Returning to School: A Debate
by Isabella Zollner
This month many people are returning to school. Recently, whether or not to open up schools has been heavily debated in the media and by politicians. However, because of aggressive statements from the Trump Administration many schools are being forced into opening. Trump’s threat to cut funding from schools that do not open completely is the most infamous of his attacks against closed schools. This threat came in late July against the recommendations of health experts. Since then schools across the country have been making difficult decisions about opening up. In this article I’ll be discussing the pros and cons of in person versus virtual instruction.
Why Schools Should Stay Virtual
Most obviously, if schools use virtual instruction we will see fewer COVID-19 cases than if schools have in-person instruction. This point, in particular, is important for teachers, students, and family members who are high risk.
People who are at high risk for COVID-19 include (but are not limited to) cancer patients, asthma, immunocompromised people, and heart diseases. This list continues, and when reading it most of us will realize we know or are somebody who is at increased risk for a severe COVID-19 infection. In fact, according to a study done by the Education Weekly Research Center, over a third of teachers say they have a physical condition that puts them at high risk. 69% of teachers say they have a close loved one who is at high risk. Many teachers have found themselves writing their wills.
Obviously, that isn’t okay. We shouldn’t be expecting teachers to prepare themselves for death so that we can have in-person education. And if teachers are this worried about dying from COVID-19, imagine students who live with elderly parents or other older family. According to a 2010 study, 1 in 14 children live with their grandparents, and that number has likely increased since 2010. With the elderly being disproportionately at risk for COVID-19 this puts millions of people in danger.
With the amount of people going back to school, especially those at high risk or those without access to medical care, going back to school is a dangerous and highly irresponsible choice.
Why Schools Should Start In-Person Instruction
Despite the risk associated with schools opening up, it may not be as bad as expected. In fact, as of July the CDC recommends opening up America’s schools. The CDC cites that children have less severe symptoms than their adult counterparts. This study finds that people under 18 account for under 7% of COVID-19 infections. This is a huge counterargument to the fear children and their relatives will be infected. In addition, the CDC found that children are rarely the cause of a family-wide infection, or even the main cause of a community/school wide infection. But the low rate of children spreading coronavirus is not the only reason the CDC believes we should open up schools.
The CDC, along with many Americans, point out that in-person schooling serves an important role in the day-to-day lives of children. When schools switched to virtual instruction in March, the University of Washington’s Center on Reinventing Public Education reported that only one in three schools expected teachers to,
“provide instruction, track student engagement, or monitor academic progress for all students”.
Additionally, wealthy school districts were two times more likely to have these expectations. That data is only one example of how virtual instruction will affect economically disadvantaged communities more than wealthy districts. Without schools, many children won’t have lunches or a safe space away from abusive people in their homes. In addition, Child Protective Services’ workers may be even more challenged to find and save abused children if schools are closed.
Lastly, schools provide an extremely beneficial service for working parents or guardians. If working families are expected to both watch their children and work full time, especially if full time work includes in-person work, we can expect to see difficult decisions leading to a potential economic and health disaster. If a parent chooses to go to work instead of watching their child because they need the money, they have to find a babysitter or leave their child home alone all day. Leaving a child home alone all day can be impossible to do safely if your child is young, has a disability, or an illness.
So not only is virtual instruction bad for a child’s education, it is dangerous for both the health of a child and the economic recovery of our country.
Now, personally, I find myself aligning with the belief that we should turn to virtual instruction. Because even if children contribute to COVID-19 infections and deaths the least out of all age groups, they can still transmit COVID-19. And while closed schools put families in a difficult place, there is a better solution than in-person instruction. Instead of forcing children into a potentially dangerous environment and forcing families to make a difficult decision, we need a third choice.
We need to adapt our economy and the way our life works to make it possible for parents and children to stay as safe and economically stable as possible. So, if a parent has to stay home and can’t work because their child has virtual instruction, they should be economically reimbursed. This is the best way I can think of to rewrite the way our economic and school systems. This reimbursement would not be much different than unemployment checks or the stimulus packages that people already receive. The difference would be that instead of entirely shutting down our economy because of another outbreak caused by schools reopening, we would keep as many people in jobs as possible, and those who couldn’t work for safety reasons would be able to do so securely.
I encourage you to continue researching the school reopening debate and understand why both sides of the argument have valid arguments. I also encourage you to think of your own solutions and fight for them in local and state governments. This is a link to the CDC’s website considering school reopenings.
About the Author:
After being subjected to homophobic harassment in the classroom, Isabella decided to try and use her writing to encourage others to stand up for each other and themselves. Isabella is a high school student in Lafayette, IN.
