The Importance of Opening Schools
Jeffrey I. Barke, M.D.
In America, we have a tradition of free public schooling that stretches back to the middle of the 19th century when high schools were added to the educational services provided by the state.
Today, students not only receive a free education at public schools, but many are also entitled to a free breakfast and lunch as well as a host of after school sports and enrichment programs. For many students, school also acts as an escape from difficult or even abusive situations at home while providing important adult relationships that serve them in later years.
Although there is much to criticize about traditional public education — and I have done that often — the consequences of keeping our schools closed to lessen the spread of the Covid-19 virus have proven devastating.
School closures have produced the highest teen suicide rate in history, an escalation of anxiety and depression, and a dramatic increase in other behavioral disorders. In addition, child abuse has increased while the reporting of incidents has decreased. The CDC reports that 25% of young adults have contemplated suicide during the Coronavirus pandemic and 40% report mental health issues because of fears associated with it.
Moreover, closing the schools has disproportionately affected low-income students of color — a population group that does not need any additional impediments to achieving equality in society.
Wealthy families have been able to create micro-pod schools for small groups, hire governesses and private teachers for their kids, or get them into functioning private schools. In addition, wealthy families have greater access to mental health resources and medical care when needed. The scientific case for reopening the schools seems overwhelming. Consider this: According to the CDC, the survival rate of those younger than 20 years old infected with Covid-19 is 99.997%. To put this in understandable terms there have been just 72 Covid-related deaths in children under 15 years of age against an overall number of deaths that exceeds 220,000 as of mid-October 2020.
While every death — especially that of a child — is a unique tragedy, we must put those 72 into context. There were 125 deaths in children due to influenza during the 2019-20 season. The schools were not closed, no masks were mandated, and the vast majority of kids survived the illness. In fact, there are far riskier activities for children than either Covid-19 or the flu: Annual traffic deaths of children number 675 and kids dying from drowning amounted to 350. In short, a child has a far greater risk of dying in a traffic or drowning accident than dying from a Covid-19 infection.
As a result, the argument to keep schools closed because of Covid-19 has shifted away from the risk to the kids to the danger opening the schools pose to teachers and school staff. Several studies, however, have put this particular concern of the teacher unions in doubt.
An article in The Atlantic (October 9, 2020) looked at almost 200,000 kids in 47 states during the last two weeks of September. It revealed an infection rate of just 0.13% among students and 0.24% among the attending adults. Those low numbers should dispel the myth that children are super-spreaders. Even in those areas of the country with a high Covid-19 infection rate, students represented well under half a percent. Sure, kids can get Covid-19, but they are almost always asymptomatic or exhibit very mild symptoms. They do not pose a danger to the adults they are around.
A German study looked at more than 2,000 students and 500 teachers in 13 schools and showed little evidence that students were spreading illness to the teachers. In fact, they speculated that “children may even act as a brake on infection”. Because children likely have a very low amount of virus (resulting in no symptoms or mild symptoms) they do not spread the virus easily and they quickly become immune. In schools because children outnumber adults by ratios of 20 to 1 or greater, they may create a herd immunity cocoon in the school. A Yale study reported on 57,000 childcare providers in all 50 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. Its dominant conclusion was that childcare centers are not associated with the spread of Covid-19 from children to adults.
If children are at a very low risk for Covid-19 and do not spread the virus to at-risk adults, shouldn’t we be demanding that the schools reopen without delay? Let the local politicians hear your views, write your school board members, let your public health officials know how you feel, flood the newspapers with online and publishable letters. If the authorities hear your voice in noticeable numbers, they will not be able to ignore you since they know that ultimately, they work for you.
We must stop unnecessarily scaring our children and putting them at risk for other significant health problems by keeping the schools closed. The fear of Covid-19, especially in children, is far worse than the virus itself. It is time to reopen all of our schools before irreversible long-term harm occurs.
Jeffrey Barke, M.D. is a Board-Certified Primary Care Physician in Private Practice in Orange County, CA.