essay about back to school after lockdown

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Going Back to School, Essay Example

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Returning to school after a long break is a challenge for every person. For me, it was extremely difficult because it involved changing my daily schedule, traveling, and term work assignment preparation. According to James Clear (web), changing habits takes weeks. Your body needs to get used to the different biorhythm, meal times, bedtime, and energy needs. However, for me, it was the mental adjustment that was harder than the physical changes.

I have researched several sources to make the process of getting used to being back to school easier. James Clear states that there is a 3-step pattern that makes the adjustment easier: reminder, routine, and reward. For people, who are not used to different activities, setting up a routine, and sticking to it is essential. I have done this from day one, when I planned my returning to school. Although I did not know exactly how much time it would take me to complete assignments and research, I had an idea of how long it takes me to wake up in the morning and get ready for classes. Therefore, I created a daily routine, and added to it over time. I set my wake up time, and created a target of when I would need to be in bed. I set my lunch hours, as well as my break times. I allocated half an hour to lunch every day, an hour for an evening meal with my family, and two hours for revision, library work, and assignment. I knew that even if I had no assignments or homework, I could benefit from rehearsing and reviewing the information I learned about in school.

After getting my schedule and timetable from school, I adjusted the routine schedule, so I could allocate more time for studying on days before tests, and create more free leisure time on other days. Weekends were planned out ahead, while I added four hours of studying for every weekend.

I understood from the beginning that getting good grades was important for my future, therefore, I also created a target for every subject studied. It was hard, and the targets needed to be adjusted, based on my interest and preferences. For some subjects, I had to study less, while some assignments proved themselves to be more challenging.

On the top of my schedule, I also had to ensure that I keep time during school, therefore, I marked all the important assignment dates in my Google Calendar and set up reminders 7, 3, and 1 days before it was due. This way I could manage to complete all coursework in time, and avoid last minute studying for tests.

I also created a reward schedule for attaining good grades. I created my own rewards, such as a Chinese dinner, a picnic in the park, or a movie for every single graded assignment. I had a minimum grade target for all coursework and tests, therefore, I remained motivated to do well in school. Keeping up one’s motivation is the greatest challenge of going back to school: when it becomes a routine, many people start forgetting about their goals.

My goal with going back to school was to learn as much as I can, attain good grades and advance my education further. I believe that self-motivation and a strict routine has helped me achieve my goals so far, and I will use the same method in the future.

Works Cited

Clear, James “The 3 R’s of Habit Change: How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick” n.d. Web.

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• v.10(1); 2020 Jun

Reopening schools after the COVID-19 lockdown

Aziz sheikh.

1 Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Asiyah Sheikh

2 Medical School, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Zakariya Sheikh

Sangeeta dhami.

3 General Practitioner Locum, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, UK

With nationwide school closures currently operating in 191 countries, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has estimated that 1.6 billion (90.2%) students are currently out of primary, secondary and tertiary education (henceforth schools) as a result of the global COVID-19 lockdown [ 1 ]. These restrictions have been introduced to help maintain physical distancing and have contributed to the stabilising incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and resulting COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths now being witnessed in many parts of the world. These measures have the potential however – particularly if prolonged – to result in major detrimental effects on the health and well-being of children and adolescents. In the absence of a robust evidence base on lockdown exit strategies, we consider the range of options being taken globally to reopen schools with a view to informing the formulation of national plans.

It is now well recognized that children and young people can be asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 or develop COVID-19 [ 2 ]. Although COVID-19 tends to be less severe in children and adolescents, and thankfully relatively few students have died of the condition, a key policy concern has been that young people may be important community reservoirs for the transmission of the virus to household members. Emerging evidence however suggests that children are not super-spreaders of the virus and in fact may not be significantly contributing to spreading the virus [ 3 - 5 ]. A recent (unpublished) systematic review concluded that children and young people under 20 are 56% less likely to contract SARS-COV2 from infected individuals than adults this suggesting they may play a smaller part in transmission than originally thought [ 6 ]. It appears therefore that SARS-CoV-2 behaves differently in this respect from many other viral respiratory infections that are responsible for upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and influenza. A recent systematic review on school closures, which drew primarily on the evidence base from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), concluded that around 2–4% of COVID-19 deaths could be prevented as a result of school closures [ 7 ].

Although an important public health intervention in the context of epidemics/pandemics, school closures can have adverse effects on children and adolescents in multiple ways [ 8 ]. Not only are they missing out on their education – with potential lifelong implications – children from deprived backgrounds are at increased risk of hunger from missing free school meals, domestic violence, and the poverty that ensues from parents being unable to work because of daytime caring responsibilities. These consequences are felt most by the most vulnerable members of society. The longer lockdowns continue, the greater the risks to the well-being of young people.

What then are the options for reopening schools? The key consideration is how to enable the safe return of as many learners and staff as possible whilst maintaining physical distancing. Table 1 summarises the approaches that are being employed internationally. We briefly consider these four broad approaches in turn.

Strategies being adopted internationally to reopen schools after the COVID-19 lockdown

The first is to maintain school closures until a vaccine can be administered at sufficient levels to achieve herd immunity or a treatment is found. Optimistic estimates suggest that it will be at least 12-18 months before a vaccine is developed and deployed [ 9 ]. Given the substantial negative effects of school closures, it seems most unlikely that this will be a tenable strategy for most countries in the medium- to longer-term.

A second approach is to reopen schools completely once the effective reproduction number (R t ) is well below 1. Whilst this has the benefits of resuming normal schooling, it runs the risk of triggering further peaks in infection. The magnitude of this risk will become clearer as the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in young people becomes better understood. The approach being employed in Denmark whereby children are being taught outdoors and maintaining 2m physical distancing through for example the rearrangement of desks, in an attempt to reduce droplet and contact transmission, could potentially be replicated in a number of other countries [ 10 ].

Photo: Macau students return to school. By Macau Photo Agency via Unsplash.

The third strategy is to partially reopen schools such that there are fewer students at school at any one point in time thereby enabling physical distancing. This has been the most popular school lockdown exit strategy employed thus far with students typically attending for part of the week or in shifts.

Finally, a hybrid approach whereby in-person classes are live-streamed to those who for example need to be shielded because of underlying chronic disease or have the capacity to study from home. This is however clearly dependent both on having high speed Internet access and appropriate devices (personal computer, laptop or tablet) at home.

The final three options all need to be accompanied by developing surveillance capability and the ability to rapidly test, trace and isolate suspected COVID-19 cases and their contacts. These also requires capacity for regular deep cleaning of schools to minimise the risk of contact transmission.

It is clear that there are no easy answers. Whichever approach countries choose to take, it is crucial that there are carefully planned evaluations of the approaches employed to help develop a robust evidence base to guide decision making for this and future pandemics.

Funding: None.

Authorship contributions: AzS conceived this paper and commented critically on drafts of the manuscript. AsS, ZS & SD sourced the examples and jointly drafted the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Competing interest: AzS is a member of the Scottish Government Chief Medical Officer’s COVID-19 Advisory Group. This work in no way represents the views of the Scottish Government. The authors have completed the ICMJE Uniform Conflict of Interest form (available upon request from the corresponding author), and declare no further conflicts.

After the Lockdown: Learning From Students' Experiences

School lockdowns are traumatic. we must listen and validate students' feelings..

Posted October 18, 2022 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• What Is Trauma?
• Find a therapist to heal from trauma
• Every month, hundreds of schools are forced to go into "non-drill" lockdowns because of a credible threat of violence.
• Students experience "invisible wounds" after school lockdowns that need to be addressed when creating school safety plans.
• Students may experience panic attacks, soil themselves, cry uncontrollably, and/or disassociate during or after a lockdown.

Co-authored by Annalisa Enrile and Harley London.

Harley is 14 years old and in the 8th grade. This year, her school, like hundreds of schools in the United States, was forced into a lockdown because of a suspected shooter threat. Thankfully, the police and school officials found it to be a hoax. What was not false, however, was the experience of all the kids in the school for the 45 minutes they were in lockdown. This story that Harley and I are sharing is an important one, especially for kids who have this experience. But we would like to offer a trigger warning because the experience that is described is traumatic , disturbing, and violent. Please read with care for yourself.

Swatting Incidences on the Rise

The most recent research data is from 2018, during which at least 4.1 million students had to go through at least one non-drill lockdown. Of course, lockdowns are essential to keeping kids safe, but following an actual act of school violence, there has been a rise in what the FBI refers to as “swatting” incidences. Swatting is a term that is used to describe filing false reports or threats to cause chaos and provoke a law enforcement response.

Swatting incidences are dangerous because they are fake but the response from law enforcement and the community is real. There have been incidences in which people have been injured in the process. It also can erode emergency responses if it happens so frequently in a kind of “the boy who cried wolf” syndrome where the threat becomes habitual and perhaps makes responses less urgent. Whether it’s authentic or “swatting,” the reality is an emotional and psychological cost to students, teachers, and other school personnel.

Despite the rise in “swatting,” one of the things that the tragedy at Uvalde taught is that there cannot be hesitation to act, especially when children are literally caught in the crosshairs. All schools in the United States are required to have a safety plan in place. But the need for a strategic plan on paper does not always tell the whole story of what is experienced when it must be acted upon.

First-Hand Experience

I was taking a test in math class, so the room was completely silent. Suddenly, I heard sirens and then we heard the PA system turn on, but no one was saying anything, so, we thought the principal accidentally turned it on. After a few moments, the principal said in a shaky voice, “Teachers, please lock your doors and close the blinds; we are in a lockdown. I repeat, we are in a lockdown.” 1 minute later: Everyone quickly stopped the test. I looked at my friends, and we immediately got down. Everyone was panicking trying to grab their phones and hide under the desks. One of my classmates whispered, “Guys shut up and hide.” First, we got on the ground, then my teacher had us crawl to another classroom. I crawled into a corner, but unfortunately, I was by a window so I wanted to move but was frozen there. 10 minutes later: The PA system went off again. The principal said, “Teachers and students please remain calm and silent, we are still in lockdown.” At that point, the majority of us were freaking out. The girl in front of me was crying and hugging her friend. I didn’t know what to do, so I just started praying to calm me down. I didn’t know where my friends were. I only saw two of my friends from the other class across the room, lending their phone to other classmates. One of my classmates tapped me on my shoulder and then held my hand. 5 minutes later: The phone in one of the classrooms rang, and a bunch of my classmates were whispering and crying. I realized then that the elementary students were probably so scared. 30 minutes later: Suddenly the door opens. Everyone was scooting away and hiding. But we learned that it was one of the teachers getting water for a student who had passed out. 45 minutes later: The PA system went off again. The principal announced, “Teachers, you may go back to teaching again. We will contact parents to pick up the students.” The lights turned on and everyone was crying. I ran up to all my friends hugging them and crying. I felt relieved. I don’t normally cry but I just couldn’t stop crying.

Invisible Wounds

Harley’s story emphasizes the potential trauma that children feel when they experience a lockdown, even if there is no active violence. The fear and anxiety may last well beyond the “all clear” is given. Dr. Marleen Wong , leading expert on childhood trauma and one of the original developers of Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools and Psychological First Aid calls these “Invisible Wounds.” Just as Harley’s story demonstrated, the invisible wounds of school lockdowns are immediate, urgent, and often both physical and emotional.

A Washington Post yearlong focus on school violence found that children aged as young as 4 years have participated in lockdowns where they have had to do things like hide in darkened rooms or learn how to “play dead” or camouflage themselves for survival. It is not uncommon for children and youth to soil themselves, pass out, panic, or cry during or right after these experiences.

Trauma-Informed Practices

There are some key things to address the trauma children may have following a lockdown.

I told my mom I needed a couple of days off after the lockdown and she let me stay with my grandparents. I think parents should listen to their kids. We aren’t lying when we say we are scared or nervous. Not all my classmates were allowed to do that. The next day, there was another threat called in and another lockdown. I don’t know how I would feel if I had to go through it all over again so soon. A lot my friends were sending me pictures and videos because they now carried their phones with them. One of my friends told me how scary it was—almost worse than the day before.

Dr. Kennedy, a.k.a. " Millennial Parenting Whisperer ," works with parents to help them foster resiliency and empathy, reminding parents about the power of really listening . Harley’s mom said, “I have to trust that she knows what she is feeling and validate that information. I took a look at her workload (no big assignments due), we talked about how long was appropriate (two days) and what she would do while she took time off (spend time with her grandma, paint, and journal). I want her to feel safe coming to me with what she is experiencing, but, even more, I want her to be able to name what she is feeling and act on that.”

Dr. Steve Hydon, Director of Social Work in Schools at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work states, “Parents ought to embrace Dr. Bruce Perry's six R’s: Relational, Relevant, Rhythmic, Repetitive, Rewarding, Respectful. These six R’s are what Perry identified as core considerations for trauma-informed care when implementing therapeutic interventions and experiences.

School violence remains a reality that schools, communities, and families will have to continue to face. However, engaging in trauma-informed practices can help the healing process, especially when safety plans are developed and other strategic decisions are made. Most importantly, the voices of students themselves should be expressed, listened to, and included in how solutions are created. After all, they, along with their teachers, administrators, and school staff, are right at the epicenter.

Greco, V. (2021). The Casualties You Don’t See: The Omnipresent Trauma of School Shootings. Dress Rehearsals for Gun Violence: Confronting Trauma and Anxiety in America’s Schools, 1.

Osher, D., Mayer, M. J., Jagers, R. J., Kendziora, K., & Wood, L. (Eds.). (2019). Keeping Students Safe and Helping Them Thrive: A Collaborative Handbook on School Safety, Mental Health, and Wellness [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO.

Schildkraut, J., & Nickerson, A. B. (2022). Lockdown Drills: Connecting Research and Best Practices for School Administrators, Teachers, and Parents. MIT Press.

Annalisa Enrile, Ph.D. , is a Clinical Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, turning classrooms into brave spaces to train the next generation of change-makers.

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Mission: Recovering Education in 2021

THE CONTEXT

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused abrupt and profound changes around the world.  This is the worst shock to education systems in decades, with the longest school closures combined with looming recession.  It will set back progress made on global development goals, particularly those focused on education. The economic crises within countries and globally will likely lead to fiscal austerity, increases in poverty, and fewer resources available for investments in public services from both domestic expenditure and development aid. All of this will lead to a crisis in human development that continues long after disease transmission has ended.

Disruptions to education systems over the past year have already driven substantial losses and inequalities in learning. All the efforts to provide remote instruction are laudable, but this has been a very poor substitute for in-person learning.  Even more concerning, many children, particularly girls, may not return to school even when schools reopen. School closures and the resulting disruptions to school participation and learning are projected to amount to losses valued at $10 trillion in terms of affected children’s future earnings.  Schools also play a critical role around the world in ensuring the delivery of essential health services and nutritious meals, protection, and psycho-social support. Thus, school closures have also imperilled children’s overall wellbeing and development, not just their learning.   

It’s not enough for schools to simply reopen their doors after COVID-19. Students will need tailored and sustained support to help them readjust and catch-up after the pandemic. We must help schools prepare to provide that support and meet the enormous challenges of the months ahead. The time to act is now; the future of an entire generation is at stake.

THE MISSION

Mission objective:  To enable all children to return to school and to a supportive learning environment, which also addresses their health and psychosocial well-being and other needs.

Timeframe : By end 2021.

Scope : All countries should reopen schools for complete or partial in-person instruction and keep them open. The Partners - UNESCO , UNICEF , and the World Bank - will join forces to support countries to take all actions possible to plan, prioritize, and ensure that all learners are back in school; that schools take all measures to reopen safely; that students receive effective remedial learning and comprehensive services to help recover learning losses and improve overall welfare; and their teachers are prepared and supported to meet their learning needs. 

Three priorities:

1.    All children and youth are back in school and receive the tailored services needed to meet their learning, health, psychosocial wellbeing, and other needs. 

Challenges : School closures have put children’s learning, nutrition, mental health, and overall development at risk. Closed schools also make screening and delivery for child protection services more difficult. Some students, particularly girls, are at risk of never returning to school. 

Areas of action : The Partners will support the design and implementation of school reopening strategies that include comprehensive services to support children’s education, health, psycho-social wellbeing, and other needs. 

Targets and indicators

2.    All children receive support to catch up on lost learning.

Challenges : Most children have lost substantial instructional time and may not be ready for curricula that were age- and grade- appropriate prior to the pandemic. They will require remedial instruction to get back on track. The pandemic also revealed a stark digital divide that schools can play a role in addressing by ensuring children have digital skills and access.

Areas of action : The Partners will (i) support the design and implementation of large-scale remedial learning at different levels of education, (ii) launch an open-access, adaptable learning assessment tool that measures learning losses and identifies learners’ needs, and (iii) support the design and implementation of digital transformation plans that include components on both infrastructure and ways to use digital technology to accelerate the development of foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Incorporating digital technologies to teach foundational skills could complement teachers’ efforts in the classroom and better prepare children for future digital instruction.   

While incorporating remedial education, social-emotional learning, and digital technology into curricula by the end of 2021 will be a challenge for most countries, the Partners agree that these are aspirational targets that they should be supporting countries to achieve this year and beyond as education systems start to recover from the current crisis.

3.   All teachers are prepared and supported to address learning losses among their students and to incorporate  digital technology into their teaching.

Challenges : Teachers are in an unprecedented situation in which they must make up for substantial loss of instructional time from the previous school year and teach the current year’s curriculum. They must also protect their own health in school. Teachers will need training, coaching, and other means of support to get this done. They will also need to be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccination, after frontline personnel and high-risk populations.  School closures also demonstrated that in addition to digital skills, teachers may also need support to adapt their pedagogy to deliver instruction remotely. 

Areas of action : The Partners will advocate for teachers to be prioritized in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, after frontline personnel and high-risk populations, and provide capacity-development on pedagogies for remedial learning and digital and blended teaching approaches. 

Country level actions and global support

UNESCO, UNICEF, and World Bank are joining forces to support countries to achieve the Mission, leveraging their expertise and actions on the ground to support national efforts and domestic funding.

Country Level Action

1.  Mobilize team to support countries in achieving the three priorities

The Partners will collaborate and act at the country level to support governments in accelerating actions to advance the three priorities.

2.  Advocacy to mobilize domestic resources for the three priorities

The Partners will engage with governments and decision-makers to prioritize education financing and mobilize additional domestic resources.

Global level action

1.  Leverage data to inform decision-making

The Partners will join forces to   conduct surveys; collect data; and set-up a global, regional, and national real-time data-warehouse.  The Partners will collect timely data and analytics that provide access to information on school re-openings, learning losses, drop-outs, and transition from school to work, and will make data available to support decision-making and peer-learning.

2.  Promote knowledge sharing and peer-learning in strengthening education recovery

The Partners will join forces in sharing the breadth of international experience and scaling innovations through structured policy dialogue, knowledge sharing, and peer learning actions.

The time to act on these priorities is now. UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank are partnering to help drive that action.

Last Updated: Mar 30, 2021

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Safely back to school after coronavirus closures

Countries around the world remain at very different points of the COVID-19 pandemic, which means they face varying challenges, from overwhelmed healthcare systems to growing economic despair. In geographies beginning to emerge from the first wave of COVID-19 cases, the question of reopening schools is front of mind for many stakeholders. Schools provide not just learning and social support for students but also, crucially, childcare, without which many parents cannot return to work. However, reopening schools carries the public health risk of viral resurgence. Parents and teachers are understandably wary. How can education systems respond?

System leaders around the world—at the federal, state, and district levels—are grappling with three important questions related to getting students safely back into the classroom:

• When should schools reopen?
• For which segments of students and teachers (if not everyone) should schools reopen?
• What health and safety measures should schools adopt on reopening?

Post-pandemic capabilities for school systems

Besides safely reopening schools, education systems will have a daunting task in reenrolling students, helping students recover lost learning, and preparing for viral resurgence. New partnerships may help build capabilities for these tasks.

• Reenrollment. As schools reopen, some students may not return to class, for instance, because of parental concern about ongoing health risks, student leakage to the workforce to support financially struggling families, or student disengagement after frustrating remote learning experiences. Previous crises suggest that girls in developing countries are especially at risk of not returning to school.
• Remediation. Students who do return to school may need significant work to catch up on academics, especially in school systems that struggled to roll out effective remote learning. Students who lacked devices, internet access, or parental support—or who were already behind when the crisis began—will likely need the most help.
• Resurgence. Systems must also plan for local or national viral resurgence. Preparing means being ready for multiple waves of closures and reopening, which will entail blending remote and in-person learning.

These tasks will require resources and capabilities that many systems lack.

Maintaining a crisis nerve center  through the process and beyond can enable a coordinated response through strong leadership, effective operations, and systems for ongoing data-processing and monitoring. New forms of collaboration and communication may also be needed with other government agencies, with nongovernmental organizations, and—importantly—with parents.

There isn’t one right set of answers to these questions. Infection rates fluctuate across communities, as does capacity of healthcare systems; education systems vary in both structure and performance; and different communities have distinct cultural values that inform decision making. Significantly, leaders will be making decisions based on limited and rapidly changing epidemiological evidence and will therefore be forced to make difficult trade-offs to reopen schools. Once schools are deemed safe for in-person instruction, addressing re-enrollment, academic remediation, and possible viral resurgence will require new capabilities (see sidebar, “Post-pandemic capabilities for school systems”).

When to reopen

Although most primary and secondary schools worldwide remain closed, some countries (most notably Sweden) have stayed open as of publication. Others, including China, Denmark, Japan, and Norway, recently reopened their schools, and many European countries have announced plans to reopen in the coming weeks or months. In the United States, 43 states and Washington, DC, have ordered or recommended keeping in-person schooling closed for the rest of the academic year. 1 “Map: Coronavirus and school closures,” Education Week , updated April 24, 2020, edweek.com.

As school-system leaders weigh possible timelines, they can consider four interlocking components of reopening: risks to public health, schools’ importance to economic activity, impacts on students’ learning and thriving, and safeguarding readiness.

Risks to public health

The most critical question is whether reopening schools will lead to a resurgence of infection among students, staff, and the broader community. The evidence here is still nascent. Children’s risk of contracting COVID-19 appears to be lower than that of adults. In China and the United States, the countries with the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, children represent 2 percent of cases. 2 Jennifer M. McGoogan and Zunyou Wu, “Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: Summary of a report of 72 314 cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,” Journal of the American Medical Association , February 24, 2020, Volume 323, Number 13, pp. 1,239–42; “Coronavirus disease 2019 in children—United States, February 12–April 2, 2020,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , April 2020, Volume 69, pp. 422–26, cdc.gov. Emerging evidence also suggests that children are more likely to be asymptomatic, less likely to be hospitalized, and much less likely to die if they do develop COVID-19. 3 Yuanyuan Dong et al., “Epidemiology of COVID-19 among children in China,” Pediatrics , April 2020, pediatrics.aappublications.org. COVID-NET hospitalization data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available; see COVID-NET: COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated April 18, 2020, gis.cdc.gov.

Although the risk to students themselves appears relatively low, reopening schools will also expose teachers to risk—especially those who are older or immune-compromised—and might contribute to higher risk for the larger community. Children’s role in transmitting the novel coronavirus is still unclear, making it difficult to estimate the extent to which reopening schools might contribute to resurgence. Potentially relaxed confinement measures outside the education sector add to the uncertainty. Decision makers will therefore need to determine when to reopen schools in the context of reopening society at large.

Importance to economic activity

A major part of the sequencing puzzle is the importance of schooling in providing childcare. Workers with children under 15 years old in their household who have no alternate caregiver will likely need childcare before being able to return fully to work. The proportion of workers who cannot return to work without childcare varies significantly across countries—and even within them. In the United States, 16 percent of the workforce—representing 26.8 million workers—are dependent on childcare to work (exhibit). In Europe, where there is a higher proportion of dual-income families, thus fewer stay-at-home parents to provide childcare, 20 to 30 percent of the workforce are likely dependent upon preschools and schools to resume work. 4 These estimates apply only to industrialized countries. In the United States, for example, 31 percent of households have at least one child at home. We assume that only children under 15 need an adult at home to provide care and that all workers in single-parent families require childcare, half of workers in dual-income families require childcare, and no workers in families with an existing stay-at-home parent require childcare.

These numbers do not represent the full complexity of individual workers’ family situations or obligations. While some workers, especially those with older children and who can fulfill their work responsibilities remotely, may be able to return part-time, their productivity will likely suffer. Conversely, the situation is much more challenging for those with younger children and who also cannot work remotely. While some families may lean on older siblings to provide childcare, doing so could significantly impair learning for those students. Other families may ask grandparents to watch children, but this solution puts one of the most vulnerable populations in this pandemic at risk. Our estimates may also underestimate the magnitude of the challenge. The proportion of workers under the age of 55 requiring childcare is even greater, as younger workers are the ones most likely to have dependent children. This poses a challenge for countries that wish to bring back younger workers first and protect older workers by keeping them safely at home. 5 See Jonathan Dingel, Christina Patterson, and Joseph Vavra, Childcare obligations will constrain many workers when reopening the US economy , Becker Friedman Institute for economics at The University of Chicago working paper, April 18, 2020, bfi.uchicago.edu; this paper includes an analysis of the impact on workers under the age of 55 but does assume that older siblings or grandparents could provide childcare to working parents.

Where a significant proportion of workers rely on schools for childcare, reopening schools (at least for younger children) might be a prerequisite to tapping into the full productive capacity of the workforce. However, if the majority of parents can work from home while fulfilling childcare responsibilities or can access alternative childcare, schools might be able to stay closed for longer.

Student learning and thriving

Every year, students in the United States lose a month’s worth of learning over the summer, with the sharpest learning declines in math, seen especially in low-income students. 6 David M. Quinn and Morgan Polikoff, “Summer learning loss: What is it, and what can we do about it?,” Brookings Institution, September 14, 2017, brookings.edu. Some researchers suggest that despite systems’ best efforts with remote learning, school closures caused by COVID-19 could be even more damaging. One recent analysis projects that students could return in the fall having progressed only 70 percent of a grade in reading and less than 50 percent of a grade in math during the 2019–20 school year. 7 Megan Kuhfeld and Beth Tarasawa, The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement , NWEA, April 2020, nwea.org. If closures extend beyond the fall, this shortfall could be even greater, with negative consequences for individual students and society as a whole. If decision makers believe that their remote-learning offerings are effective and equitable enough to avoid learning shortfalls, then longer school closures may be feasible. However, an uneven rollout of remote learning represents lost learning for every day out of school.

Beyond academics, schools provide important social support, especially to vulnerable students. Indeed, 19 percent of reports of child abuse or neglect in the United States come through education personnel, and school closures have resulted in a steep drop in such reports. 8 Andrew M. Campbell, “An increasing risk of family violence during the Covid-19 pandemic: Strengthening community collaborations to save lives,” Forensic Science International: Reports , April 2020, Volume 2. This change suggests that school closures have shut down support sources for victims of abuse and neglect at the very moment that they are most vulnerable. And although abuse may be less visible to staff during school closures, governments and nonprofits worldwide have recorded higher rates of domestic violence since shutdowns began. Reports of domestic violence increased more than 30 percent in France, 9 Elena Berton, “France to put domestic abuse victims in hotels after jump in numbers,” Reuters, March 30, 2020, reuters.com. 50 percent in India, 10 Rukmini S, “Locked down with abusers: India sees surge in domestic violence,” Al Jazeera , April 17, 2020, aljazeera.com. and 60 percent in Mexico. 11 John Holman, “Domestic abuse spikes in Mexico amid virus outbreak,” Al Jazeera , April 10, 2020, aljazeera.com. With such high stakes, systems that can consistently deliver remote student services—nutrition, safety, and mental-health support—can likely weather longer closures than those who cannot.

Safeguarding readiness

The final consideration to weigh is school systems’ ability to create and consistently follow effective health and safety measures to mitigate the risk of infection. School systems’ infrastructure, budget, supply chains, policies, and culture all contribute to their ability to operate safely after reopening. For instance, a school with unused classroom space and enough classroom aides could stagger schedules, space desks at least six feet apart, and facilitate more but smaller classes. Conversely, schools with strapped budgets, overworked teachers, and crowded classes will have less flexibility. Furthermore, equipping or retrofitting schools for optimal hygiene and sanitation won’t be effective if student behavior cannot or does not adhere to health and safety protocols.

If decision makers believe schools can realistically adopt health and safety protocols that can lower the risk of infection, schools can open earlier. However, if system leaders believe schools are unlikely to be able to limit transmission because they are, by definition, high-contact zones, then schools are likely to remain closed or to open later.

For whom to reopen

Reopening doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision. Schools could selectively reopen, making it easier to keep student groups small and dispersed. Countries are taking varied approaches in deciding which students should return to school first. Denmark and Norway have prioritized reopening pre-primary and primary schools to address childcare for parents who need to return to work. Such an approach can be appealing to decision makers who believe young children are among the lowest-risk groups for both infection and transmission.

Other countries have prioritized students in important transitional years. For example, final-year students in Germany have returned to school to take their final examinations. Physical distancing is easier—and in fact typical—in examination halls, and older students are more likely than younger ones to follow health and safety protocols.

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Alternatively, schools can consider identifying student segments with specific needs and reopening for them. For instance, low-income students, who are less likely to have reliable internet service and devices equipped to support remote learning and who are more likely to rely on school for nonacademic support, may gain academic and wellness benefits (including nutrition) from returning to school. Similarly, students with disabilities (especially ones that make remote learning particularly difficult) might be better served with educational specialists at school. Finally, the children of essential workers might return to school earlier since their parents may not have the option of staying home.

Just as it may be beneficial for some students to return to school, some teachers might be better served working from home. Teachers who are at a higher risk of developing COVID-19 can be identified in advance of school reopening and provide remote instruction to students who are also still at home.

These possibilities are uncharted for many school systems and may require adjustments in both logistics (especially for staffing) and mindsets. For instance, reopening schools for only some students may mean reframing or redefining truancy, especially if a significant number of families opt out of sending their children back to school due to safety concerns. As of publication, Australia’s Northern Territory is letting families opt out of sending children back to school. 12 Judith Aisthorpe and Natasha Emeck, “NT schools stay open but optional for parents to send children to classes now: Chief Minister,” NT News , March 23, 2020, ntnews.com.au. Such examples suggest that school systems may need to continue to offer some level of remote learning, even after most students are back in the classroom.

Health and safety measures to adopt

Like workplaces around the world, schools will need to adopt and enforce heightened health and sanitation protocols. However, schools will likely confront trade-offs between effectiveness and feasibility in implementing such measures.

Measures that can reduce viral spread may be less effective at providing childcare or optimizing learning. For example, alternating school days for different groups of students may facilitate physical distancing but may not fully meet parents’ childcare needs and may create inconsistent learning environments for students. Limited budgets, infrastructure, and supplies of critical health and safety equipment may further complicate these challenges. Most importantly, some measures that are appropriate for adults will be difficult if not impossible to enforce in a school setting, especially for younger students.

Each school system will therefore need to evaluate its health and safety measures to fit its resources and capabilities across four major categories: physical infrastructure, scheduling and staffing, transportation and food service, and health and behavioral policies. Some example health and safety considerations can illustrate how systems can consider feasibility in a school environment.

School infrastructure can facilitate both physical distancing and hygiene protocols. For instance, designated entrances and exits for different student cohorts, sectioned off common spaces, and floor markings to direct foot-traffic flows can help students and staff maintain distance. Similarly, portable hand-sanitizing stations at entrances and common areas can promote regular hygiene—and all of these changes may be made at a reasonable cost. However, permanent changes to the physical environment, such as no-touch bathrooms or upgraded ventilation, may be unrealistic for many school systems’ budgets—especially given the short time frames involved.

School-system priorities in the age of coronavirus

Outside of no-regrets decisions (such as canceling large gatherings), changes in scheduling and staffing are the most likely to affect student learning. For example, while staggered or part-time schedules can help reduce the number of people on campus at a given time, making it easier to maintain a safe distance, these schedules also reduce instructional time. An alternative approach is to divide students into cohorts—for example, by grade or floor—to reduce the level of contact among students and staff to only those within their cohort. 13 Working and learning cohorts are already in use in the private sector; for an example, see Will Anderson, “How Austin factories are practicing social distancing,” Austin Business Journal , March 23, 2020, bizjournals.com. Secondary schools, where students tend to go to subject-specialist teachers’ classrooms, could explore ways to keep consistent groups of students together and trade off some subject-specific learning for more safety.

Transportation and food service, which historically brought students and staff into close physical contact, can adapt to support the school community’s health and safety—though the cost could be high. Increasing the number of bus routes, for instance, or organizing routes by cohort would reduce proximity and exposure but would require more drivers, funding, and sanitization between routes. School systems may instead offer incentives for private transport, but parents may be logistically or financially unable to take their children to school. Food service will also become more complicated: even with pre-boxed lunches and staggered lunch times, full compliance with physical distancing and hygiene may not be attainable, especially for young children.

Finally, systems need to consider which behavioral policies and norms are enforceable during the school day. Temperature checks for anyone entering a school campus may be sensible, yet contactless thermometers are expensive and may be in short supply. Schools will therefore need to decide whether to require everyone to check their temperature at home daily or have school personnel administer checks using standard thermometers. Schools can set up quarantine facilities for students with fevers, but if insufficient coronavirus tests are available it will complicate decisions on when entire student cohorts (or even the entire school) should be sent home.

Consistently wearing masks might also be difficult, if not impossible, to enforce among students. However, frequent scheduled campuswide handwashing and sanitation can help keep the environment and hands relatively clean. Enhanced cleaning of surfaces after the school day can be another vital element of promoting hygiene. Training and frequent reinforcement can help staff, parents, students, and entire communities stay updated on important health and sanitation practices.

As school-system leaders consider a dizzying array of decisions, they will have to make difficult trade-offs using the best and most recent—but still incomplete—available evidence and the knowledge of their own resources and constraints. They will also have to involve parents, teachers, and students in the decision-making process.

As schools reopen under appropriate health and safety protocols, school leaders will then confront a new set of challenges, including reenrollment, remedial academic support, and possibly closing schools again in response to public-health needs. None of this work is easy, but the prize—students learning, parents working, and a virus in retreat—is worth fighting for.

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9 Students Share How They Really Feel About Going Back to School

These students, plus one parent, open up about the wave of emotions that comes with starting a school year unlike any other we've experienced before..

Madeleine Burry

Jessica Fregni

Writer-Editor, One Day

Laura Zingg

Editorial Project Manager, One Day Studio

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep across the country, students, families, and teachers are navigating the new normal of going back to school—while much of the country still shelters in place.

Some students are preparing for a return to remote learning. Others are still unsure of how exactly they will be attending school this year.

We spoke with a few students and their family members from different schools around the country to learn what school will look like for them this fall. They shared their personal experiences with remote learning and how they feel about going back to school in the middle of a pandemic.

Missing Everything About School

‘i just carry on about my day with no specific emotion’.

Syedah Asghar, College Sophomore, Washington, D.C.

Syedah Asghar will begin her second year of college at American University in Washington, D.C., where she studies public relations and strategic communications. After receiving some mixed messages over the summer about the status of her school reopening, Syedah recently learned that her school’s campus will remain closed for the fall semester. She plans to attend remote classes in a few weeks. And like many college students, she is grappling with staying motivated and missing out on the college experience.

College has been a safe space where I’m the most “me.” I would wake up much happier. I had confidence in my routine, and I was surrounded by friends who made me feel excited to start the day. With online learning, I just carry on about my day with no specific emotion. 

The hardest part about attending college remotely is maintaining a routine and motivation. For in-person classes, I would get dressed and have to physically be present which put a start to my day. Now, I sometimes turn on my computer as soon as I wake up and not give myself the mental space ahead of time to start my day. On the plus side, with online learning, there is a lot more flexibility in my schedule since I’m able to complete an assignment on my own timeframe. Most of my professors are honoring mental health, and are more understanding of external factors that impact the quality of education now that we're learning remotely.

Being part of the Enduring Ideas Fellowship has kept me busy working 20 hours a week. I’m also trying to get creative by learning how to cook and attempting new recipes. With my friends, we’ve all been checking-in and making sure we’re able to support one another through these mentally-draining times. Only two of my professors have reached out and asked how we’re doing, so there isn’t much support on that end. 

While it can be mentally challenging and exhausting, I’m very fortunate to have access to technology and internet connection so I can complete my coursework. And I’m able to stay at home and quarantine if need be.

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‘I'm Hoping That Jose Goes Back, Even Though I Know It's Scary’

Marisol Escobedo & Jose Manrrique, 4th grade, Kansas City, Missouri

Fourth-grade student  Jose Manrrique is returning to school at Carver Dual Language in Kansas City, Missouri, in September—virtually, for now. Schools in the Kansas City Public School System will not reopen for in-person instruction until the community’s COVID-19 cases decrease for at least 14 days. While Jose eagerly awaits the day when he can return to the classroom and see his teachers and friends again, his mother, Marisol Escobedo, feels much more conflicted.

Marisol: They're going to be starting online school first, on September 8th. They will do that for a couple of months while the cases keep decreasing, then they will start putting some of the kids back in school. I'm hoping that Jose goes back, even though I know it's scary at the same time for him to go. I'm really worried that he will get sick. I don't want to go through that, it scares me. But I really would like Jose to be able to develop his learning so that he can learn what he's supposed to in school. 

I don't really think that Jose learned much from online classes. Even though I know that the teachers do their best to teach them as much as they can, I don't think it's the same for the kids. 

Especially the younger ages, I think that it's hard for them to be able to teach them everything on a computer—especially because you have multiple children at the same time in the class. For an older student, like my sister, I know that she did really good because she's older. She's 16 and she already knows what she's doing. But for Jose, it was hard.

I'm hoping that they will make the school safe for students, to try to keep them as healthy as they can. I don't know what that process will be, but I'm hoping that everything that they do, they will plan it well. 

Jose:   I want to go back in the school building. I'm hoping that I can still play with my friends and also be in the same class with my friends.

Adapting to a New Normal

‘i have to push myself to get things done’.

Haanya Ijaz, 12th Grade, Dublin, Ohio

Haanya Ijaz is a rising senior at Hilliard Davidson, in Dublin, Ohio where she will be attending remote classes in the fall. She’s also taking classes at Ohio State University, which will be solely online. While she finds in-person classes more interesting and also values the face-to-face time with friends, she knows online learning is safer, and also allows her to independently create a schedule that works for her.

Online classes are definitely a lot more organized this fall than before.

I also think I've gained skills with handling procrastination and sticking to a schedule, so I should be more organized this fall. [The hardest part about online learning is] staying interested and motivated. Without sticking to a schedule, I easily fall into a cycle of procrastination and feeling down, so I have to push myself to get things done and stay on top of my responsibilities. 

Most of my classes should be done before 4 p.m., leaving me room to work on college apps and extracurriculars in the afternoon along with homework. 

I also think I'll have more time for my personal hobbies and interests which have always been something that give me a break outside of academics and keep my mental health in check. I read a lot! I also sketch landscapes, my friends, and characters from my favorite shows. Recently I've gotten back into skateboarding after a one-year-long hiatus, which has been great.

[I feel worried about] college applications and the situation with the state-administered SAT. It's still very gray. [I’m hopeful about my] self-growth and exploration with this extra time at home! I am also looking forward to the remote internship opportunities I will be participating in this fall. 

I would obviously love it if COVID-19 did not exist, but within the current parameters of the situation I'm excited for the courses I am taking and the extracurriculars I am involved in. I also have a huge list of books I need to get through, so staying at home is going to be great for that!

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Nothing Feels Normal Anymore

‘I Walked Out of My High School for the Last Time Without Knowing It’

Becoming a Teacher During the Pandemic

‘I’m Feeling Hopeful About My Ability to Sit in on More Online Classes’

Annabel Morley, 12th Grade, Baltimore, Maryland

Annabel Morley is a rising senior at the Baltimore School of Arts. At least the beginning of Annabel’s final year of high school will be spent at home, where she will be learning remotely. Although Annabel worries about how engaging and supportive online learning will be this year, she’s found a silver lining: More time at home means that she has more time for her artistic pursuits which include writing for CHARM , an online literary magazine that amplifies voices of Baltimore youth and spending time with her family.

I’m not really sure yet what my school day will look like, but I know it will be entirely online. I definitely don’t think I would feel very safe going back to school in person unless CDC guidelines were followed really well. Both my parents are at risk and I wouldn’t want to put them, or my friends’ families, at risk.

The hardest part of attending school remotely is definitely not seeing any of my school friends in person and having some difficulty understanding the content. We have a lot less academic support. I’m most worried about understanding what's going on in my classes—especially in math. I hope that we can find a way for online schooling to be more engaging because it was very difficult to understand or stay focused on a class last spring. 

Now that school is online, I definitely have more time to work on personal projects and interests. For example, I’ve started crocheting and oil painting, and have made a bunch of clothes. During quarantine, I've mainly been doing lots of crafts and baking, Facetiming, and having safe outdoor hangouts with my friends.

My mom and I are really close so it's been nice to be able to spend more time with her, and with all the Facetiming with my friends, I feel like I’ve been really loved and supported during this time. I’m feeling hopeful about my ability to sit in on more online classes and teach myself artistic and personal skills.

‘Honestly, I Would Prefer Learning in a Virtual Setting’

Amia Roach-Valandra, 12th Grade, Rosebud, South Dakota

Amia Roach-Valandra will begin her senior year of high school this fall on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She is also an Enduring Ideas fellow, a student-led leadership initiative to reimagine the future of education. Amia's school will be online during the first quarter, with plans to reevaluate whether to open for in-person classes. Like many students and families, Amia is feeling anxious not knowing what lies ahead.

In this new school year, we are faced with challenges that we never had to face before. My high school reached a decision to go online for the first quarter and have a revaluation in nine weeks. As a student I feel in the dark about the decision that is being made, and anxious about it. If the school isn’t prepared yet, how do they expect students to be prepared? 

Not having a normal school setting may not allow me to be the best student I can be. I’ll have the safety of my health top of mind instead of learning the curriculum. Honestly, I would prefer learning in a virtual setting, and being able to learn from the comfort of my own home. I know I would be able to stay on top of assignments, although I know some students may not feel the same. 

I am also a student-athlete, and I am worried about my school's plan regarding sports. It is definitely a piece of my life that I would want to go back to normal, yet I want to be considerate of my health as well as others. A lot of students depend on sports as a place to escape for a while, and others depend on sports scholarships for college. I am also thinking about those students and how much that will impact them this school year.

‘My Overall Mental and Physical Health Improved Significantly’

Tehle Ross, 10th Grade, Baltimore, Maryland

Tehle Ross is a rising sophomore attending Baltimore City College and a contributor for CHARM , a digital magazine featuring voices of Baltimore youth. She loves studying history and plans to study abroad this year in Italy, a country that has made a remarkable recovery through the pandemic. Her Italian school will be a hybrid of online and in-person at the beginning of the year and Tehle is optimistic about transitioning to all in-person classes.

Attending school remotely has several benefits and shortcomings alike. Each family's living and working situation is different; however, in my personal experience, I noticed that my overall mental and physical health improved significantly when doing school online. I was less stressed because I was able to space out my work as I desired, and I also was able to complete every assignment from the comfort of my own home. Attending school remotely stunted my academic progress, though, I believe, for I am a more focused student when instruction takes place in the classroom with my peers.

The hardest part of attending school remotely was the social isolation from my classmates and teachers. At school, you always feel like you have a community around you, and it is tough to not feel that same sense of community when learning online at home. Additionally, it takes an innate sense of motivation to get assignments done in a timely manner when you are doing work online.

Quarantine has been tough for us all, but I cope and stay busy by doing what makes me happy. I have developed a passion for baking, and I have also been an avid reader and writer. Having game nights with my family and watching movies together lifts my spirits.

My community has been supporting me during this time by checking up on me and staying in touch virtually. Supporting others during this time means prioritizing their safety.

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Worries and Hopes About the Next Chapter

‘this pandemic is serious, but people have stopped taking it seriously’.

Shubhan Bhat, 11th Grade, Baltimore, Maryland

Shubhan Bhat will also begin 11th grade this fall at The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. He enjoys poetry, writing for CHARM  magazine, and studying American government. His school will hold online classes this fall and possibly offer a hybrid option later on. Shubhan prefers remote learning because it’s less stressful and safer for students. But being at home while trying to learn has also been very difficult for Shubhan and his family. 

With remote learning, I gained more time to finish my work, had less stress, and more free time. What is lost is the social aspect of the classes, which is fine with me. I’m hopeful that online classes will be safer than an in-person school and there will be less work.

The hardest part about attending school remotely is being in the house when events happen. I was in my English class when the paramedics came to my house to try and revive my grandfather. I watched my grandfather die right in the middle of class. At that point, because my maternal grandfather also died a month ago, I lost all my motivation to be in class or do work. I left class, and haven’t come back since.

I’ve been getting support through classes and therapy. My family tries to work together on activities so I won’t be depressed during quarantine. My teachers also made my classes optional last spring so that decreased my stress. I don’t really have a lot of friends or go on social media as much as I used to. It used to entertain me, but it’s starting to get boring.

I wish schools in Texas and Florida wouldn't be in-person. I find that in-person classes during the pandemic aren't safe because students are going out in public and have a greater risk of spreading COVID. This pandemic is serious, but people have stopped taking it seriously. And now there is an increase in cases.

‘I Fear All of My College Plans Will Go Out the Window’

Me’Shiah Bell, 11th Grade, Baltimore Maryland

Me’Shiah Bell is a rising 11th grader at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, where students will continue to receive remote instruction this fall. While Me’Shiah believes that remote learning is the best and safest option for now, she worries about what remote learning will mean for her college plans—especially since she’s entering her junior year, a critical time for college admissions. In her free time, Me’Shiah also writes for CHARM online magazine.

I think remote learning is the best option, as it is the safest. However, I think there are quite a few downsides. 

I miss the social interactions, but I realize that it’s unimportant in the long run. The main downside for me is the lack of clarity and communication between the students and teachers. For example, last spring I had a grading error that would have been fixed immediately if I was physically at school. However, since I wasn’t there, there was no sense of urgency, and my concern was disregarded by multiple adults. This caused the situation to be pushed over for much longer than it should’ve been. 

Hopefully, this fall we’ll have a better system to avoid issues like this. I also hope classes will be scheduled like a typical school day, with multiple sessions in a row, and independent work to do between classes. Last spring, teachers could decide if and when classes sessions were held, and everything was very unorganized. Sometimes, the sessions would overlap with other responsibilities I had. 

The hardest part of remote learning has been keeping myself motivated and holding myself accountable. I’m going into my junior year, which is probably the most important year for college admissions, and I don’t feel like I’m able to put my best foot forward. I’ve worked hard to get to the point I’m at now, and I fear that all of my college plans will go out of the window due to circumstances out of my control.

Overall, I’m worried about how prepared I am mentally to adjust to such a huge change, while still continuing to perform well academically. I’m hopeful that my school will be more prepared to accommodate all of our needs so that everyone can have the best possible experience.

‘I Think COVID Gave Me a New Story to Tell the Next Generation’

Rosalie Bobbett, 12th Grade, Brooklyn, New York

This August, Rosalie Bobbett will begin her senior year at Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy (BELA). The first three weeks of school will be held online, after which she will alternate one week of in-person classes and one week of remote learning. Rosalie lives with her parents, siblings, grandmother, and uncle so she’s been extra cautious about quarantining. Going back to in-person classes will be a big adjustment. But she’s ready.

My school is really on top of safety. They're going to make us wear masks. And we have to get a COVID test before we enter the school building. For in-person classes, we're going to stay in one room with 12 other people. The teachers have to rotate to us instead of us traveling in a big group. 

I think with online learning, it gives me an opportunity to move at my own pace and take accountability for my learning. The disadvantages are the lack of talking to people and being in the classroom. I'm very fortunate to be in a school where I have a computer. I know how to work Zoom. I know how to work from Microsoft. Most of my peers don’t even have a computer. And so I'm wondering—how are those students navigating this world right now?

I feel like a lot of students are going to be left behind because of resources or their parents—there might be other children in the home and it's going to be difficult for them to take care of their siblings. The teachers and principals and people who are responsible for their education—I don't want them to lose sight of that child who is behind the screen.

I’m excited about school. It's my senior year. This is the last chapter before entering my adulthood. I think COVID gave me a new story to tell the next generation. It's going to be a lot of mixed emotions, but I know my teachers are going to make my senior year the best that they can.

More Community Voices

“ COVID-19: Community Voices ” offers a glimpse of life and learning during the coronavirus school closures, in the words of students and parents in the communities we serve.

If you'd like to tell your story or would like to suggest a story for us to cover, please email us .

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Can public education return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic?

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, paul t. hill and paul t. hill founder - the center on reinventing public education, research professor - the university of washington bothell, former nonresident senior fellow - the brookings institution ashley jochim ashley jochim senior research analyst, center on reinventing public education - university of washington-bothell @aejochim.

October 29, 2020

In the familiar nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty fell off a great wall and couldn’t be put back together again. After being broken apart by COVID-19, will public education be like Humpty, or can it be put back just as it was? The latter possibility seems simple enough: Wait until the pandemic is over and then, after a year of coping, bring all the students and teachers back into schools as if the shutdown had never happened.

But it won’t be so simple. The shutdown has caused new conflicts among and between parents , teachers , employers , and district leaders, as all negotiate the details of remote learning and whether schools should begin to offer in-person instruction. The crisis has also amplified long-brewing conflicts about inequitable funding and access to quality teachers and effective instruction , as the differences between educational “haves” and “have-nots” have widened .

For now, public education is in chaos, with different schooling combinations of in-person hybrid, fully remote, and plain homeschooling evident—sometimes all in one locality. The politics now and in the foreseeable future will be fierce, just as we predicted in an earlier Chalkboard post. Even when the health crisis wanes, there will be pressures in two directions: one to put the old arrangements back into place just as they were before the pandemic hit, and the other to keep the crisis adaptations that have worked, at least for some students and their families.

Colliding Pressures

We think a return to the pre-coronavirus status quo will prove impossible. Yes, there are strong pressures for a complete return to the pre-pandemic normal. According to CIVIS Analytics , of the families whose children enrolled in new options as a result of the pandemic, 82% say they would like to return to their pre-COVID-19 school once the crisis is over. States, by holding school districts harmless against enrollment losses suffered this year, are making sure the old arrangements don’t collapse. Some crisis adaptations, such as learning pods for children who need help and supervision when schools are not open, depend on private investments that might dry up once the crisis is over.

But there are serious barriers to putting everything back just as it was. The pre-COVID-19 school system was a product of years of small deals, governing everything from curriculum textbook contents to district budgets to the choice of holidays. These deals reflect the politics of days gone by. Today’s politics are very different.

No longer are school districts and teachers’ unions the only arbiters of instruction. Left without safe supervision and effective teaching, advantaged families are turning to private schools, homeschooling, and pandemic pods to fill the gaps. Families, long relegated to the outside of education, are by necessity playing a central role in shaping their children’s education. School leaders and teachers have adapted to the demands of remote learning by identifying new strategies to engage parents and students. Long-standing assumptions about when, where, and how instruction must occur are shifting in ways that make it impossible to simply return to “normal.”

New Politics Continue After 2020-2021

Coronavirus-based disruptions to schools could continue until at least 2024 , and worries about contagion will not go away. Lack of trust among parents about vaccinations and health practices, and worries about especially vulnerable children and teachers, will persist beyond this school year. When students do eventually return to the classroom, parents, teachers, and school systems will confront the reality of missed learning and trauma that will necessitate something other than a simple restart. Advantaged and disadvantaged families alike could demand new investments in small learning communities like pods, tutoring, and emotional support they have come to trust.

At the same time, districts will be struggling with declining enrollment and revenue losses due to the recession. If large numbers of advantaged families who have fled to schooling options outside of public education don’t return, districts won’t have the money to return to normal. Larger urban districts, in particular, will face mismatches between their central office structures and teacher corps as well as the demands and expectations of families.

Teachers’ unions have been strong opponents of a quick return to in-person schooling, but they also have a strong stake in continuing arrangements that leave negotiations over schooling behind closed doors and protect traditional uses of funds and teachers. Unions will eventually want a return to the old normal, but their memberships will likely be divided, with some teachers fearing a return to in-person schooling, some preferring new methods of instruction developed during the pandemic, and others favoring a return to in-person school. Whether teachers’ unions can hold together will depend upon school systems’ mounting effective responses to the crisis in the years to come that meet the changing needs of students, parents, and even teachers themselves.

State and local leadership also have a role to play in what happens next. States that are now requiring schools to reopen, largely led by Republicans, provide some political cover to local district leaders fighting unions’ resistance to in-person instruction. But partisan pressures might weaken after the election posturing ends. Even if partisan state pressures continue, these can’t bypass conflicts among parents and teachers, or prevent enrollment losses. Nor will state pressures stop families, teachers, and school leaders from testing new approaches to deal with day-to-day realities and learning from the results.

What Could Emerge

Horses and men couldn’t put Humpty back together, but good, new things can be built from parts. Forward-looking districts are using this moment to develop creative new possibilities, such as expanding access to their most-effective teachers via remote learning, building new learning communities to serve small groups of students in person, and expanding access to services like tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and enrichment. Some families, left with few options, have charted new paths by forming pods, joining microschools, and taking a much bigger role in ensuring their children have access to adequate instruction and social-emotional supports. Some are assembling their own combinations of in-person and online learning experiences. These efforts could supplement traditional schools or in some cases replace them.

Local leaders who can use this moment to test new approaches to delivering instruction and build new sources of political support will be better positioned to build on these approaches after the COVID-19 crisis. Regardless of how long or short a time the current pandemic lasts, the “normal” in politics and schooling is unlikely to return anytime soon.

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COVID-19: These countries show us what education looks like after lockdown

Many schools are insisting their pupils wear face masks. Image:  REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

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Stay up to date:.

• Schools all across the world are starting to reopen, as countries lift their lockdowns.
• Various measures have been put in place, from social distancing to staggered school times, to keep students safe and reduce the likelihood of transmitting germs.

Public health official Anthony Fauci warned on Tuesday about the dangers to children if U.S. schools are reopened and California’s state university system, the largest in the United States, cancelled classes for the fall semester.

As the U.S. debates when to bring children back into classrooms, phased-in reopenings have begun in numerous countries around the world.

Have you read?

Covid-19: countries around the world are reopening their schools. this is what it looks like, danish parents are refusing to send their children back to school as covid-19 lockdown lifts .

Here’s how schools around the world are trying to protect children as they reopen:

Social distancing measures

Denmark eased its coronavirus lockdown in mid-April by reopening schools and day care centres, although concerns they might become breeding grounds for a second wave of cases convinced thousands of parents to keep their children at home.

Teaching staff there are under instruction to keep social distancing in place between children and, with many school buildings staying closed, some teachers are taking pupils outside and writing with chalk on the playground instead of a blackboard.

In Switzerland, children at Geneva’s La Tour School had to adapt to new rituals, with parents dropping them off at a distance. Classrooms were half full to reduce crowding and desks spaced two metres (6.5 feet) apart.

Under a courtyard shelter in heavy rain, children laughed while others played hopscotch and one girl helped a smaller child put on disposable gloves.

Plastic shields and hand sanitizer

In the Netherlands, the Springplank school in the city of Den Bosch installed plastic shields around students’ desks and disinfectant gel dispensers at the doorways.

“Our teachers are not worried,” said Rascha van der Sluijs, the school’s technical coordinator. “We have flexible screens that we bought so we can protect our teachers if students are coughing.”

The Canadian province of Quebec reopened some of its schools on Monday, as some parents and teachers expressed uncertainty over the move’s safety. The Ecole St-Gerard, in a Montreal suburb, opened with staff wearing visors and using hand sanitizer.

Staggered school shifts

Schools in Australia’s biggest state, New South Wales, reopened on Monday but only allowing students to attend one day a week on a staggered basis.

Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, will resume face-to-face teaching from May 27, weeks earlier than expected. The state including the city of Melbourne will allow teenagers in classrooms first, followed by younger pupils from June 9, Andrew said.

Israel reopened some schools this month but the move was boycotted by several municipalities and many parents who cited poor government preparation.

Kitted with masks and hand-cleaners, the first three grades of elementary school and the last two grades of high school were allowed back, redistributed in classes capped at 15 pupils to enforce social distancing.

Across France, primary school pupils on Tuesday sat at least a metre apart in small classes and listened to teachers in masks on their first day back after two months of home-schooling during the coronavirus lockdown.

Testing and temperature checks

In Cyprus, health workers wearing personal protective equipment tested students for COVID-19 at a school in Nicosia after high schoolers were allowed to return beginning May 11.

In Shanghai, students and staff alike were required to enter the school building via a thermal scanner when school reopened last week after three months of lockdown. The walls are papered with posters on measures to tackle the coronavirus and in the spotlessly clean school canteen, glass walls divide the tables, so only two students can eat together.

It may be more like going to a hospital than a school, but the Shanghai students returning to class after three months of lockdown are thrilled to be there.

“I feel so excited coming back to school. Usually we look forward to the holidays but suddenly our holidays became so long," 17-year-old Zhang Jiayi told Reuters. “This time, we longed to go back to school, where we can see our friends and teachers.”

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Life after lockdown: how do we best recover from the pandemic?

I t was October 2020 when I realised I was going to have to ask for help. I’ve always been anxious, but thanks to the pandemic, I developed debilitating health anxiety. A dire winter was coming and any respite we’d had over the summer felt like it was slipping away. I couldn’t get to sleep and when I finally did, I had nightmares. My stomach churned and my hands shook so badly I had to give up caffeine. I developed a chronic reflux cough and, on more than one occasion, got into such an irrational spiral about it being Covid that I had to book a PCR test just to be able to function.

“One of the most diabolical things about this pandemic is the on and on-ness of it all,” says Amanda Ripley, author of The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why . “Humans can withstand a lot of turmoil and instability if they can recover.” Prior to Covid, Ripley studied people who survived tornadoes and terror attacks, emergencies for which the mental health consequences are much better understood than the long, slow-burn, seemingly endless one we find ourselves living through.

As Ripley knows, this is not the first disaster humans have had to live through, so are there things we can learn from other disasters about what they do to our brains, relationships and communities? And, more importantly, how to make things better?

“There’s a tremendous amount we can learn from how we’ve responded to previous emergencies,” say Dr Brandon Kohrt, professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, who works in Liberia, Uganda and Nepal, dealing with the mental health aftermath of everything from Ebola to earthquakes. “Many low- and middle-income countries, like South Africa, India and Uganda, immediately rolled out mental health and psychosocial plans in February, March and April 2020. They had experienced prior disasters, but these approaches could be just as beneficial in high-resource places like the US and UK,” he tells me, and I can’t help wondering, do we in the Global North think of ourselves with such superiority that we find it hard to learn from the experiences of the Global South?

“With population-wide trauma, a war or a terrorist attack, we heal socially,” says Kohrt. “Being together when the awful thing happens and then healing together is really crucial. People who come together in that healing process tend to do better than those who either self-isolate as a response to distress or are ostracised. So I think what’s happened with Covid is that although the stress isn’t necessarily as acute or sudden as an earthquake or an explosion, the isolation we all experienced in the context of stress and trauma is eating away at us psychologically.”

Not everyone who experiences a disaster will develop a mental health problem: people survive trauma well all the time, but “between 5 and 10% of people who’ve been through traumatic events such as a terrorist attack will go on to develop clinical levels of PTSD,” says Dr Sarita Robinson, who studies the psychobiology of survival at the University of Central Lancashire.

Around one in five people who experience a humanitarian emergency will go on to develop a mental health problem (prevalence of common mental health problems in the global population is about 1 in 10), and rates of serious mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, increase from 2-3% to 3-4%. “Research from 2018 suggested mental health problems double in emergency settings. I wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be the result of the pandemic, too,” says Ashley Nemiro, senior adviser for the global MHPSS Collaborative , which helps people working in crises.

The psychological challenges of Covid are huge, but many practitioners feel they aren’t being addressed at all. Willem van de Put is co-founder of the Mental Health in Complex Emergencies course. “Covid has made things worse and, to the chagrin of leaders in global mental health, everybody is saying we should do something but, basically, absolutely nothing is happening. Governments are not willing to address it.” Investment in mental health is so low that, as Nemiro puts it: “Every country is a developing country when it comes to mental health services.”

Research this year by the Centre for Mental Health , a thinktank, suggests that 8 million British adults and 1.5 million children will need mental health support in the next 10 years as a direct result of the pandemic. Office for National Statistics data already shows rates of depression doubling since the pandemic began, but it isn’t being evenly felt, says Leila Reyburn of mental health charity Mind . “The people who’ve been impacted the most and are continuing to feel that impact are people who had pre-existing mental health problems, people of colour, those living in deprivation and young people.”

“In the UK, we have a system based on late intervention and crisis response,” says Andy Bell from the Centre for Mental Health. “Only a third of people with common mental health problems get support. We don’t offer it quickly and we tend to wait until people’s needs are so severe that they need specialised treatment.”

But work by Kohrt and colleagues shows that early intervention is effective, especially for common mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety – and that it doesn’t always have to be carried out by highly trained professionals. He implements a community-level post-emergency support programme called Problem Management Plus, first developed by the World Health Organization in Pakistan and Kenya in 2015, which he then successfully trialled in Nepal (with similar programmes now running all over the middle- and lower-income world).

Through the programme, anyone with a high-school education can be trained in just a few weeks to deliver psychological support to those who need it, often embedded in places where people seek help for problems with housing or employment, rather than specifically for mental health. Clients get five weekly 90-minute sessions, usually one-to-one, or longer sessions in a small group, and are taught stress-management skills, breath control, problem solving, how to overcome inertia and how to develop a social support network. The final session is about how not to relapse.

“We’re taking interventions that were developed for earthquakes, floods or war, which we’ve used for years, and using them in New York City right now,” Kohrt says. “It doesn’t have to be by psychiatrists or psychologists in a specialised clinical location.”

Similar early intervention projects do exist in the UK, but they’re few and far between. A coalition of charities, including the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition , Mind , YoungMinds and the Children’s Society , is currently trying to push government to “Fund the Hubs’’ and create a network of informal community support centres for children and young people, to which they can self refer. One such hub, the Nest, is already up and running in the London borough of Southwark – and 78% of its users say their wellbeing has improved.

This won’t shock you, but the ongoing nature of the pandemic really isn’t good for us. “Our brains operate in a very different way when they experience prolonged threats: you’re constantly on edge and alert, and that shrinks our ability to empathise with others,” says Kohrt. “We become much more focused on a very tight-knit group, and everybody else seems a threat. What’s most challenging about the pandemic is that even family members became threats – especially pre-vaccines. If kids are going to be a threat to their grandparents’ health or vice versa, suddenly we’re on alert even with people who should be helping us.” This disrupts our ability to be empathic in general. “We become more prejudiced, we become more stigmatising, we become more discriminating.” And if we’re discriminating against our loved ones, imagine how much worse our broader societal discrimination and stigmatisation is.” Which explains quite a lot about now, doesn’t it?

Some of us may find it harder to regulate our emotions, too, says Kohrt, something I can identify with. “We call it ‘self-regulation’, but it’s always a mix of self-regulation and regulation with others. Total reliance on self-regulation of emotions doesn’t work. We’ve evolved to constantly regulate our emotions with our peers.” But even if you were locked down with your family, that might not have helped. “Family units are connected to many other people as well, and if they don’t have contact with extended family, friends, peers, then that family’s own emotional regulation gets disrupted.”

“In humanitarian emergencies, one of the biggest things we do is make sure people have a sense of control and agency,” says Nemiro. “Often that is taken away when their social fabric is destroyed – and the pandemic did the same thing.” While schools, churches and community centres weren’t reduced to rubble, as they might have been in other disasters, they became so hard to access that they might as well have vanished. “Lack of social connection, lack of community and feeling out of control all break down mental health,” says Nemiro.

“The first thing we need is to realise that we have to repair the social fabric,” says Amanda Ripley. “People come to me all the time saying: ‘We don’t know what to do – our church, our school, our town is exploding with conflict.’ There’s so much pent-up frustration, alienation and sadness that has not been dealt with – we will find a target of convenience. After every disaster, there’s a short golden hour of solidarity [rainbows in windows! Clap for carers!] followed by a deep valley of division. Repairing the social fabric needs to be an explicit mission.”

Luckily, the repairs can be simple. “Say I’m a head teacher and I’m going to have parents come to an event in person. Afterwards, I don’t just let everybody go – these are opportunities for connection and we are in a deficit situation – so I serve drinks and snacks outside for half an hour afterward.” So is the casual socialising that we previously thought so little of – the school plays, the church fêtes – more important than we noticed at the time? “Those things are not just pleasant and fun: they’re investments in your future sanity and wellbeing. The way you build community resilience is through knowing each other so that we don’t assume the worst, so that it gets a little harder to demonise each other, and that prepares us for the next disaster,” says Ripley.

Bruce Daisley, former VP of Twitter, has written a book about resilience, Fortitude . “Police and firefighters who were in the thick of the events of 9/11 have been well researched and generally the closer they report being to their colleagues, the better protection to their mental health they felt,” he says. “Resilience is social strength, and social connectedness helps us recover better from operations, prevents us from falling into depression and generally improves wellbeing.”

“A huge part of emotional regulation requires positive interactions with others, including touch – if you look at other species, the way that that’s done is through grooming and other non-sexual touch among group members. We’ve had so little opportunity for that,” says Kohrt. Connecting when we’re in distress is even more powerful. “If I’m not the one in distress, I can help you regulate your distress,” he says. “There’s a feedback loop between the helper and the helpee with neurobiological changes that are health-promoting for both, to the point where helping others probably reduces our inflammatory responses and improves our antiviral responses.”

If we remain in Ripley’s valley of division, though, then “we’re vulnerable to conflict entrepreneurs,” she says. “It is incredibly easy to turn us against each other, whether you’re a politician, pundit or social-media platform. We need to know that and remind ourselves that we don’t want to be played this way. We’re not going to be chumps.”

One way to offset that particular danger as well as helping us to cope with the aftermath of an emergency is to deliberately tell ourselves a story of the experience which allows us to have agency within it. “Reappraisal is one of the main ways we manage our emotions as humans, and it’s probably one of the most sophisticated tricks of the mind,” says Ripley. “Are there stories we can tell ourselves that are true, but also leave us some hope? Yes there has been real suffering and hardship, but maybe you or your child showed remarkable resilience in finding a way to adapt or to be with that loss and still create new things.”

Ripley suggests spending 15 minutes writing your own story of the pandemic, but as though you were a benign third party, observing (you can also do this with kids). “With writing there’s a kind of organisation of the experience that happens in the brain, that you don’t have the space to do when you’re in a disaster that keeps going on and on. Writing a story can create that space and since there’s not enough space for recovery in this type of slow disaster, we have to create it.”

Coincidentally, I recently tried something similar, inspired by an article by Daisy Dowling in the Harvard Business Review . Rather than a story, she encourages us to list our achievements throughout the pandemic – which could include not snapping all your child’s pencils in an impotent rage while home schooling, or cooking 654 dinners in a row since March 2020, as well as more traditional wins. It was an uplifting way to look back and reframe the shitshow of the last two years.

Does writing a story give the emergency a longed-for ending, too? “The brain wants an ending because the brain needs psychological certainty,” says Ripley. “There is no end, but by repeatedly creating a narrative that has a conclusion maybe we could give it an end.”

Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email [email protected]. You can also contact Mind at 0300 123 3393

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First day at school, amid the pandemic, both parents and children are happy to be back at school, and do not wish to return to distance learning..

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This September, the start of the school year seemed more overwhelming than ever before. One could observe the mixed feelings of excitement, joy, and confusion among the students, parents, and teachers at Sagarejo’s Public Schools #1 and #4.

Early morning on the first day of school, students began gathering in the garden of Sagarejo’s Public School #4. While it is not mandatory for the students to wear masks, many of them — including the youngest among them — were voluntarily covering their faces. This was not done solely for the purpose of hygienic protection, but also to demonstrate students’ awareness about COVID-19. After the many weeks of distance learning, which was challenging for children, parents, and teachers alike, the willingness to go back to normal learning processes is now demonstrably high; everyone displays a readiness to comply with the new safety regulations set by the government.

All the standard safety procedures are observed as children enter the school building: they pass a disinfection barrier, a thermal screening, and they sanitize their hands. These procedures delay entrance to the classroom, so children have to be at school 30 minutes earlier ensuring timely arrival for their first lessons.

Although hand sanitizers are installed throughout the building, teachers also encourage the children to go to the restrooms and wash their hands after each lesson.

The first day back in the classroom was unusual and emotional for both students and teachers. Wearing a mask, which is mandatory for teachers, makes their jobs physically harder due to the strained breathing. Masks also cover their emotional expressions, requiring students to focus harder to equally understand the information teachers are conveying.

The first lesson for all students was dedicated to sharing more information about COVID-19 and related safety regulations. Children were also introduced to their daily schedules.

First graders were overwhelmed by their first day back at school, however, those feelings would have been present with or without COVID-19. The first graders’ parents believe that their children’s feelings towards school depend greatly on developing an uninterrupted routine of in-school attendance. Some parents think that distance learning could ruin the children’s overall understanding of the school, and moreover, that this could be damaging to their mental health.

Both parents and children are happy to be back at school, and do not wish to return to distance learning. They say that they are ready to follow all the regulations set by the authorities.

Eighth grade students emphasize how important it is to be physically present in the classroom, to interact with friends, and to share opinions about different subjects with each other and with their teachers.

The readiness and enthusiasm of the parents, children, and administration to adapt to the new set of in-school rules makes the safe management of the learning process possible during this shared COVID-19 reality.

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Back to school after lockdown: The effect of COVID-19 restrictions on children's device-based physical activity metrics

Affiliations.

• 1 Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine Research Centre (A-STEM), Swansea University, Swansea SA18EN, UK.
• 2 Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine Research Centre (A-STEM), Swansea University, Swansea SA18EN, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
• PMID: 35092856
• PMCID: PMC8802675
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2022.01.009

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and national lockdowns took away opportunities for children to be physically active. This study aimed to determine the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on accelerometer-assessed physical activity (PA) in children in Wales.

Methods: Eight hundred participants (8-18 years old), stratified by sex, age, and socio-economic status, wore Axivity AX3 accelerometers for 7 days in February 2021, during the lockdown, and in May 2021, while in school. Raw accelerometer data were processed in R-package GGIR, and cut-point data, average acceleration (AvAcc), intensity gradient, and the acceleration above which the most active X minutes are accumulated (MX) metrics were extracted. Linear mixed models were used to assess the influence of time-point, sex, age, and socioeconomic status (SES) on PA.

Results: During lockdown, moderate-to-vigorous PA was 38.4 ± 24.3 min/day; sedentary time was 849.4 ± 196.6 min/day; mean ± SD. PA levels increased significantly upon return to school (all variables p < 0.001). While there were no sex differences during lockdown (p = 0.233), girls engaged in significantly less moderate-to-vigorous PA than boys once back in school (p < 0.001). Furthermore, boys had more favorable intensity profiles than girls (intensity gradient: p < 0.001), regardless of time-point. PA levels decreased with age at both time-points; upper secondary school girls were the least active group, with an average M30 of 195.2 mg (while in school).

Conclusion: The lockdown affected boys more than girls, as reflected by the disappearance of the typical sex difference in PA levels during lockdown, although these were re-established on return to school. Upper secondary school (especially girls) might need specific COVID-recovery intervention.

Keywords: Accelerometer; Intensity gradient; MX metrics.

Copyright © 2022. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.

Publication types

• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
• COVID-19* / epidemiology
• Communicable Disease Control
• Sedentary Behavior

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Reopening Of School After Lockdown – A Journey From Fear To Joy By Amlan Chakraborty

Covid-19 Pandemic is probably one of the biggest disasters after World War Two. The entire world suffered partial or complete lockdown. A virus that cannot be even seen via a normal microscope stopped the entire world.

It is anticipated, Novel Corona Virus, SARS-CoV-2originated in bats and jumped to humans at one of the open-air markets of Wuhan – a cosmopolitan town of China in December 2019. Due to its rapid infectious nature, the virus started spreading from one to other humans rapidly, and gradually the virus was spread to each of the countries. World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020. People across the world tried to return to their homes. Due to interaction with people in airport/ rail station and public transport the virus was spreading exponentially. On January 27, 2020, the first case of Covid-19 was detected in India. The patient was a 20-year-old lady from Trissur, Kerala. In our state West Bengal, the first case of the same disease was detected on 17th March 2020. The situation in India was gradually getting worsened from that day. Considering the scenario, the honorable Prime Minister of India first declared a Janta Curfew (People’s Curfew) to on 22nd March Sunday followed by a Complete Lockdown in the country from the midnight of 25th March 2020.

From that time the entire world started suffering from fear. The situation bore a resemblance to the great novel “The Plague” by French novelist Albert Camus. Like the novel, the government organized special words in the hospitals for the Covid patients but all the beds were getting filled within few weeks. Doctors were confused about how to handle the situation. Homes were quarantined. People stopped socializing. Public transports were completely closed and the roads were empty. None dared to go out of the home except those who had to go to purchase medicine and bare minimum food. But even in those cases, police asked them to stop. Everybody was frightened.

A huge number of offices were completely stopped their business. As a result, a large number of people lost their jobs. To curb the spread of the coronavirus most of the offices asked their employees to work from home via online media. Even the academic sector was also started running online. But it created several issues, especially for the school students. All stakeholders, like students, guardians, teachers were in trouble. First, the internet connection was not stable to give or follow the lessons, secondly, all the families were not well off to provide smartphone or tablet to their children, thirdly, school students were feeling severe depression without the physical presence of their beloved friends even they were getting unfit without any physical activity, Moreover, it was hardly possible for the parents to monitor kids to prevent possible misuse of internet. Somehow the educational system was running with hiccups.

Unlock process was partially started from the mid of July 2020. Different sectors were reopening. But educational sectors were still functioning online. The Central Government of India asked State Governments to take decisions about the same. Though some of the states decided to start classes on school campuses it caused a sudden hike in the number of daily affected patients. Other states were skeptical whether to reopen the school campuses or not.

Finally, in February 2021, the school campuses in West Bengal were set to reopen for offline classes. Considering the board examination, the pupils of class IX, X, XI, XII were asked to attend classes from school.

To observe the process of reopening the school campus, I visited to a renowned and reputed government school of College Street (the education hub of Kolkata) where students belonging to middle or lower-middle-class families usually come. Moreover, I was interested to check, how a government school be compliant with the Covid-19 protocols with limited resources.

Visiting the school first I noticed a tense scenario. Haphazard classrooms without students mirrored the insanity and fear in the educational system of the society. Tensed teachers were discussing among themselves to make guidelines for adhering to the Covid-19 protocols. A parent-teacher meeting was scheduled prior to the reopening date. In the said meeting, the school authority proclaimed the rules to follow. Guardians were also naturally scared and quizzical about their kids.

Finally, the D-day came. First, the school campus was completely disinfected and students started coming. The joy and excitement of their eyes were shadowed by the fear of being affected by the deadly virus. Probable risk caused by disinfecting chemicals also frightened them. At last, the classes were started. Gradually the teenage students started overcoming the fear and at last, the student life got back to the normal rhythm.

In this photo story, the process of reopening the school and the way to get back to normal rhythm from fear has been shown.

About Amlan Chakraborty

I am Amlan Chakraborty from Kolkata. By profession, I am a solution architect of Tata Consultancy Services. Apart from my job I am a traveler, travel writer, blogger, and photographer. I use photography as a medium of expressing my views about nature, people, cultural and socio-political incidents. I was graduated from the University of Calcutta and completed Earlier, I was a painter and completed a Senior Diploma in Fine Arts from SarbabharatiyaCharu-o-KarukalaNiket.

My travelogues and photographs have been published in national media like Live History India and local newspapers and magazines like The Telegraph, EiSamay, SukhiGrihokon, Apon Path, etc.

You can find Amlan Chakraborty on the Web:

Copyrights: All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Amlan Chakraborty.  Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.

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My First Day of School After Lockdown Essay

My first day of school after lockdown essay.

As we know, students have not been to schools and colleges since the pandemic started in the year 2019. 

Now, the government of India has decided to open schools and colleges. In this article we are going to discuss;

Essay on reopening of schools after lockdown.

So let's begin. 

A day before my first day of school, I was very excited to see my school again. I was also excited to meet my school friends, whom I was missing a lot. I also was missing my teachers who are very supportive and encouraging to us. They always keep us motivated for our studies.

In the morning of that very day, I got dressed up and ready for school. 

I boarded on a school bus and reached the school within 30 minutes. I was amazed to see teachers checking masks and hand sanitizers at the school gate.

As I entered my school campus, I happen to see my friends and teachers. But was not able to hug my friends as it is not allowed because of the safety measures. Teachers welcomed us with their kind expressions. 

I was feeling new. It was a new world for me. And then we did some exercises. It freshened our bodies. 

We entered the classroom and there were only a few benches. And we were instructed to maintain social distancing.

Our teachers started teaching us subjects one by one. But to be honest, I was not in a learning mood. I was there to enjoy with my friends. The first few minutes, it was a kinda awkward moment but then It felt really good to have offline lectures. 

And at 1:00 PM we were granted the launch break. But everyone was instructed not to share food. And we followed our teacher's instructions. Everyone followed the social distancing. 

The first day of my school was exciting. I met my friends and teachers. The friendly behavior of the teachers was excellent.

Some points to remember.

• We should always follow the instructions of our teachers.
• We should not indulge in bad activities.
• We should maintain social distancing.
• We should not share food with our friends.

My First Day of School After Lockdown Essay in 200 Words

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Student Opinion

Has Your Relationship to School Attendance Changed Since the Pandemic?

School absences have exploded across the United States. What do you make of this trend?

By Jeremy Engle

Take a look at the graph above. It shows rates of chronic absence in the United States since 2016. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What story does it tell about the state of education today? What headline would you write to capture the graph’s main idea?

Does the information in the graph surprise you? Or is the problem of absenteeism something you have observed in your own school and classrooms?

In “​ Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere ,” Sarah Mervosh and Francesca Paris write about how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed families’ lives and the culture of education itself, making attendance feel optional for many:

In Anchorage, affluent families set off on ski trips and other lengthy vacations, with the assumption that their children can keep up with schoolwork online. In a working-class pocket of Michigan, school administrators have tried almost everything, including pajama day, to boost student attendance. And across the country, students with heightened anxiety are opting to stay home rather than face the classroom. In the four years since the pandemic closed schools, U.S. education has struggled to recover on a number of fronts, from learning loss , to enrollment , to student behavior . But perhaps no issue has been as stubborn and pervasive as a sharp increase in student absenteeism, a problem that cuts across demographics and has continued long after schools reopened. Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic, according to the most recent data, from 40 states and Washington, D.C., compiled by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute . Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason.

The article continues:

The trends suggest that something fundamental has shifted in American childhood and the culture of school, in ways that may be long lasting. What was once a deeply ingrained habit — wake up, catch the bus, report to class — is now something far more tenuous. “Our relationship with school became optional,” said Katie Rosanbalm, a psychologist and associate research professor with the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. The habit of daily attendance — and many families’ trust — was severed when schools shuttered in spring 2020. Even after schools reopened, things hardly snapped back to normal. Districts offered remote options, required Covid-19 quarantines and relaxed policies around attendance and grading .

Ms. Mervosh and Ms. Paris look at why students are missing school, describing how the “new calculus among families is complex and multifaceted”:

Across the country, students are staying home when sick , not only with Covid-19, but also with more routine colds and viruses. And more students are struggling with their mental health, one reason for increased absenteeism in Mason, Ohio, an affluent suburb of Cincinnati, said Tracey Carson, a district spokeswoman. Because many parents can work remotely, their children can also stay home. For Ashley Cooper, 31, of San Marcos, Texas, the pandemic fractured her trust in an education system that she said left her daughter to learn online, with little support, and then expected her to perform on grade level upon her return. Her daughter, who fell behind in math, has struggled with anxiety ever since, she said. “There have been days where she’s been absolutely in tears — ‘Can’t do it. Mom, I don’t want to go,’” said Ms. Cooper, who has worked with the nonprofit Communities in Schools to improve her children’s school attendance. But she added, “as a mom, I feel like it’s OK to have a mental health day, to say, ‘I hear you and I listen. You are important.’”

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

Has your relationship to school changed since the pandemic began? Have you noticed any differences in your own attendance?

The article says that “the trends suggest that something fundamental has shifted in American childhood and the culture of school, in ways that may be long lasting.” Does that resonate with your own experiences? Do you agree with Katie Rosanbalm, a psychologist and associate research professor at Duke University, who said that “our relationship with school became optional”?

What is your reaction to the article and the accompanying graphs? Were you surprised to learn that about 26 percent of students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic? Is the problem of absenteeism something you have observed in your own school and classrooms?

The article notes that student absenteeism is “a leading factor hindering the nation’s recovery from pandemic learning losses” and that “a rotating cast of absent classmates can negatively affect the achievement of even students who do show up.” How has the rise in absenteeism affected you?

Ms. Mervosh and Ms. Paris describe how schools are scrambling to improve attendance. The Ypsilanti school district in Michigan, they say in the article, has tried a bit of everything, including home visits, themed dress-up days and, after noticing a dip in attendance during winter months, warm clothing giveaways. What do you think of these strategies? What else do you think schools should do to address the problem?

How concerned should we be about the issue of chronic absenteeism? Is it the “new normal,” or just a minor, temporary problem? What do you think adults — parents, teachers, reporters and politicians — should know about young people and their relationship to school as we move forward?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Jeremy Engle joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2018 after spending more than 20 years as a classroom humanities and documentary-making teacher, professional developer and curriculum designer working with students and teachers across the country. More about Jeremy Engle

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New Delhi: Children who have been studying online for almost two years are now back to school in most parts of the country, but their behaviour suggests they are not transitioning well, school authorities, parents and education experts have told ThePrint.

Schools in most parts of the country have reopened in the last two months and children are getting re-integrated into the system. However, in the ‘new normal’, the school too has changed from pre-pandemic times. While most children think “it’s a relief” to be back in school in person instead of interacting with teachers and classmates through a screen, the transition is challenging, according to teachers and school authorities.

Hinting at a similar reality, a UNICEF report released earlier this week found that 14 per cent of young Indians are depressed in Covid times, but are unwilling to talk about it. This is the kind of behaviour that school authorities ThePrint spoke to have also found among students, saying kids are finding the transition difficult. They are not participating in class activities and would rather keep to themselves. They are not their “former selves”, the school authorities said.

Also read: Over 2.9 crore children in India don’t have access to digital devices, govt report reveals

Challenges in return to classrooms

“With everyone being worried about kids going back to school, especially the parents, the children will also come with some fear in their minds preventing them from returning smoothly to what was normal,” said Nirvaan Birla, director of Birla Open Minds Schools, which run in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP and others.

Birla added that teachers and principals in his schools have noticed children finding it difficult to interact with each other, and this is especially so with younger students.

“Getting children to open up is a challenge by itself without all of the changes the pandemic brought on. This time around, there is going to be a lot of added effort needed to achieve this. Their sleeping and eating patterns as well as the amount they interact with each other has changed, making the usual teaching and learning style a little difficult to maintain,” he said.

Keeping students calm and helping them ease back into the everyday routine is key at this point, Birla added.

Rajesh Bhatia, educationist and founder and CEO of Treehouse Education & Accessories Ltd, which provides preschool education services in Mumbai, told ThePrint that the environment children are now experiencing in schools post-pandemic “is different and we should give them time to adjust and let them be”.

“Children are welcoming coming back to school, it was a leap of freedom for them… They were frustrated being boxed up at home,” Bhatia said.

To welcome children back to schools, one has to understand how things have changed from their perspective, he continued.

“The child has two varieties of pressure — from the parent, that he or she has to be safe, and then there is the whole pressure of being in school. He or she sees a school which is not the same… you have to maintain distance, there is a security officer watching your temperature, you have to keep sanitising yourself. Even for adults, things are not the same anymore, so how do we expect children to feel the same?” Bhatia asked.

Teenage kids refuse to open up

Yogita Joshi, a counsellor at a private school in Delhi, said she agrees with the findings of the UNICEF report. “Getting students, specially the teenage kids, to interact with each other was anyway a difficult task, and now with the pandemic and all the restrictions, they just conveniently avoid each other. It’s not good for them… Their mental health is suffering,” said Joshi.

“After being cooped up at home for more than a year, we were not exactly expecting a smooth transition for the kids, but what is more worrying is that they do not even want to open up about it,” she added.

Mamta Tripathi, who has a teenage daughter attending school in Noida, said she has been facing issues for the past one year. “I cannot get my daughter to participate in any family activity… She is mostly on her phone or laptop. I fear that being cooped up inside the house for such a long time has made her anti-social,” Tripathi said.

“I was hopeful that once she starts going back to school, things will change, but that has also not happened. I am giving her time to deal with things… just like most parents,” she added.

Students from low income families have it worse 

Students in government schools were the most affected by school closure as many of them did not have access to devices for attending online classes. However, they are also struggling with the transition back to the classroom. Their challenges are different and in some cases more serious.

Braja Kishore Pradhan, founder of Aahwahan Foundation, a Bengaluru-based not-for-profit organisation working for children’s education, told ThePrint that many children attending government schools are facing financial difficulties as either or both of their parents have lost jobs because of the pandemic.

“After schools reopened, kids were very happy to come to school because online education is not good for underprivileged kids. But with Covid, there are new challenges for students. Those whose parents lost their jobs have to now worry about how their parents will get them meals or stationery or uniforms. This is not something that students would be bothered about earlier,” said Pradhan.

He added that Covid has also led to an increase in the number of girls dropping out of school. “With the schools we work for, we have noticed that many girls have dropped out after schools reopened. Parents who can afford to teach only one child because of financial difficulties are choosing to teach boys over girls,” he added.

(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)

Also read: Week after reopening, Delhi govt schools are buzzing, private classrooms emptier than ever

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Their prayers were answered.

Six inmates who cited “religious beliefs” when suing their upstate New York prison to view Monday’s solar eclipse have reached a settlement allowing them to witness the astronomical marvel.

The prisoners at Woodbourne Correctional Facility — who include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two practitioners of Santeria and even one atheist — will be allowed to observe the celestial wonder from the prison’s yard, the inmates’ lawyers said in a statement Thursday.

The prison system will even provide the inmates with glasses to watch the event safely “in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the attorneys said.

But the fate of thousands of other inmates across New York remains in limbo after corrections department officials announced that outdoor activities would be  barred between 2 and 5 p.m. , during the period when the Moon will eclipse the Sun and temporarily send much of the state into complete darkness.

And inmates who don’t have a religious reason to view the phenomenon may out of luck — as the settlement does not cover them at all.

“We’ve got people who don’t believe in God, and they still want to watch the eclipse,” one of the plaintiffs, Jean-Marc Desmarat told the news website Hell Gate. “They want to be able to watch it, they want to be part of something magnificent.” 

The deal comes days after the inmates, with pro-bono help from law firm Alston & Bird, filed a lawsuit arguing that they have a constitutional right to see the eclipse — calling it “a religious event that they must witness and reflect on to observe their faiths” in court papers.

Attorney Chris McArdle told the Post Friday that the inmates were “ecstatic” when he informed them in a Thursday afternoon phone call that they’d be able to view the eclipse.

“They were very, very happy to hear the news,” the attorney said.

The suit notes that an eclipse-like phenomenon is described in the Bible during Jesus’ crucifixion and that Islamic books of worship depict a similar event during the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s son.

Even the atheist plaintiff, Jeremy Zielinski, argued that it is a “central aspect of atheism to celebrate common humanity and bring people together to encourage people to find common ground.”

Everything to know about the 2024 solar eclipse

• The solar eclipse will take place Monday, April 8, blocking the sun for over 180 million people in its path.
• The eclipse will expand from Mexico’s Pacific Coast across North America, hitting 15 US states and pulling itself all the way to the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
• New Yorkers will experience the solar eclipse just after 2 p.m. Monday.
• A huge explosion on the sun , known as a coronal mass ejection, is anticipated, according to experts. This happens when massive particles from the sun are hurled out into space, explains Ryan French of the National Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado.
• To avoid serious injury to the eyes, it is necessary to view the event through proper eyewear like eclipse glasses , or a handheld solar viewer, during the partial eclipse phase before and after totality.
• The next total solar eclipse will take place on Aug. 12, 2026, and totality will be visible to those in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and a small slice of Portugal. 

He claimed he was granted approval by the corrections department to view the eclipse, but just days later, officials announced they would lockdown the state’s prisons during the astronomical event.

A spokesperson for the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said the agency had already begin analyzing requests to view the eclipse before the suit was filed.

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“The lawsuit came to an appropriate resolution,” the spokesperson said.

Woodbourne, in Sullivan County, is not near the zone of totality but many of maximum and medium security prisons are, including Attica – home of the deadly 1971 riot, and Clinton Correctional Facility, where Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from in 2015.

The next full solar eclipse isn’t expected to happen until 2044.

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