The CDC released a report about the effect of closing schools will have on school children. The report challenges “families and policymakers… to consider the full spectrum of benefits and risks of both in-person and virtual learning options.” The CDC acknowledges that we’re all concerned about children’s health but they also say that children are minimally impacted by COVID compared to regular flu viruses. The CDC suggests that we must weigh all factors before considering school closure including “the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant.” In-person learning is critical to a child’s education and its in their best interest that we find safe ways for them to return this fall.
CDC COVID Data Tracker. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/. Accessed on July 21, 2020.