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Parents Forced To Weigh The Risks Versus The Benefits Of Sending Children Back To School During The Coronavirus Pandemic

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As school districts across the region layout their plans for the fall, some are putting the final decision in the hands of parents.

For some districts, the classrooms will be open and the teachers there to teach, but most are keeping the options open for mom and dad to keep a child at home to do online learning. Some districts are even offering a combination of some in-person teaching and some online education.

So what should you keep in mind when making the decision?

Allegheny Health Network Child Psychiatrist Dr. Gary Swanson says your child's age is an important factor.

He says for elementary-aged children, "there are benefits of going to school, being with other kids and a live teacher. And that has to be weighed against any potential risk from coronavirus as well as other factors, a bus accident on the way to school, getting a cold or the flu, or something else while you are in school there are all kinds of risk we take every day and parents have to balance that. One of the things that is important as far as this goes there is a significant benefit of going to school you can learn from others you can learn from your teacher, you get that live interaction that is missing with online learning. There are also activities that are better in groups or with hands-on activities and with little kids, that's particularly important to them."

In other words, Dr. Swanson says K-6 children need the personal interaction with teachers and fellow students.

"I believe so, I think it's incredibly important for their own development," he said. "That's why we don't keep kids isolated for 18 years and then turn them out in the world. They have to have some practice at learning how to share, wait their turn, play cooperatively and learn cooperatively with others."

He says there is nothing wrong with a combination of in-person and online teaching as long as there is at least some element of in-person learning that requires social interaction.

As for middle and high school students, Dr. Swanson says, "Middle school and high school kids are an interesting mix. Because to some extent, they are a little better to learn independently. So you think you can give them stuff to do at home and they can handle that okay. But conversely, they are actually very interested in socializing and seeing their friends and interacting with them. And for many of the classes to take, there's an interactive dialogue, discussion, sharing of ideas opposing viewpoints, and again they learn how to argue or debate or consider other people's perspectives in those kinds of settings."

And Dr. Swanson says don't underestimate the power of peer pressure on both students and their parents in making the decision for a child. "I think both ways peers may pressure 'hey we are not going to school', 'we're going to school' parents maybe do that same thing. There is always a group mentality that effects things. I advise parents to look at your child and talk to your child and see what's happened the last few months and what you think will work out best going forward if this is going to continue for months or even the whole school year."

While he considers it important to talk with your middle or high school child about what they want to do, ultimately its a parental decision.

Parallel to the educational decision is the health consideration. Dr. Swanson says each family has to consider the risk to those living under the family roof. If a student goes to school and brings home Covid-19 who is vulnerable. Is a grandparent living in the home, or frequently there caring for a younger sibling. Do mom or dad have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to complications from the Coronavirus?

That is why the decision is a family by family choice that boils down to weighing the risk of the virus against the benefits of in-classroom learning.

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