U.S. students begin another school year under a cloud of uncertainty as the coronavirus delta strain runs out across the country, threatening to disrupt plans for the second year in a row.
The unpredictability of the pandemic has caused great anxiety for both children and teachers, who are trying to return to face-to-face school for the first time since March 2020, with persistent fears that COVID-19 could once again endanger the educational routines.
The back-to-school season has left children and families with mixed feelings. Many are happy to return to face-to-face class after months of e-learning, while some adults are watching the rise in pediatric cases and hospitalizations.
Already, schools in 19 states have sent at least 90,000 students into quarantine, while others have closed just days and weeks a year.
“Routines are so important to children and we all live in a state where routines are impossible to predict,” said Sheila Desai, director of educational practices for the National Association of School Psychologists. “So it’s clear that with uncertainty comes anxiety.”
Students often experience anxiety when they begin a new school year as they adjust to new teachers, classmates, and workloads, experts said. But this year, COVID-19 accumulates more stressors for students, as much of the future is left in the air.
This summer, Boston Children’s Hospital saw that there were more children showing symptoms of anxiety in the hospital than in previous seasons at the pre-pandemic school, Patricia Ibeziako, head of clinical services at the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Boston Children’s Hospital, he said.
“We simply see much higher volumes of patients reporting anxiety in the context of pandemic-related impacts,” he said.
Levels of anxiety among children and adolescents had already increased and increased demand for the limited number of pediatric mental health professionals before the pandemic hit the country.
With the additional stress of COVID-19, school psychologists are expected to be “stretched even more” than in previous years, Desai said, so the group is pushing for the lack of school psychologists to be addressed.
“We know the need for us is greater than ever, and it’s always been fantastic,” he said. “So I hope there is an opportunity for schools and state agencies to invest in school psychologists and mental and behavioral support in schools and make it a priority.”
The Biden administration has intensified efforts to fund mental health, including the American Rescue Plan, part of which is intended to strengthen mental health resources. Biden’s budget also earmarked another $ 1 billion to increase the number of counselors, school psychologists, nurses and social workers in schools, according to a Department of Education spokesman.
The highly transmissible delta variant has also raised concerns among some students, parents and teachers, as children’s infections increase during the back-to-school season. Many students remain unvaccinated and are vulnerable to the strain, as children under 12 are not eligible to receive the vaccine at this time.
The increase in cases among children caused the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Rochelle Walensky
Rochelle Walensky: Walensky says “now is the time” to fight gun violence: CDC reports: unvaccinated and unmasked teacher caused an outbreak in primary school Overnight care: Biden received a inconclusive intellectual report on the origin of COVID-19 MORE call on schools that do not follow the agency’s guidelines, including masking, to “do the right thing.” He said the agency’s investigations found that “usually” major outbreaks occur in these schools.
“I want to make a firm appeal to those districts that have not implemented prevention strategies and encourage them to do the right thing to protect the children in their care,” Walensky said during a briefing on Friday.
The CDC has urged all schools to reopen face-to-face learning this fall, recommending masks for all those 2 years of age or older in order to keep schools running face-to-face and not close due to outbreaks.
Some Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantisTexas Governor Greg Abbott hates government mandates unless he loves them. Howard Dean calls DeSantis a “demented man” for manipulating COVID-19 MORE, have banned mask warrants in schools, but have faced the challenge of school officials and a series of court battles.
The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, described as “terrible for children” the “polarization and politics” included in the COVID-19 speech, as it causes more confusion about how to prevent viral spread.
“All this anger and polarization actually makes anxiety worse because people don’t know who to believe,” he said. “Misinformation and cultural wars are becoming as big a problem as COVID.”
Meanwhile, children’s hospitals are also being pushed to the limit with revenue hikes that some public health experts fear will grow with the return of schools.
The Children’s Hospitals Association asked Biden to provide “immediate help” to pediatric hospitals in a letter Thursday, warning that it may not have enough beds or staff to care for children if demand increases.
While hospitalizations and deaths remain “uncommon” for children who have a delta variant, pediatric hospitalizations have increased with the delta strain, and experts say another variant could emerge that could affect children more severely.
A total of 1,500 children are currently hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19, including 317 in Texas and 215 in Florida, according to federal data updated Friday afternoon.
While anticipating what will happen with COVID-19 is difficult, experts say school leadership can help alleviate children’s concerns with clear communication, transparency, and the development of a sense of community.
Tamar Chansky, a Philadelphia area psychologist who addresses children’s mental and emotional health needs, is “a key ingredient in their educational success this year.” He encouraged the patience of schools instead of immediately rushing to try to catch students academically with “emotional taxes”.
“If they emotionally have experiences that they believe no one knows and feel very alone, they will not be able to learn this state,” he said.
Christine Crawford, associate medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, noted that schools should publish “concrete plans” for different scenarios that could occur to alleviate concerns.
“That way, people feel more prepared and can feel better able to anticipate any potential change,” he said.
He stressed that schools should prioritize the mental health of children as they return to schools.
“Mental health is part of good overall health,” he said. “A conversation cannot be held about the health and well-being of children, the health and well-being of students when it comes to COVID-19 without considering the effects of this pandemic on mental health.”