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My fourth grader has had a hard time during the pandemic, with a lot of depression and anger. Once he could go back to school, his mood switched completely to h

My fourth grader has had a hard time during the pandemic, with a lot of depression and anger. Once he could go back to school, his mood switched completely to his original self. But there are kids in his class in pretty marginal home situations. One kid came back completely different, with a lot of rage and anger. She was getting into fights. It was her first time back to any school (virtual or otherwise) in more than a year. Another came back and falls asleep in class. She stays up till midnight watching TV. I don't feel like public schools were truly weighing the risks to children's mental health when they kept schools closed. Childhood trauma has long term lasting health effects and can shorten lifespan by _decades_ (see the ACES study[1]) 1 - https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

CharlesW 5y ago
> My fourth grader has had a hard time during the pandemic, with a lot of depression and anger. Once he could go back to school, his mood switched completely to his original self. I had a similar experience with my kids. It's been a hard year for everyone. Your post focuses on the kids, but I don't think it's been any easier for teachers or parents. > I don't feel like public schools were truly weighing the risks to children's mental health when they kept schools closed. At least where I live, schools were never closed, we just switched to remote learning. And of course, that hand was initially forced and was constantly re-evaluated until in-person learning reached a level of acceptable risk again.
- softwaredoug 5y ago
  Sorry I should have clarified, I meant "closed" as in "virtual". Which for a lot of families is effectively "closed" given how school is such a focus for social services and social/emotional learning.
gilbetron 5y ago
I would've been 100% ok during being at home the past year+ except for our middle schooler - he's doing ok, generally, but he's gained a lot of weight and is less happy than he was. I despise how our society handled education. Sure, we kept our kid isolated, but the majority of the country didn't, and so keeping kids out of schools didn't help, all we got out of it is a major mental health issue in our children that will last for years. Ventilation and masks, plus shutting down school for a couple of weeks if there is a significant outbreak, and we would've managed this crisis so much better. Instead you have half the country saying "fuck it" and sending kids to school no matter what, and the other half refusing to open schools at all but then letting kids playing with other kids in "pods" (when the also let kids be in multiple pods).
- softwaredoug 5y ago
  Yep a lot of irrational behavior around Covid driven by both ends of the partisan divide. Either you live in camp “Covid doesn’t exist” or the other “keep things closed at all costs”. And lots of social pressure to not advocate the obvious, rational approach. Advocate for sane approach to in person school in our town and you can get yelled out for being a kooky anti masker.
- AndrewUnmuted 5y ago
  > Sure, we kept our kid isolated, but the majority of the country didn't You didn't have to keep your child isolated - did you expect nothing bad to happen if you took this course of action? Sorry to suggest this, but it really seems like you are the cause of your kid's difficulties. > sending kids to school no matter what Why is this not the default in your household? What is more important than your child's growth and mental development? They would have handled getting sick just fine, like kids always do every time there's a bad seasonal respiratory virus out there.
  - gilbetron 5y ago
    It's amazing how some people have gone through the past year and are still completely oblivious to what just happened to the world.
lettergram 5y ago
Go to the school board meetings. Voice your anger, vote accordingly.
ishjoh 5y ago
In September of 2020, around me all of the private schools were open for in person learning 5 days a week, all of the public schools were online only. Later in the school year, public schools moved to a modal of 1/2 the class being in person and 1/2 the class being online for any given day except for Monday where all students were online only. Finally, a few weeks before the end of the year, public schools allowed all students to return to class for the entire week. Private schools did not see major outbreaks of Covid. Teachers at private schools were no more likely to get Covid than the general population. This generation of kids will pay a heavy price for these school shutdowns.

CharlesW 5y ago

> My fourth grader has had a hard time during the pandemic, with a lot of depression and anger. Once he could go back to school, his mood switched completely to his original self. I had a similar experience with my kids. It's been a hard year for everyone. Your post focuses on the kids, but I don't think it's been any easier for teachers or parents. > I don't feel like public schools were truly weighing the risks to children's mental health when they kept schools closed. At least where I live, schools were never closed, we just switched to remote learning. And of course, that hand was initially forced and was constantly re-evaluated until in-person learning reached a level of acceptable risk again.

softwaredoug 5y ago
Sorry I should have clarified, I meant "closed" as in "virtual". Which for a lot of families is effectively "closed" given how school is such a focus for social services and social/emotional learning.

gilbetron 5y ago

I would've been 100% ok during being at home the past year+ except for our middle schooler - he's doing ok, generally, but he's gained a lot of weight and is less happy than he was. I despise how our society handled education. Sure, we kept our kid isolated, but the majority of the country didn't, and so keeping kids out of schools didn't help, all we got out of it is a major mental health issue in our children that will last for years. Ventilation and masks, plus shutting down school for a couple of weeks if there is a significant outbreak, and we would've managed this crisis so much better. Instead you have half the country saying "fuck it" and sending kids to school no matter what, and the other half refusing to open schools at all but then letting kids playing with other kids in "pods" (when the also let kids be in multiple pods).

softwaredoug 5y ago
Yep a lot of irrational behavior around Covid driven by both ends of the partisan divide. Either you live in camp “Covid doesn’t exist” or the other “keep things closed at all costs”. And lots of social pressure to not advocate the obvious, rational approach. Advocate for sane approach to in person school in our town and you can get yelled out for being a kooky anti masker.
AndrewUnmuted 5y ago
> Sure, we kept our kid isolated, but the majority of the country didn't You didn't have to keep your child isolated - did you expect nothing bad to happen if you took this course of action? Sorry to suggest this, but it really seems like you are the cause of your kid's difficulties. > sending kids to school no matter what Why is this not the default in your household? What is more important than your child's growth and mental development? They would have handled getting sick just fine, like kids always do every time there's a bad seasonal respiratory virus out there.
- gilbetron 5y ago
  It's amazing how some people have gone through the past year and are still completely oblivious to what just happened to the world.

lettergram 5y ago

Go to the school board meetings. Voice your anger, vote accordingly.

ishjoh 5y ago

In September of 2020, around me all of the private schools were open for in person learning 5 days a week, all of the public schools were online only. Later in the school year, public schools moved to a modal of 1/2 the class being in person and 1/2 the class being online for any given day except for Monday where all students were online only. Finally, a few weeks before the end of the year, public schools allowed all students to return to class for the entire week. Private schools did not see major outbreaks of Covid. Teachers at private schools were no more likely to get Covid than the general population. This generation of kids will pay a heavy price for these school shutdowns.