Back To School Without Safety Means Being Back To Threats. Here’s Why?

By Author: Mira Lew
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Reopening the schools closed during the pandemic is not an easy task by any means. Amongst the safety precautions of COVID-19 and the school reopening plans, the big questions remain, ‘IS SCHOOL REOPENING SAFE AT THIS POINT IN TIME??’ and 'WHY SCHOOL SAFETY IS IMPORTANT?'. We all are well aware of the fact that no amount of 'back to school' safety tips can help us properly safeguard against this unpredictable virus.
So today, let’s analyze the various dimensions of the school reopening and see why it is not safe for students to join physical schools at this time
Children are at risk of getting infected because of adults
A big threat of sending children back to school apart from peer groups is the presence of teaching and non-teaching staff members on the premises. The chances of an outbreak cannot be denied during transportation, interaction with teachers, and contact with the other adults employed in a physical school. Choosing to quit remote classes at this point will certainly increase the chances of more outbreaks due to adults. So, it is right ...
... to consider physical school classes as risky at this point.
Face to face classes are still not risk-free despite preparations
It is evident that reopening schools at this point, calls for several preparations and good management from the institution's side. Even if they make all the necessary arrangements, the increase of risk factors for children remains. Because in a physical school students will have more physical interactions as compared to being at home. Naturally, the possibility of outbreaks will be higher.
Asymptomatic COVID-19 cases might also enter the classroom
Post the school reopening, students might join with some symptoms of mild illness. These symptoms similar to that of the virus can be misleading in the first place. Moreover, some children who are already infected might also be asymptomatic. Such asymptomatic COVID positive cases will be difficult to identify and can transmit the infection to others as well. The threats from the asymptomatic cases are a cause of bigger concern in schools that have big classes and enrollments. As children might have fewer or no symptoms, they might enter the premises with the virus unknowingly. This is the reason why school safety is important.
Monitoring 100% adherence to the safety precautions is not an easy task
Face masks, social distancing, general hygiene, and reduced contact with others cannot be easy to monitor on the premises. School-going students will require handholding to reduce sharing, mixing, and close interactions during their entire indoor and outdoor classes. Chances of gaps in adherence cannot be denied keeping in mind the age-groups of the children.
There have been deaths in school-going age groups because of the virus
It is generally believed that this infection is more serious in adults. Having said that, we cannot deny the fact that there have been cases of children who have lost their lives because of the virus. By 21st Jan’21, 0.1% of students in the age group of 5-17 years i.e. 178 deaths were reported because of this disease. Hence, ignoring distance learning and resuming with face to face classes can also lead to a threat to life. And all the 'back to school' safety tips will render useless in that case. So, it’s better to stay at home and opt for a safer alternative.
It is possible to stay at home and continue with the best school education
At this time when we are all set to fight the virus away with the corona vaccine, it is better to opt for a safe option for students to stay at home effectively.
An International online school can be one such credible alternative for face-to-face classes. Because, with these schools, students can thrive academically with the best-quality online education fully-loaded with the recent teaching strategies used by expert educators.
So, instead of going back to school with threats, it’s a better option to join the best online high school. And stay safe at home till the battle is completely WON!
Author Bio
I’m Mira Lew, an online school teacher at an International online school. I also like to write and share my knowledge & professional experience of being a teacher with interested readers.