As the days of summer begin to round the corner towards the fall, now is the time when families begin to stock up on back-to-school supplies. This year though, has parents wondering if those number 2 pencils are going to be necessary for this upcoming school year. Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States is currently on the fence state-by-state as to whether educational institutions should re-open this fall as Governors across the country continue to battle the continual rise of COVID-19 cases.

The Pressure Is On

Despite the recent news of the U.S. setting a record for new Coronavirus cases, The CDC and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are standing firm on the push to reopen schools this fall. Distance learning had become a band-aid solution to the devastating hit to our education system since the national lockdown in March. What was meant to be a quick-fix, short-term solution is now on the table to becoming “the new normal” as many parents, educators, and state representatives push back against DeVos sending students back to school and risking the further spread of the coronavirus.

Going Back to School

The debate of whether or not schools are safe to return to during the COVID-19 pandemic is the question, but what people really want to know is should I let my kids go back to school in the fall?

Zeeto set out to learn what parents think in a poll that surveyed whether or not parents believe that students should return to daily in-person classes this fall:   

• 56% said no, they worry for the safety of teachers and students if they are forced to return
• 26% said yes, but they should have a staggered schedule to promote social distancing
• 17% said yes, it is too much pressure for working parents to keep kids at home
  

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Calling In Sick

Over 50% of the polled parents expressed their concern for the health and safety of their students and school teachers if schools are forced to reopen this fall. Considering the CDC’s recent report on the importance of in-person schooling, parents will be facing a difficult decision of how to effectively support their children’s educational future while minimizing the risks placed on their health and well-being. Thanks to the crippling dilemma the pandemic has caused for the future of America’s next generation, it has also shed a floodlight on an already bleeding educational system and is challenging parents and educators to find new means of communicating with students and discover new solutions to better serve their educational needs. Until those solutions are tried and tested, parents and schools should prepare themselves for a learning curve going forward into the next school year.

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