by Christy S. Martin Ed.D.
We must open schools. It goes beyond the economic reasons politicians give. I don't care if you are a Republican, a Democrat, centrist, far leftist, far right, conservative or liberal it is a matter of safety for many children that schools open and open soon.
According to the NCCP or National Center for Children in Poverty 15 million or 21% of the nation's children live in poverty. The NCCP thinks that number is unrealistically low. Given that and what CoVid has done to the job situation in the U.S. it probably is at least twice the percentage above. It is so high that many districts had entire schools on free breakfast and lunch even before CoVid. Food banks also supply food that is distributed at school for some children to take home to eat on holidays and weekends. Even with schools giving out free food to children during the closure, some children may be hungry.
According to the National Children's Alliance approximately 700,000 children were in proven abuse situations in 2018. As a former educator and social services worker with foster children I can tell you that most cases are not proven and there are many more than the number above.
Most of the documented cases of abuse are neglect, but physical and sexual abuse are also issues for our children. Neglect can be in the form of hunger, lack of medical care, living in unsafe or unhealthy conditions, and a myriad of other tortuous situations. Abuse comes in the form of bites, burns, bruises, broken bones and other heinous acts toward children. Not reported is the unseen abuse many children suffer in the form of mental and emotional abuse. There is no doubt that the stresses of the last months has taken an additional toll on many children's homes and there may be many in distress.
Opening school cannot stop all of these hideous acts toward our children but as a retired educator I was always aware that parents who knowingly inflict or subjugate children to abuse and neglect were cognizant of the watchful eye of schools, educators, social workers, and police officers. It was always my hope that knowing we were watching tempered some of the worst parent/guardianship behaviors.
For these children we should start some form of building level school back and soon. Many of our at-risk youth have been in situations where their education was neglected, their health and safety at-risk and they might not just be stomach hungry but also emotionally hungry for the safety and security of 6-8 hours a day at school. For them school is the safe place they had always counted on.
If young people do not show up at school opening they must be accounted for and it must be an ongoing in person accounting. If they cannot be in online school or in the facility they should be regularly checked on. While most homeschool situations are good, some parents are hiding children thru the misuse of that system. Those youngster deserve an accounting by educators, social workers, and law enforcement.
There is a large population of adults in the U.S. who are not aware of the living conditions that many children must endure and may not see the need thru the lens of a loving home environment. There are even some educators that will not understand the urgency. It is a mental and physical health issue that even before CoVid 19 already negatively effected many of our children. We must put the eyes of the education community on these youngsters and soon. Their lives and their future may depend on it.