NPR (National Public Radio) in the US made a query concerning how children are handling Covid-19 stay-at-home measures. The results show that after weeks of lockdown, the mental health of young children appears to be suffering. Children are experiencing suicidal thoughts, nightmares, tantrums, regression and so on.
So, the question ‘should schools be opened’ has been posed. Experts have been asked to give their opinion on the matter.
In Senate testimony, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, sounded a cautionary note on the prospect of reopening school buildings nationwide, even in the fall, because of the lack of deep knowledge on the virus.
Dr. Dimitri Christakis, one of the nation's most prominent pediatricians, who directs the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, argues that there are three major risks:
- Learning loss, which is expected to fall particularly hard on low-income children with unequal access to distance learning.
- Mental health and social-emotional development. A new study in JAMA Pediatrics, documents elevated depression and anxiety among children under lockdown in China.
- Child abuse. Hospitals around the country are reporting a rise in admissions for severe child abuse injuries and even deaths — a rise that coincides with lockdown orders.
A new analysis of Chinese contact-tracing data in the journal Science, suggests that children are in fact less susceptible to coronavirus infections. But because they are in close contact with others at school, cancelling in-person classes plays a key role in flattening the curve of an outbreak.
To sum up, considering different studies and professional views, the risks to children's learning, social-emotional development and mental health need to be better balanced with the risks of spreading the coronavirus.