Will schools see that they can save this country?
Schools led the containment of COVID-19, and how we teach will be the leading edge to conquering COVID-19 this wave and next.
As strained as remote teaching makes our connections with children and their families, schools and their teachers remain the most substantial information and training network in the nation. When schools resume in the fall, the students need to arrive with knowledge beyond our standard curriculum.
Why are we teaching the War of 1812 when our children’s families are fighting the COVID-19 War of 2020?
During World War II and the Cold War, schools actively taught and trained students to respond to those frightening realities. While some think children need normalcy in this crisis, giving students credible age-appropriate information and actions to bring some control over uncertainty will do more for their mental and physical health than worksheets on state standards. I’m not saying COVID-19 is all we teach, but for many, it is currently none of what we teach.
What does that look like? Yes, tell kids to wash their hands, but tell them more!
We teachers can first teach our students what is going on in an age-appropriate way (link to a free e-book on explaining COVID-19 to children). This is not the scary stories that permeate the media, but, instead, taking science-backed policies and doing what teachers do best: making it understandable for children.
Help students understand the contagion, scientists’ plans to conquer this crisis, and most importantly, the children’s role in helping out (here’s a comprehensive report on the policies regarding the pandemic).
World War II, children collected scraps and grew victory gardens. Now children need to make masks for their families.
East Asia (outside of China) experienced their first cases about the same time as the United States, though their outcome was different because of robust testing and SARS-2002 informed social practices of the public. Children cannot control COVID-19 testing (though they can become experts on the symptoms). Students can be the lead in creating a new culture of everyone wearing masks when out (ideally homemade masks if there are shortages, leaving medical-grade supplies for hospitals). Making homemade masks is today’s victory gardens. Students can be empowered to teach their families the plan to contribute to the defeat of COVID-19, all more essential when we resume school in the fall and face risks of a possible second wave.
News stories lament at the young people partying at beaches during our shelter in place, but a good teacher will tell you, “What do we expect if we do not educate our youth differently?”
When other parts of the government are bogged down in politics far from the problem, schools are both close and ready to lead.
This war is not overseas, or a distant issue for Washington or state capitols to fight; it’s a war in our very own bodies, creating casualties among our families and neighbors. When something is that local, who better than schools to step up? Schools are currently our nation’s most unified tool to lead the public response and victory to this pandemic.
By Chris Chiang
a Silicon Valley middle school teacher
