The Dangers of Children Returning to School

Some big problems I see with the forced opening of schools is that there is a lack of funding, overhead support and guidance on the real dangers of COVID-19. One of my biggest concerns is that we don't know what we don't know yet.

New findings in autopsies of those who died of COVID-19 done by a medical examiner at a morgue in Texas show that there were blood clots that formed all over the body, including in the brain. This means that COVID-19 is nothing like the common cold or flu like some people would like to continue to tell themselves. Even in those who survive the virus, there are long-term implications on their health that are unknown because this is a novel virus. There's a lot that we don't know yet.

With a novel virus, we don't actually know how dangerous it is to children. Perhaps this is the kind of virus that will lie dormant in the body just waiting for the right time to attack when the body is older and weaker. For example, in the case of chickenpox, we didn't know that those exposed to it would later develop shingles staring in their 50 and older. This research could only be done after enough children in childhood after waiting for 50 years.

The number of possible children that could die is staggering. If we allow for a fatality rate of .02% of children, then this actually means that 14,740 children will die in a very short time. We don't know who will die or even who the most at risk are. If we expose them all to this virus without proper health precautions in place, then it could have devastating affects. The virus could cause brain clots that develop later in life causing children who grow into adults to be paralyzed or worse. Nobody knows yet.

In medicine, there is always a cost vs benefit analysis of any situation. The cost of failing to protect our children now is potentially disabling our children in the future and... oh yeah... possibly 14,740 might die. This is completely outraging and unacceptable.

I want everyone to understand what's really at stake. We can't allow for any amount of failure to protect our children. The communities at greater risk of dying are those with schools that already are low in funding and resources. We desperately need our children to go back to school, but it's our responsibility as parents, teachers, school administrators, and as a whole society to be sure that the environment to which children return is safe. We need to unite and fight back to protect our children before it's too late. I don't want my child to become the next science experiment gone terribly wrong. I'd hate for anyone's child to suffer.

We have a chance to fight back now if we all unite and tell our leaders that we want changes in place, real health guidelines, real leadership, more funding, and updated ventilation systems for all schools before we can expect to have schools reopen. Removing funding from schools who don't reopen is not the right move or the right message to send. This cannot be allowed.

We need immediate changes and immediate plans so that all schools can open as safely as possible in the Fall. Teachers don't have to accept subpar working conditions, and our children have rights, too. It's our job as parents, mentors, guides, and loves ones to advocate for them as best we can because they can't.

Some of the changes that need to be made include the following:

- Schools must follow CDC guidelines before returning to school and have plans in place for when an outbreak occurs.

- Proper training and personal protective equipment be provided for students and teachers.

- Funding for schools to implement changes must be provided.

- Children should not return to school unless the area in which they live has consistently declining cases of COVID and decreasing deaths within a safe level for at least two week as the plan was set forth originally for Phase One reopening of businesses.

By uniting together and demanding that these changes be made, we will be able to save our children from possible death or lifelong disability. If parents joined together and refused to send their children to school unless the environment is safe, then schools will be forced to make the changes necessary for safe reopening. We only have one chance to get this right. We can’t take risks with our children’s lives. Speak up. Talk to teachers before the start of the school year and inform them that your child will not be returning to school unless you see a plan in place to ensure their safety. Don’t sit quietly by and do nothing. This is too important to ignore.

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