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To be clear, I do not think schools should re-open until it is unambiguously safe for everyone involved but I am really tired of people (particularly those not raising children in this pandemic) minimizing the impact of children being home. (a thread)
Not only is e-learning a poor replacement for in-person school, but it also requires near full-time supervision from caregivers to facilitate it - particularly if they have young children or children with special needs.
With the majority of that burden falling on mothers, it may us take years to restore the pre-2020 progress of women and primary caregivers in the workplace.
However, even more dire, the financial instability that is sure to result from parents being forced to choose between their children or a paycheck will be a hole that many will not be able to climb out of.
I understand we all want to return back to ‘normal’ and I know that for many, schools re-opening is infuriating and dangerous, but it is important to recognize that while that may be so, it is not black and white.
It isn’t simple. It isn’t easy. It isn’t without its own very serious consequences. We know who will suffer most during this time, and it isn’t me, and it isn’t you.
It is parents who entered into this pandemic already giving everything they had to barely be making it out of poverty. The fallout for them will be most long-lasting and for some might even be beyond recovery. Frankly, they deserve your compassion, not your judgment.
