If you watch the news, get current event updates on your phone, or simply talk to other humans, you obviously know that schools are the current hot topic in our country.
With a new school year looming in the near future, everyone has a million questions.
Will school start on time?
Will kids have to wear masks?
Will kids go to school every day or part-time?
How will social distancing be enforced in classrooms, on buses, in the halls, and at recess?
These are just a few of the questions at the forefront of most people’s minds. When this topic is addressed by any leader or official entity like states and school districts, it always comes down to what is best for kids, as it well should.
There is the argument that these kids have already struggled through nearly half a year of remote learning that, at best, was far less effective than in-class instruction or, at worst, was nonexistent. Many students may not be able to academically recover from more unconventional learning. Since some research has shown children to be less at-risk of contracting COVID-19 and becoming dangerously ill, many people feel that school must begin, as planned, in the fall under as close to typical circumstances as possible.
And then there’s the issue of the kids who will go home to families. The likelihood of infecting their parents, grandparents, and loved ones is high. Is shoving 20 to 35 students who love to pick their noses, lick their fingers, and have very questionable handwashing skills with literally no personal bubble in one room really a wise choice?
So in a nutshell, that is the debate. And me? As an elementary school teacher, I find myself flip-flopping between the two arguments and asking one very important and seemingly neglected question:
What about the teachers?
We obviously care about the kids. We are giving thought to the families who they will go home to. We are considering having kids only go to school a couple of days a week to limit the number of other people they come into contact with. But the teachers? They’ll be around ALL of them. And the teachers? They also have families. And the teachers… they are NOT children.
As a teacher, my mind goes straight to people on my own staff. People like Sharon who, at 61, has some underlying health issues and has only a couple years until retirement.
And Dan. Didn’t his wife just finish chemo? What about her?
What about Jennifer, who is a single mom of three, and even though her kids only attend school on Mondays and Wednesdays, if we go with a hybrid schedule, she will undoubtedly be teaching every single day. Where will her kids go?
Or people like myself, who rely on my parents in their 70s with risky health conditions for childcare. What if I get them sick?
As a teacher, I realize I am lucky to have a reliable job during these uncertain times. Teachers are hard-wired to prioritize what is best for our students. But it’s unfair to put us in the position where we must choose between making a living and protecting ourselves and our families from the dangers possibly lurking in our classrooms.
Yes, reopening schools is a tricky issue on so many levels, but we need to add the well-being of teachers and their families to the list of considerations before we go ahead and push all students back into the classroom.
