|
Almost overnight, the jobs of a lot
of working-class parents and grandparents were shut down. Thanks to
COVID-19, many were thrust into new roles—to replace their
child’s teachers. This new role has added to the stress and
strain already created by the virus.
We know that students are not
showing up for the online classes. From the U.S. Census and other
sources, we also know that most of them do not have internet
services or computers at home. How is this situation--well-known
before the pandemic—being addressed in our struggling
communities?
My concern is that given the lack of
access to instructional resources, along with the mental and
educational capacity of many poor and working-class families, this
current semester will be a critical setback. Students coming from
impoverished homes struggle academically without a nasty virus on the
scene. If there is no summer school to make up for the loss of second
semester, we can count on the academic achievement gap widening.
Significant research has been done
on the backsliding of poor students during the summer break. While
parents with resources enroll their kids in computer camps, thespian
teams, sports leagues or travel aboard, too many poor kids spend
hours watching TV or playing outside unsupervised. Any instructional
gains made during the first semester are doomed.
Research over decades indicate the
learning loss increases with age so that by middle school, these
students are experiencing 35-50 percent decreases in reading and
math. School districts should be thinking about interventions right
now. The interventions cannot be just about the academics.
We know who the haves and have nots
are and it’s not always about race. A Pew research study found
the families with higher incomes are more likely to have internet and
multiple devices such as laptops and tablets. One in four low-income
students have no access to the internet. This means a Black student
in Milwaukee and a white student in Kentucky’s McCreary County
share the same problem because of their economics.
Yes, I’m concerned that
students don’t have internet or devices to do their
assignments. But I’m equally concerned about the increase in
child abuse (sexual and physical). I’m concerned about domestic
abuse. I’m concerned about the increase of drug and alcohol
abuse. I’m concerned about hunger. I’m concerned about
unhoused families. I’m concerned about students with no one to
help them with homework. All these pre-existing conditions in
vulnerable communities just got ten times worse under COVID-19.
COVID-19 looms large over our lives
and our timelines. We know that this school semester is a bust. Since
folks are resistant to practicing safety during the pandemic, summer
school is probably wishful thinking. (Now we have trumpites fighting
to go back to work in the middle of the pandemic!)
Our communities will have to develop
some creative strategies now. Kids trying to learn in an environment
where tensions are flaring because of no jobs, no money, no food, no
recreation outlets, and a lot of other no’s is unsustainable.
We know these families; they may even be our own family.
Can we make a commitment to call or
Facetime a child to help with homework or to watch a movie together
with a screen share or to sit on the porch and chat over some
smoothies (with distance!) Give mom, dad, or grandparents a break.
Give children a break. Before this pandemic is over, we’re all
gonna need a lot of breaks so that we don’t break. In pieces.
COVID-19 is pushing us all into a
pressure cooker, but the intensity of impact will be based upon your
status before the virus and your access to resources now. That’s
why I reject this notion that we are all in this together. What we?
In St. Louis, MO, where the first 12 COVID-19 deaths were African
Americans, the Black community is hardly feeling like this is a
shared experience.
The graphic suffering and the
long-term consequences to COVID-19 will live vividly in communities
of color, especially those wrapped in poverty. There are challenges
to what we can do to mobilize and organize during the coronavirus
crises. Doing nothing is not an option.
There are organized efforts to
influence policies and practices going on in your area that need your
active response. We must find safe ways to comfort and support our
youth, our elders and everyone in between. Resiliency only happens
when people act in compassionate coordination.
|
