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Educators, parents and mental health experts battle anger, anxiety and stress as kids head back to school | Social Views

Patriot-News - 8/25/2021

This year, going back to school is filled with anxiety for everyone. Parents are worried stiff about whether their children will catch COVID-19. Kids are worried about whether schools will stay open or if they’ll have to return to classes at the kitchen table. And teachers are not only worried about being exposed to the more contagious delta variant, but about the simmering anger among parents and school administrators over masks and vaccinations.

To help parents and students better understand the issues and the risks involved in returning to the classroom, PennLive will co-host with the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg a “Back to School” webinar at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, featuring educators as well as parents and experts in mental and emotional wellness.

One of the biggest issues outside of whether kids end of in the hospital with COVID-19 is whether they can cope with all of the anger and anxiety many of their parents are experiencing.

Readers who would like to ask questions and offer comments during the webinar should register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3UtFXZPuT8ym-3DgW2L-pg. The event will be streamed live on PennLive’s Facebook page, but there will be limited opportunity for those not registered for the webinar to engage with speakers, who include:

The diverse panel of speakers will provide information about the myriad of rules schools are adopting to try to keep students, teachers and parents safe as cases of COVID-19 mount, but they will offer practical guidance on what parents and children can do to control their anxiety and their anger.

Both emotions were all too evident at recent school board meetings in Central Dauphin, Susquehanna Township, Cumberland Valley, and Camp Hill as parents squared off about whether masks should be mandatory. It’s the same throughout the state and throughout the nation, but the rising number of cases of COVID-19 are leaving administrators with little choice, especially if they want to keep schools open once kids return.

Pennsylvania is registering thousands of new COVID-19 infections and once again, people are winding up in intensive care and dying. The suffering and death are mainly happening among the unvaccinated, but that includes children.

And COVID-19 is not only a physical threat, it has become a mental one. Even before the pandemic forced school doors to close and kept many kids at home, experts were worried about how to serve growing numbers of students with mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. Now, the situation has only gotten worse, with psychologists telling us we’re facing a mental health crisis, and there aren’t enough school counselors to meet the demand.

Christopher and Turman will offer insights into what their schools are doing to help the thousands of children in their care who will need emotional as well as academic support.

PSEA President Askey also will address the stress teachers are facing when they return to the classroom and try to make up for lost time, with so many students behind in their learning. This is especially an issue for parents who couldn’t afford to hire tutors or stay home to make sure their kids were studying.

The webinar is an opportunity for our entire community to get answers about COVID protocols and prospects for keeping schools open this year. At the very least, it may help allay some of the anger and anxiety that will only hurt efforts to keep kids safe in the classroom.

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