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Today I told my daughter (10) that we could get a slurpee on the way home from soccer. We got to Circle K and we both masked up. It was her first time wearing a mask (she hasn’t been anywhere indoors). /1
We were barely in the store for 30 seconds when she started to say she felt like she was going to throw up. She asked if she could wait in the car. I let her go and then bought her slurpee. /2
Back in the car, I asked her if she was ok and she said she felt fine as soon as she got out of the store. She said she panicked. She said between the mask and being inside - she felt sick and scared. /3
Both of my kids struggle with anxiety. It’s not severe - but it’s there, always with us. And it often manifests in physical symptoms (headache, tummy ache etc). /4
I know that coddling my kids only enables their anxiety AND I also know that telling them to suck it up never works and only amplifies their and my stress. /5
This is the part of school reopening that nobody seems to be talking about. We hear a lot about the mental health issues of NOT going (which I totally get) but not the mental health issues that will come WITH going. /6
There are going to be so many kids who struggle with anxiety and other challenges, for whom “normal” school is already fraught at times and now will be only that much more stressful. I know what those school mornings will be like - I’ve lived them. /7
And teachers are going to have more than full plates ensuring kids stay physically safe, plus teaching - how on earth can we expect them to also make sure our kids are also doing ok psychologically all the time? It’s too much w too little resources. /8
(Side note: it’s worth recognizing the inevitable mental health toll that will befall our teachers/school staff who will carry the weight of worry every single day when they step inside their classrooms.) /9
I know there is no easy answer here - this decision is a gut-wrenching and difficult one. But I do wish we’d at least acknowledge that sending kids (and staff) back to school has risks beyond COVID. /fin
