have lost over 20 million jobs since April and the unemployment rate is hovering at 14.7 percent. There is a growing impatience and reopening schools is touted as a necessary part of the solution to jumpstarting the nation’s economic heartbeat. At a May 12 Senate hearing, Dr. Fauci warned about the dangers of reopening the economy and schools too quickly; President Trump responded that he felt this was “not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.”

Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles—whose school district is the second-largest in the country— made an appearance on The Daily Show, telling Trevor Noah, “We’ve got to get [kids] back into schools because we can’t get the economy going. People can’t go to work… if they don’t have their kids in school. It’s not just education, it’s daycare.” Yes, it is true that for parents to return to work, they need affordable, accessible, quality childcare. But schools are not daycare. We can hardly fault Mayor Garcetti’s assertion, we see it in the media on a daily basis: The Economy Can’t Open Without Schools (CNN) and Closed Schools Mean Closed Economy Despite Politicians’ Push (Bloomberg) are just a few examples.

In Europe, Denmark was one of the first countries to reopen and its schools and childcare facilities were included in the first phase of their reopening plan. With its higher proportion of working parents, Denmark acknowledged that children having a safe place to go while their parents are at work was critical to ensuring their country’s successful reopening. Their commitment to health and safety at schools, coupled with providing a positive learning environment that is comfortable to both children and parents, was among their top priorities.

More recently, Britain’s children's commissioner Anne Longfield tweeted her desire to reopen schools, focusing her reasons on the needs and concerns of the British children. She cited the disadvantage gap that comes from children who are distance learning, the impact on their social mobility, and the recognition of children who are struggling without seeing friends and without the structure they receive from school. Her office published a paper examining the risks and benefits—from the perspective of what is best and safest for the children—to help guide the decision to reopen schools. This example lends yet another argument as to why the U.S. would benefit by having an independent children's commissioner with the responsibility to look at issues, policies, and programs through the lens of what is in the best interest of our nation’s children and young people, and advocate on their behalf.

Previously, I wrote about the importance of creating opportunities at local and state levels for young people to share their opinions on issues that affect them—and to listen to their input.  Reopening schools will greatly impact children and young people, and their contributions to the discussion can play a critical role in their feelings of agency and overall positive change. The Youth Parliaments of Scotland and Wales are among those currently conducting surveys and holding online meetings as a way for young people to share their ideas and for their voices to be heard. On May 28, the #CovidUnder19 survey launched on Twitter with the goal of learning how children are experiencing the global pandemic and how youth can be involved in building the post-COVID world.

How we talk has the power to change the way we think, which ultimately, can lead to a change in our behavior. As we look to reopen our country, let’s think about the way we are talking about schools, and how and when they reopen. Let’s talk about what our young people need to thrive—and include kids in the conversation. There are a lot of unknowns in a global pandemic; we can recognize there won’t be a definitive right answer—but let’s do our research and make decisions with the best interests of our children and young people in mind.