Why Is There No Consensus About Reopening Schools?
Is it possible to reopen school buildings in the fall in a way that keeps kids, educators, staff and their families and communities safe from Covid-19? Is it possible not to do so without harming them in other ways? Already, school closures have set children behind academically. More than 20 million children rely on school breakfasts and lunches. Too many parents face the choice between losing their jobs or leaving their children at home unsupervised. Vaccination rates for various dangerous diseases, typically required before students can attend school, have plummeted. Isolating children from their peers exacts social and emotional costs, which differ by age group and are nearly impossible to quantify. And whether schools reopen or remain closed, the risks are borne disproportionately by low-income communities and people of color. “This is really one of the most perplexing and complex issues I’ve ever faced in 40 years,” says Dan M. Cooper, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine.
A flood of guidance has been issued in recent weeks, much of it urging schools to reopen and suggesting safety precautions. Media outlets as well have relayed reams of often conflicting expert advice on how to weigh risks and benefits, to individuals and to society. In every case, that calculation is constrained by major gaps in our understanding of how Covid affects children and those in contact with them. Strong evidence suggests that children are much less likely than adults to get sick or die from the virus. (By July 9, data from most of the U.S. showed that nearly 242,000 children had tested positive for Covid, representing 8 percent of cases, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports; they account for fewer than 3 percent of hospitalizations and fewer than 1 percent of deaths.)
But are children less likely to be infected, or just less likely to show CONTINUE READING: Why Is There No Consensus About Reopening Schools? - The New York Times
