Wherever you stand on the school reopening debate and now political football, the CDC reminds us:
…The harm attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant… The in-person school environment does the following:
- Provides educational instruction;
- Supports the development of social and emotional skills;
- Creates a safe environment for learning;
- Addresses nutritional needs; and
- Facilitates physical activity.
…Based on current data, the rate of infection among younger school children, and from students to teachers, has been low, especially if proper precautions are followed. There have also been few reports of children being the primary source of COVID-19 transmission among family members. This is consistent with data from both virus and antibody testing, suggesting that children are not the primary drivers of COVID-19…
Educational Instruction: Extended school closure is harmful to children. It can lead to severe learning loss, and the need for in-person instruction is particularly important for students with heightened behavioral needs… We also know that, for many students, long breaks from in-person education are harmful to student learning…. Finally, remote learning makes absorbing information more difficult for students with disabilities, developmental delays, or other cognitive disabilities…
Social and Emotional Skill Development: … Social interaction at school among children in grades PK-12 is particularly important for the development of language, communication, social, emotional, and interpersonal skills… In an in-person school environment, children more easily learn how to develop and maintain friendships, how to behave in groups and how to interact and form relationships with people outside of their family… An environment where students feel safe and connected, such as a school, is associated with lower levels of depression, thoughts about suicide, social anxiety, and sexual activity, as well as higher levels of self-esteem and more adaptive use of free time…
Safety: … During the COVID-19 school closures, there has been a sharp decline in reports of suspected maltreatment, but tragically a notable increase in abuse when children are seen for services… Children who live in a home or neighborhood where neglect, violence, or abuse occur, but who are not physically in school, are deprived of access to trained school professionals who can readily identify the signs of trauma and provide needed support and guidance…
Nutrition: … Schools are essential to meeting the nutritional needs of children with many consuming up to half their daily calories at school. Nationwide more than 30 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program and nearly 15 million participate in the School Breakfast Program…
Physical Activity: … Many children may not be sufficiently physically active outside of the context of in-school physical education (PE) and other school-based activities… The loss of opportunities for physical activity from school closures, especially when coupled with potentially diminished nutrition, can be particularly harmful to children… and are major risk factors for childhood obesity and other chronic health conditions…
Conclusion: … The best available evidence in countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children, at least in areas with low community transmission and suggest that children are unlikely to be major drivers of the virus. Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America’s greatest assets—our children—while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, and all their families….”
And you say?