These kids’ primary challenge isn’t a lack of Internet. It’s a lack of parents willing and able to keep them safe and well fed. This problem is highly exacerbat

These kids’ primary challenge isn’t a lack of Internet. It’s a lack of parents willing and able to keep them safe and well fed. This problem is highly exacerbated when the public school these children would escape to 5 days a week—where they would be safe, fed, and educated—gets shut down. School, for example, is where they will meet caring adults that possibly will build up enough of a rapport with them that they might even disclose the abuse they could be subjected to at home. Child abuse reports have dropped precipitously since COVID lockdowns began. While there may be a small number of districts which can’t provide a half-dozen reusable masks and some hand sanitizer to each teacher, PPE is by and large not the issue causing teachers to protest returning to classrooms. Many teachers desperately want to return to classrooms where they can actually teach and interact with the students they adore, versus the mind numbing insanity of trying to corral 20-30 elementary school students over a Zoom call. The “safety of children” cannot be measured on a single axis. There is no one measure which is ethically dominant of all others. This is the “train-switch” dilemma writ large. It’s important to discuss and research the prevalence and magnitude of the myriad destructive and deadly consequences of closing schools. Most importantly, while a minority of students may live with high-risk family members, the vast majority do not and the people in the position to make the delicate and deliberate decision of whether their children should attend in-person classes are the parents/guardians of each family.