On my Facebook feed this morning I saw two cute kiddos smiling at me on the first day they ever attended public school. It almost made me want to cry looking at the photos of them surrounded by so many who have become friends over the past few years. Then I received 5 different school related emails to remind me of all the new protocols – temperature checks, masks and social distancing. These were glaring reminders that this year nothing is normal.
Our school district had two options for Elementary – online only or full-time in person. We chose the latter for a variety of reasons. Our kids miss their friends, they miss learning in person and it turns out we are not excellent teachers. With 2 parents working 50+ hours home schooling is practically impossible.
But I feel like we are all guinea pigs in the next great American experiment. I would hate to keep the kids home and everything go well but I also hate the idea that within days or weeks of starting school we could all be sent to quarantine. This week I panicked when I read Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s essay on why he is NOT sending his kids back to school. But then, as any good journalist would do, I did some research. First, my kids are still in Elementary school and according to the epidemiologists I speak to for work all the time that makes them less susceptible than kids over 5th grade. Second, the COVID cases in our county are on the decline. Dr. Gupta looked at the data for Fulton County where he lives. They have 316 cases per 100,000 residents. In Arapahoe County where I live we have under 100 which fits with the CDC guidelines for opening schools. Dr. Gupta’s community currently has an 11.3% positivity rate – a sign that cases are likely to rise. Ours is 4.4%. We also live in a state where masks are mandated and our kids have been collecting enough to bring 2 to school each day. None of this means my kids are guaranteed to be safe but it is enough to allow me to sleep at night with my decision.
All across this country families are having the same debate over what to do. We have never lived through something like this. I have friends and neighbors who have decided to do all remote learning whether it is out of fear of getting sick, a desire for consistency, or because they learn just as well online. I have thought of private school and online schools and moving schools but I am hopeful that our decision to keep them with the friends and teachers they know will help restore some sense of normalcy.
After months in quarantine, this summer I found that my kids could no longer play well with others. My daughter felt like a girl at her horse camp was bullying her and had a panic attack each morning. She can no longer share on the few occasions she has played with other kids. It breaks my heart. My son has spent months keeping up his friendships by yelling through his XBox headphones at the kids he used to play with. The boy who could make friends with a rock needs to get back to making friends in person. And the girl who everyone in Kindergarten said they missed most needs to bring her magnetism back into the classroom.
I don’t know what the next few weeks and months will bring and I am terrified. But I know I am not the only one. I just hope we all come out of this big human experiment stronger.
