The Tragedy No One Is Talking About in the “Back-to-School” DeVos Debate

Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos says schools must re-open in the fall. “Kids have to get back to school,” she told CNN in an interview. DeVos added:

We know that children get the virus at a far lower rate than any other part of the population… There is nothing in the data that would suggest that kids being back in school is dangerous to them… 

In fact, it’s more a matter of their health and well-being that they be back in school.

Yikes.

Considering children aren’t the most conscientious social distancers and most elementary schools can’t even contain lice outbreaks – despite them being visible to the naked eye – DeVos is making some bold claims here.

It was especially frowned upon when DeVos took the mic at a press conference, commenting that “only maybe” 0.02% of children would die in the aftermath of school openings.

That’s 14,740 children. That’s up to 29,480 parents in mourning. That’s 14,740 babies lost forever.

Another estimate suggests the mortality rate for school-aged children will be higher yet, at 0.1%.

But remember, we are just talking about death here… not the number of kids likely to become infected, capable of infecting family members and school employees more innately susceptible to fatality from the illness. 

And what about 5-10 years down the road? We have no idea what kind of future ramifications may lie ahead. But we do know many viruses lie dormant for years and can cause fatal complications later in life (think: HIV and its longterm degradation of the immune system of HPV and its correlation to cervical cancer).

Consequently, the Internet has been ablaze with angry rhetoric as parents, educators, and the general public say there are too many unanswered questions regarding how schools can open safely.

As a parent and sister of an educator, I too am fearful of what will happen in the fall when schools do re-open…

I am thankful my toddler is not yet school-aged and that I have the privilege of being a stay-at-home Mom, but I am overwhelmed with empathetic anxiety as I reflect on the tough decisions so many are making in these unprecedented times.

And while I’m personally not a fan of DeVos for past policies and remarks, I will play the devil’s advocate and say that DeVos brings up an interesting, albeit convoluted and controversial, point. Whether she realizes it or not…

~1,720 Children Every Year (conservative estimate)

According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (N.C.A.N.D.S.), an arm of the Administration for Children and Families, more than 1,700 children die annually in the United States from child abuse and neglect. 

But that true number is likely to be even higher, as several fatalities resembling probable cases of abuse and neglect often get reported as “undetermined.”

Comparatively, roughly 30 children under age 15 have died (as of July 8) amid roughly 120,000+ Covid-19 deaths in the United States.

Of course – as anyone who has lost a child to this virus would agree – the numbers may be low and the statistics in your favor, until it is your child who doesn’t recover.  

As I write this, I am heartbroken having just read of South Carolina’s first pediatric death – a child of only 5-years-old. 

A child’s untimely death is an unfathomable finite kind of tragedy.

Bottom line: Losing a child is heart-wrenching, no matter how “low” the numbers are. Losing a child is a terrible tragedy. Plain and simple.

But so is childhood abuse, trauma, neglect. All tragedies suspected to be on the rise in response to the Covid-19 lockdown.

The public school system is often one of the primary places of retreat for children undergoing or vulnerable to such trauma. (And one of the only places children may receive free counseling.)

Throughout the quarantine, vulnerable children were at increased risk of abuse and neglect, regardless of some domestic abuse cases going “down” in that same time period. 

With daycares and schools closed, it is suspected that countless cases of abuse have gone unreported. As educational personnel are some of the most likely persons to report abuse (~20%, according to US Department of Health and Human Services).

Like I said, tragedy is tragedy. And childhood illness, mistreatment, abuse, and death (including staggering increases of suicide) are all horrific evils capable of zapping the life from parents, families, and entire communities. 

So how do we protect our children from Covid… but also protect those other children in our communities – already vulnerable to some other terrible tragedies, exacerbated by school closings?

I do not have the answers, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below.

In the meantime I’ve interviewed Dr. Kelly Parsons – a Baltimore area Clinical Psychologist who works in a public state educational facility and also has a private practice specializing in childhood development and family therapy – on Coping with “Back-to-School” Anxiety Amid Covid-19 Spikes.  

Whether you are sending kids back to school, homeschooling for the first time, or heading back to your classroom to teach this fall, Dr. Parsons is has put together some great commentary, insights, and resources to help ease that transition for you.

Stay well!