Kids are Going Back to School

How are you feeling?

As the first day of school approached, I was happy, excited, and nervous at the same time. Kids would return to school after spending almost a year and a half at home.

My son completed his kindergarten entirely online last school year, and last week he saw his school’s face for the first time. Who would have thought education for him will start without attending the school in person?

He adapted reasonably well; however, he also gave me some tough time by getting familiar and getting used to some computer games. Chess is his favorite, and Minecraft too. I have a daughter, too; she is turning 11 soon and heading off next week to middle school.

It reminds me of my own schooling days, and I fondly remember watching my siblings at school in a new and much-civilized avatar. Had it not been for the pandemic, they would have had a chance to see each other at elementary school and create fun memories.

The first day of school life is such a special occasion for not only kids but also parents. I am one of those parents who are more excited than their kids for this new phase of their life.

All of us, my husband, I, and our daughter, went to drop my son at school. While stuck in a traffic jam, my husband and kids had to run the last block to make it on time. I was disappointed that I could not personally go with him and take a pic at the welcome banner; we had little choice.

At the front of the school, several decorations welcomed the students back. I could see teachers waving to students with smiles on their faces. All of the kids wore masks and looked excited about the first day of school.

I wondered how they would keep the masks on for the whole day. How will teachers manage the mask mandate throughout the day for hundreds of students?

With a mask and a face shield, my son looked like a medical professional we often see on TV these days.

Just as he was stepping out of the car, I said, “Take care of yourself, don’t remove your mask or face shield. Don’t forget to wash your hands before you eat. Enjoy your first day of school. Love you. Bye!”.

He replied,” Ok, mamma, love you too.”

and he threw an air kiss with his Mask on. He is so adorable! He throws in additional sounds to make the air kiss a real one.

Now it’s been one week he is going to school, And each passing day I have been more worried. Delta plus variant cases increase every day in San Jose, and doctors say it is more contagious and deadly. Unvaccinated are at more risk and could be more vulnerable to kids under 12 years old who have not gotten the vaccine. Neither of my kids is eligible for the vaccination.

By the third week of August, more than 50 million kids under 5 to 12 years will be heading back to school in the USA. As some schools have already started, kids are getting infected and hospitalized in other states, including California.

So, the question is:

Should we send our kids back to school?

Or

Is it time to go back to full distance learning before it’s too late?

As the first day of school is coming, many parents are concerned about their kids’ safety. How school staff and teachers will manage social distancing and take safety precautions with small kids. Classes are running with full capacity as used to before.

Kids are sharing toys and playing together on the playground (outdoor mask is not mandatory). Mask and hand sanitization are not enough to protect kids from the virus.

Some countries that reopened the schools are running the classes at half their capacity, and some of them went back to full online schooling after an outbreak.

I am also not sure how they will track asymptomatic cases. Families return from vacations from different states, even from other countries, and reach just before school starts. They can bring the virus to the campus unknowingly.

It would be beneficial to ask for a negative test report for all the kids and staff on the first day of school and make it mandatory every few weeks.

On the other hand, if we go with the second option now, We can keep our community safe. And plan a better online education system until all kids are vaccinated. We should not wait until it is too late.

I know distance learning is not the best option for a kid’s education; however, it is a good trade-off between safety and education.

We can make up for education, not for life.