tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/back-to-school-2021-107870/articlesBack to school 2021 – The Conversation2021-09-24T12:35:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1676092021-09-24T12:35:45Z2021-09-24T12:35:45ZSchool year off to a rocky start? 4 ways parents can help kids get back on track<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421183/original/file-20210914-17-h3rdgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4187%2C2672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic created attendance issues for students of all ages.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/third-grade-dual-language-students-wear-masks-and-prepare-news-photo/1234721701">Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sending a child to school in the morning is a daily ritual for millions of families worldwide. Unfortunately, the attendance process has become <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/24/909638343/school-attendance-in-the-covid-era-what-counts-as-present">highly disrupted</a> due to COVID-19. The fact that many kids have been away from a physical school building for a year or more presents a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105919">number of challenges</a> for them and for their family members as schools reopen and resume in-person classes. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C39&q=Christopher+A.+Kearney&btnG=">clinical child psychologist</a> who <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/getting-your-child-back-to-school-9780197547496?cc=us&lang=en&#">specializes in school attendance problems</a>, I offer four ways parents can help students adapt to the new school year and improve their attendance.</p>
<h2>1. Solidify the morning routine</h2>
<p>Morning preparation routines may have become very laid-back or even unnecessary during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Parents and children will need to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/getting-your-child-back-to-school-9780197547496?cc=us&lang=en&">practice their routines</a> by setting waking times for all family members and having a regular order for getting ready for school. Give everyone more than enough time to complete all their tasks and try to complete the entire routine about 30 minutes before everyone has to leave home in case any problems arise.</p>
<h2>2. Get academic help if needed</h2>
<p>Another important challenge for students reentering a physical school space is the need to relearn important academic skills. </p>
<p>Many kids <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning">lost ground in reading and mathematics</a> during school shutdowns and will need to focus again on key basic skills such as comprehension, writing and multiplication tables. This may require extra help and tutoring as well as class time devoted to reviewing older material. In addition, many kids will need to relearn basic classroom routines as well as new health and safety protocols such as social distancing or mask mandates.</p>
<p>Parents are encouraged to work with teachers to <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-simple-tips-for-parents-who-will-still-be-co-teachers-when-kids-go-back-to-school-162487">understand the expectations</a> for homework and behavior and remain aware of, and ready for, sudden changes to learning formats. If a child’s progress in these areas seems a bit behind, then a conversation with the school counselor may be a good idea to set up a plan to help the student reach grade-level work. </p>
<h2>3. Practice social skills</h2>
<p>Students reentering a physical school space will also need to relearn and practice important social skills that may have slipped a bit through all the Zoom conversations. </p>
<p>Although kids may have had virtual discussions with their friends, direct contact with others presents its own challenges. Many kids will need to practice again how to start and maintain a conversation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-parents-can-help-kids-deal-with-back-to-school-anxiety-165273">control their anxiety</a> and anger, assert themselves in different situations and perform in front of others – for example, for an oral presentation, athletic event or music recital. </p>
<p>Parents can help their children practice these skills and give them methods to cope with stress, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-to-help-kids-relax-as-the-coronavirus-upends-everyday-life-133873">relaxation and breathing techniques</a>, that can be used at school or in situations where the child feels anxious.</p>
<h2>4. Speak up about trauma issues</h2>
<p>Other children will have even more substantial challenges returning to school, perhaps because of trauma experienced outside of school. Parents should work with school officials to let them know of any special problems or issues a child may have faced during a shutdown and work out a plan to help the child ease back into school. This could involve, for example, identifying places at school a child could use to calm down or allowing extended times for work and other tasks. </p>
<p>In some cases, therapy may be an important choice for children with emotional or behavioral problems and their families. <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-returning-to-school-with-anxiety-grief-and-gaps-in-social-skills-will-there-be-enough-school-mental-health-resources-165279">Working with a school counselor</a> to seek out mental health services may be helpful in this regard, especially if a child is missing school or is very distressed about going to school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167609/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher A. Kearney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>COVID-19 upended families’ morning routines. Getting kids back on schedule and sticking to it will help ease difficult transitions, a child psychologist explains.Christopher A. Kearney, Professor of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las VegasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1659182021-09-14T18:58:34Z2021-09-14T18:58:34Z8 a.m. high school? Sleep habits of pandemic teens suggest benefits of later start times<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419877/original/file-20210907-7696-1til2op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C129%2C3100%2C1828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">COVID-19 lockdown periods opened a unique window for observing teen sleep patterns. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/8-a-m--high-school-sleep-habits-of-pandemic-teens-suggest-benefits-of-later-start-times" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The return to in-person classrooms this fall may have the unintended consequence of depriving many Canadian high school students of sleep. </p>
<p>Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.013">many teens were chronically sleep-deprived during the week</a>, putting them at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2015-0627">greater risk of poor health</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12475">more sleepiness in the classroom</a>. </p>
<p>The pandemic caused an upheaval in schooling, but introduced some flexibilities in scheduling that paradoxically <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.04.010">allowed some teens to catch up on their sleep</a>. </p>
<p>Could we capitalize on this disruption to make evidence-based changes in education to improve teens’ sleep? Research suggests that doing so would help high school students have healthier and more productive years.</p>
<h2>Damaging effects of sleep deprivation</h2>
<p>Concern about the damaging impacts of sleep deprivation on teens is substantial, especially because teens are still developing. </p>
<p>In pre-pandemic times, international studies suggested only about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.013">two-thirds of Canadian adolescents were getting the eight to 10 hours of sleep on school nights</a> recommended for 12- to 18-year-olds, and there was a worse picture in many European countries and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6703a1external%20icon">the United States</a>. </p>
<p>Inadequate sleep is linked to a host of negative outcomes in youth, including greater risk <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy018">of obesity</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11892-020-01373-1">diabetes</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6288">hypertension</a> as well as depression, suicidality and substance abuse. It’s also linked to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22545685/">deficits in attention and memory skills</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A youth in a face mask has his head laid down on a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420873/original/file-20210913-15-1jlodya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inadequate sleep is linked with a host of negative outcomes in youth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, research points to a key role for sleep in academic performance: teens who have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12373">irregular or poor quality sleep may have worse grades</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12388">be absent or late more often</a>. Chronic sleep deprivation may not only increase a young person’s risk for health challenges down the road but also may potentially affect their career opportunities and future earning potential.</p>
<h2>Ready to wake two hours after adults</h2>
<p>Sleep deprivation, recognized by the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/canadian-adults-getting-enough-sleep-infographic.html">Public Health Agency of Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_us.html">Centers for Disease Control</a> as a significant concern for public health, is alarmingly common in teens. </p>
<p>Contributing to teens’ vulnerability to sleep deprivation is a conflict between traditional school start times (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12475">as early as 8 a.m. in some parts of Canada</a>) and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.06.001">normal developmental changes in the sleep cycle</a> that lead the average teen feeling ready to sleep and wake about two hours later than younger children and adults. </p>
<p>Adding to this mix are other factors like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112199">teens’ greater independence in choosing their bedtimes</a> and use of light-emitting screens, which, when used in the evening, can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27802500/">disrupt nighttime sleep and delay the body’s internal clock</a>. </p>
<p>Sleep researcher Mary Carskadon has described this combination of biological, behavioural and social influences as a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.06.001">perfect storm</a>” that creates prime conditions for teens to accumulate a “sleep debt” during the school week. This makes many of them too sleepy to participate effectively in the classroom and leads to binge sleeping on the weekends. </p>
<p>As a way of calming this storm, some school districts have experimented with later school start times. Overall, these experiments have been largely successful, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2018.09.020">students reporting more nightly sleep</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12475">less sleepiness in the classroom</a> with later start times. </p>
<p>In view of this evidence, organizations such as the <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/3/642">American Pediatric Society</a> and the <a href="https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.6558">American Academy of Sleep Medicine</a> recommend that high schools not start class before 8:30 a.m.</p>
<p>Other interventions like introducing sleep health education programs into the classroom have also shown <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27448478/">benefits for children</a> and somewhat <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/sbr.12016">for teens</a>. For example, one study of Grade 12 students showed that short-term, classroom-based educational programming improved students’ knowledge of the role of sleep in health. These students also spent more time in bed on weeknights compared to students not receiving the programming. However, these benefits of participating in the program did not translate into changes that reduced students’ daytime sleepiness. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students in face masks walk to school on the street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420869/original/file-20210913-21-l8itto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students have reported more nightly sleep and less sleepiness in the classroom with later school start times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pandemic: More sleep, disrupted sleep</h2>
<p>The conditions during COVID-19 lockdown periods opened a unique window for observing teen sleep patterns when students no longer needed to commute to the classroom. Several studies showed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.04.010">teens were sleeping more because they could sleep later into the mornings</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.09.015">felt more rested and alert during online schooling</a>, suggesting that additional sleep helped them to engage in their studies. </p>
<p>It’s important to note that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.06.001">other studies reported more disrupted sleep in some teens</a>, which may have been due in part to anxiety, depressed mood and fewer opportunities to get outside. </p>
<p>However, having the opportunity to rest a little later into the morning could allow teens to offset some effects of a disturbed night of sleep. Taken together, what we’ve learned both about teens sleeping more and teens’ sleep being disrupted during the pandemic adds more evidence in favour of greater flexibility in school scheduling to improve teen sleep health.</p>
<h2>Pandemic schooling shifts</h2>
<p>While some schools have planned schedules to accommodate things like physical distancing and class bubbles, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.09.015">could this be an opportunity to test out delayed or flexible school start times</a>? </p>
<p>Staggering school start times across the day, for example, could offer a double benefit of allowing later-rising students to begin their school day a little later and reducing the number of students in school at any one time, thereby promoting physical distancing and perhaps <a href="https://www.startschoollater.net/uploads/9/7/9/6/9796500/brookings_study_on_later_start_times_0911.pdf">better distribution of resources across the day</a>. </p>
<p>School districts in some <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-sleep-less-traffic-heres-what-we-know-about-the-benefits-of-staggered-school-start-and-finish-times-164313">other parts of the world</a> are undertaking this plan, and it will be exciting to see how scheduling changes play out. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-sleep-do-teenagers-really-need-111797">How much sleep do teenagers really need?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Policy change is slow, however, so what can be done now to improve teens’ sleep health? Adopting <a href="https://sleeponitcanada.ca/all-about-sleep/age-specific-dos-and-donts/">sleep recommendations</a> can help put healthier sleep routines in place. </p>
<p>Parents can’t go wrong with guiding teens through basics like turning off screens at least an hour before bedtime, encouraging regular periods of activity outside in daylight, limiting daytime caffeine intake (including energy drinks) — and trying to maintain a regular daily bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends. </p>
<p>Excellent bilingual resources are also available through campaigns such as <a href="https://sleeponitcanada.ca/">“Sleep On It!”</a> (developed by the <a href="https://www.cscnweb.ca/?set_lang=en">Canadian Sleep and Circadian Network</a>), the <a href="https://css-scs.ca/">Canadian Sleep Society</a>, <a href="https://fondationsommeil.com/">Fondation Sommeil</a> and <a href="https://www.wakeupnarcolepsy.org/">Wake Up Narcolepsy Canada</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne Hood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Could we capitalize on disruption schedules during the pandemic to make evidence-based changes in school start times to improve teens’ sleep?Suzanne Hood, Associate Professor of Psychology, Bishop's UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1661492021-09-13T16:08:55Z2021-09-13T16:08:55ZHow addressing our young kids’ COVID-19 learning loss is a matter of child’s play<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420280/original/file-20210909-25-15i5gtf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C8%2C976%2C640&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Purposeful play' could look like children gaining opportunities to develop fine motor skills and cognitive abilities through talking about their inquiry and pursuits.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 disruptions have had a distinct, devastating and potentially enduring impact on our youngest school-aged learners, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fewer-kids-are-enrolled-in-public-kindergarten-that-will-have-a-lasting-impact-on-schools-and-equity-151817">especially those who were already behind in early language, literacy and numeracy understandings</a>. The pandemic has also taken a toll on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01207-z">children’s social and emotional health</a>.</p>
<p>Data from Alberta suggest many children have lost <a href="https://troymedia.com/education/online-learners-falling-behind-in-their-reading-skills/#.YReuFYhKjIW">a year or more in expected progress</a>. There is no question of the urgent need for educational attention that will mitigate COVID-19 learning loss.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-school-closures-could-widen-inequities-for-our-youngest-students-136669">Coronavirus school closures could widen inequities for our youngest students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Suggestions put forth to help children have included <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2021/07/22/uk-parents-say-no-to-longer-school-day-for-covid-catch-up/?sh=de6556554f0d">lengthening the school day</a>, focusing on <a href="https://troymedia.com/education/online-learners-falling-behind-in-their-reading-skills/#.YRWzhIhKiUk">phonics instruction for early reading</a>, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/08/10/how-tutoring-could-key-lifting-kids-out-covid-slide/3319070001/">intensive tutoring</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/education-repeat-year-1.6039920">having children repeat grades</a> to ensure better beginnings and readiness for literacy and numeracy development. </p>
<p>But imposing narrow academic expectations may not align <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858415616358">with children’s readiness to learn, and may produce only short-term learning outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>Guided play — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12015">play that is guided</a> by teachers at school — can be an important part of children’s learning, especially for children who are entering kindergarten up to about Grade 3. Parents or caregivers could consider ways to adapt such guided play in the home. </p>
<h2>Guided, purposeful play</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/guided-physical-play-kindergarten">Guided or purposeful play</a> is play that reflects a sense of learning intent. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="An assortment of buttons." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420523/original/file-20210910-14-mco7op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Buttons become tools for learning through sorting or categorizing by shape, color and size.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Guided play in the classroom could look like teachers being on hand to explicitly direct children’s gaze to a key idea and explain patterns or sequences when they are manipulating shapes or objects like blocks or a bucket of buttons. Buttons become tools for learning through sorting or categorizing by shape, color and size. Buttons are wonderful for making sequences and patterns — and learning how to quickly recognize: “How many?” Shape and pattern represent the underpinnings for letter recognition, spelling and numeracy understandings. </p>
<p>It could mean encouraging a child to hold their pencil or paint brush <a href="https://connectability.ca/2011/03/21/practical-strategies-for-developing-fine-motor-skills/">to develop a pincer grip</a>. Kids need to develop a good pincer grip and achieve fine motor control for printing, cutting, folding and pasting. </p>
<h2>Five areas of child development</h2>
<p>A growing body of research finds <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/twenty-six-studies-point-to-more-play-for-young-children">that both free imaginative play and guided, purposeful play are associated with stronger early language, literacy and numeracy outcomes</a>, and social and emotional health benefits. Children gain these benefits as they learn the give-and-take of play <strong>with others.</strong> </p>
<p>These five related key areas (or domains) of child development should be targeted through play: numeracy and spatial recognition; fine motor skills; language and word knowledge; cognitive skills and memory; social and emotional learning. Of these, perhaps the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723714535768">fine-motor-language nexus is the most critical</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart showing different areas of child development including numeracy and spatial recognition; fine motor skills; language and word knowledge; cognitive skills and memory; social and emotional learning." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418466/original/file-20210830-26-1v3ozim.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The domains of early development can be targeted through forms of guided play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hetty Roessingh</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Learning through such play <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00506">develops embodied cognition</a> and the foundations for literacy and numeracy understandings. </p>
<h2>Practising with loose parts</h2>
<p>In classrooms, once underlying concepts and skills are taught, children can extend and practice these through centre or station play where child choice, imagination and creativity direct and drive activities like tinkering, taking apart structures and <a href="https://theeducationhub.org.nz/materials-for-play-why-open-ended-loose-parts-are-important/">playing with loose parts</a>. Blocks, puzzles and everyday objects like clothes pegs, tweezers, measuring devices, scissors, pencils and crayons are all <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2014.02.005">part of the teacher’s play toolbox</a> in the early years’ classroom. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-in-the-snow-how-children-develop-through-all-weather-outdoor-play-110736">Learning in the snow: How children develop through all-weather outdoor play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With some flexibility, these strategies can be adjusted for children in kindergarten up to Grade 2. They can be transferred and extended to imaginative activities like post office (recognizing names and numbers) or grocery store (reading labels and lists) or dress-up and socio-dramatic play. </p>
<p>There will always be a range of children’s readiness for learning. Especially in COVID-19 recovery, teachers will need to adapt and accommodate, and be smart at planning games and play activities through an assessment lens, and planning the instructional cycle accordingly. </p>
<h2>Importance of dialogic talk</h2>
<p>Talking with children is also critical when they are involved in guided play as a way of helping them to develop their language and world knowledge.</p>
<p>Adults can strategically introduce more words relevant to academic learning (“academic words”) when children are involved in guided play: For example, words like “construct” or “structure” versus “build” when playing with blocks. The words can be accompanied by a definition, a synonym and paraphrasing by saying: “In other words …”</p>
<p>Other times, adult talk needs to be more explicit and direct when children are involved in guided play. Some examples could be explaining a learning or memory strategy while playing a card game or dealing with numeracy concepts when playing a linear board game. What researchers <a href="https://kappanonline.org/early-math-play-games-ramani-eason/">call “math talk,” and understanding of the rules of the game matters in transitioning to more independent play and practice</a> with their peers.</p>
<p>Embedding questions that involve making an inference or a prediction, inviting the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/talking-with-mdash-not-just-to-mdash-kids-powers-how-they-learn-language">back and forth of collaborative and elaborative “ping-pong” conversations</a> further support children’s language development, cognition, understanding of their world and their place in it. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0uwjBRbqlJ8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Guardian’ video of Sir David Attenborough speaking with Prince George and younger siblings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Listen as British educational broadcaster and writer Sir David Attenborough explains the plight of endangered species to his young listeners. Attenborough pitches his talk to the “just right” level of each child, and introduces words that will be helpful in academic learning — like danger, protect, extinct (and extinction) and precious. </p>
<p>Gradually building enriched <a href="http://www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/spring-2003/oral-comprehension-sets-ceiling-reading">oral vocabulary knowledge matters in transitioning to the level of academic literacy expected around Grade 4</a>. </p>
<h2>Flexible, playful plans</h2>
<p>A well-rounded, balanced approach to early childhood education through play involves both child-led and adult-led play and allows for both unstructured and structured activity. It targets all five domains of child development that teachers need to assess and monitor for progress, again through simple, playful tasks and games.</p>
<p>Teachers know they are facing a range of readiness for learning in their
classrooms. Let’s welcome our little ones back to school with a flexible, playful plan for learning and interacting with the school community they have been missing for too long. </p>
<p>As for how to spend tens of millions of tax payers’ dollars governments are keen to allocate to closing the COVID-19 learning gap? <a href="https://www.todaysparent.com/kids/school-age/does-class-size-matter">Reducing class size</a> or providing a well-trained teacher’s assistant may provide our best bang for the buck.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166149/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hetty Roessingh receives funding from SSHRC and from the Alberta Teachers' Association. </span></em></p>Encouraging a child to hold their paint brush to develop a pincer grip while the child is involved in painting is one example of guided play.Hetty Roessingh, Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1670242021-09-10T12:27:06Z2021-09-10T12:27:06ZHow bans on mask mandates affect students with disabilities – 4 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419827/original/file-20210907-16-lywnby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C7904%2C5304&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students with certain disabilities are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-in-front-of-class-teaching-high-school-royalty-free-image/1304367724">FG Trade/E+ Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As if back-to-school season weren’t stressful enough already amid a U.S. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/covid-19-delta-variant-vaccine-2021-09-09?mod=article_inline">surge in the delta variant</a>, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/07/texas-legislature-school-mask-mandates-abbott/">bitter wrangling over school mask mandates</a> has added to the fear and confusion for many students and parents.</p>
<p>Nine states – Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah – have passed laws or issued executive orders that restrict local school districts’ ability to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/which-states-ban-mask-mandates-in-schools-and-which-require-masks/2021/08">enact mask requirements</a> in public schools.</p>
<p>Supporters of such actions tend to frame school masking as a question of parents’ rights. Iowa Gov. <a href="https://governor.iowa.gov/press-release/%C2%A0gov-reynolds-issues-a-statement-in-response-to-the-biden-administration%E2%80%99s-latest">Kim Reynolds characterized</a> her state Legislature’s action as “a law to support a parent’s right to decide what’s best for their own children.” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster <a href="https://www.wltx.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/south-carolina-governor-henry-mcmaster-covid-19-address/101-6b8477b1-24a7-4feb-9ee6-7ade3a2829af">has stated</a> that masks themselves inhibit students’ ability to learn. </p>
<p>However, <a href="http://www.aclu.org/legal-document/disability-rights-south-carolina-v-mcmaster-complaint">parents in South Carolina</a>, <a href="https://www.disabilityrightstx.org/en/press_release/federal-lawsuit-texas-mask-mandate-ban/">Texas</a> and <a href="https://www.justdigit.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Motion-for-Injunction-Final.pdf">Florida</a> have filed <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/08/29/school-mask-mandate-disability-special-education-lawsuit/5621647001/">class-action lawsuits</a> that argue the bans on mask mandates violate the rights of students with disabilities.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/faculty_and_staff/directory/raj_claire.php">law professor</a> who specializes in special education law, I offer answers to some questions parents might have about mask mandate bans and students with disabilities.</p>
<h2>1. How do mask mandate bans discriminate against students with disabilities?</h2>
<p>Two federal statutes, the <a href="https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/titleII_2010/titleII_2010_regulations.htm">Americans with Disabilities Act</a> and <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title34/34cfr104_main_02.tpl">Section 504</a> of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, prohibit public schools from discriminating against students with disabilities. </p>
<p>Discrimination in this context means more than just treating students with disabilities differently from their nondisabled peers. Rather, both the ADA and Section 504 require schools to make reasonable modifications that are necessary to ensure equal access to public schools. Further, both laws prohibit schools from needlessly segregating students with disabilities into separate learning environments when they could participate in regular classrooms with appropriate supports. </p>
<p>Some students with disabilities <a href="http://www.aclu.org/legal-document/disability-rights-south-carolina-v-mcmaster-complaint">have underlying health conditions</a> that make exposure to the coronavirus riskier. For these students, a case can be made that both Section 504 and the ADA require schools to require masks as a way to ensure equal access to a safe learning environment.</p>
<h2>2. What are ‘reasonable modifications’?</h2>
<p>There is no bright-line rule setting the limits of what modifications – often referred to as “reasonable accommodations” – a school must provide to ensure equal access for students with disabilities. That’s because these decisions are highly individualized and based on students’ needs arising out of the impacts of their disability. </p>
<p>Certainly there are limits to what is considered “reasonable,” and schools are not required to undertake modifications that would fundamentally alter the nature of their programs or activities. However, the Department of Education <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1779/OCR_Letter.pdf?1631195934">has stated</a> that schools must ensure that learning environments are as safe for students with disabilities as they are for students without disabilities. </p>
<p>For example, in certain instances schools must offer allergen-free spaces such as nut-free classrooms when tasked with educating students with severe or life-threatening allergies to certain foods. Schools may have to take other precautions to ensure safe classrooms for students with severe allergies, such as wiping down tables frequently, installing or changing air filters, or running air-quality tests to ensure that a child with chemical or other allergen sensitivities can safely attend.</p>
<h2>3. What has the federal government said?</h2>
<p>On Aug. 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-educations-office-civil-rights-opens-investigations-five-states-regarding-prohibitions-universal-indoor-masking">opened investigations</a> into five states – Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah – to determine whether statewide prohibitions on mask mandates discriminate against students with disabilities. They declined to investigate the other four states – Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona – because court orders or other state actions currently prevent the bans on universal indoor masking from being enforced in those states.</p>
<p>The Department of Education has not taken a position on whether prohibitions on mask requirements do, in fact, violate federal anti-discrimination laws. But the Office of Civil Rights will begin its <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaints-how.html">investigative process</a>, which may include interviews and site visits, and eventually issue its conclusions about whether these prohibitions violate federal law.</p>
<h2>4. What happens next?</h2>
<p>If the Office of Civil Rights determines that states are discriminating against students with disabilities, it may then negotiate agreements with individual states to bring them into compliance with federal laws. It could also refer its findings to the U.S. Department of Justice for prosecution, and in some cases withdraw federal funding. However, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/08/22/states-with-school-mask-mandate-bans-likely-wont-lose-federal-funding-education-secretary-suggests-but-will-face-investigations/?sh=47426a885000">has suggested</a> that last scenario is unlikely. </p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Raj does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Department of Education is investigating whether state bans on mask requirements in schools discriminate against students with disabilities.Claire Raj, Associate Professor of Law, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1666192021-09-06T12:04:44Z2021-09-06T12:04:44ZDoes my child have separation anxiety? How parents can help with children’s back-to-school fears<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419603/original/file-20210906-23-58piv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=241%2C175%2C6512%2C4659&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After long periods of social isolation with family members, it may be hard for some children — and parents — to be separated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/ August de Richelieu)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Going back-to-school is an exciting time for many children. But for some it also <a href="https://www.anxietycanada.com/articles/helping-your-child-cope-with-back-to-school-anxiety/">stirs up stress and anxiety</a>. Are they going to like their new teacher? Are they going to enjoy their new school? Are their friends going to be in their class? </p>
<p>It is normal for young children to experience anxiety when separating from parents or caregivers. When you <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-some-kids-may-experience-separation-anxiety-due-to-covid-19/">layer a pandemic on top of ordinary back-to-school stress, many children will be struggling more than usual</a>. </p>
<p>In everyday language, it’s common for people to <a href="https://childmind.org/article/back-to-school-anxiety-during-covid/">talk about children</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-dogs-and-cats-manage-separation-anxiety-when-their-humans-return-to-work-148301">(or even pets)</a> experiencing separation anxiety. </p>
<p>When children experience more intense fears and anxieties that interfere with going to school over a prolonged period of time, or that interfere with how they function at school and/or how they interact with others, this is what psychologists call <a href="https://www.anxietycanada.com/disorders/separation-anxiety-2/">separation anxiety disorder</a>. <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/separation-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20377455">Separation anxiety disorder</a> is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2005.12.002">most common anxiety disorder in children</a> under 12 years of age. </p>
<p>Even when children are experiencing typical levels of anxiety — whether they are starting kindergarten, transitioning to a new school — or returning to more familiar surroundings, how parents respond is important.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child waves goodbye from school steps." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419324/original/file-20210903-15-1x5sxtm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A student waves to her parents as she enters the Bancroft Elementary School as students go back to school in Montréal last August.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Anxiety and the pandemic</h2>
<p>After long periods of social isolation with family members, it may be hard for some children — and parents — to be separated from them once the school bell rings.
Particularly after our pandemic year, some children <a href="https://theconversation.com/dreading-going-back-to-the-workplace-you-might-be-feeling-separation-anxiety-from-your-home-145377">and parents may still feel some anxiety about going into unfamiliar places</a>. They may also have concerns about pandemic safety that makes going back to school stressful.</p>
<p>In a normal year, approximately <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.004">one in 10 children experience elevated anxiety levels</a>. However, research shows that <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2782796">anxiety levels in children have doubled during the pandemic</a>, with one in five experiencing significant anxiety. </p>
<p>In the past year and a half, most children spent more time at home than usual, notably when schools were closed. Even when children were allowed to spend time with friends, there were often restrictions in place, such as being outdoors or keeping a mask on, and staying socially distant. </p>
<p>For some children, these restrictions can increase stress associated with interactions outside of their family. </p>
<h2>What separation anxiety can look like</h2>
<p>Separation anxiety can unfold in different ways. Children may refuse to go to school or participate in new activities in the absence of their parent. They may also refuse to go to bed without their parent or sleep away from home. </p>
<p>Some children experiencing separation anxiety have physical symptoms such as stomach aches and nightmares, while others may experience headaches or a racing heartbeat. Others may have persistent thoughts that something bad is going to happen to themselves or to their parents. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-your-child-cope-with-the-transition-back-to-school-during-covid-19-144530">How to help your child cope with the transition back to school during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some children may also be anxious when it comes to the pandemic specifically.
Going back to school can entail <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-school-faqs-on-childrens-health-and-covid-19-delta-variant-preventing-infection-testing-and-international-examples-164684">some risks for unvaccinated children</a>, and some may fear contracting COVID-19 or transmitting it to their friends and family. Also, children, much like adults, may feel a little “rusty” when it comes to interacting with people outside the family, particularly with strangers like a new teacher. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A father and child talk lying down and the boy looks a little apprehensive while the father holds his hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C995%2C5414%2C3014&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419335/original/file-20210903-13-1cpo6eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children, much like adults, may feel a little unpractised at interacting with people outside the family.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Ketut Subiyanto)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Strategies to support your child</h2>
<p>Whether you know your child has struggled significantly with anxiety before, or they seem worried or anxious about going back to school, we offer several strategies below to help you navigate these feelings with them.</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Validate your child’s fears and anxieties.</strong> Feeling anxious about separating from the comfort of caregivers is a normal response to stressful events. When children express anxiety, let them know you hear them and understand. You can validate and normalize their feelings by saying: “I get that you feel worried. I bet many other kids are feeling that way too.” </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Encourage positive self-talk.</strong> Help children develop a growth mindset that includes positive and productive statements such as: “I am brave, I can do this.” Positive self-talk has been linked to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02354595">increased self-esteem in kids</a>. Try practising this at home in the lead up to school, so it’s familiar and easy for kids to use these statements when they are separated from you or get anxious at school.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Plan to take small steps through the fall.</strong> It is a lot to ask children to go from limited social interactions during the pandemic to extended social interactions in a small space at school. During the first few weeks of school, try to resist the temptation to fill the evening weekends with outings and events. Consider doing home-based activities that children are familiar with to help provide some consistency in their environment. As your children get more comfortable with social interactions, start progressively adding more activities to their calendar as pandemic restrictions permit.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Stick to routines.</strong> The transition to a new school climate may feel unpredictable to children. This can result in increased anxiety. One way to reduce such anxiety is by having consistent routines at home. For example, stick to a consistent schedule when it comes to eating, bath time, screen time and bedtime. Research has found this has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2020.100291">helped children experience more well-being during the pandemic</a>. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Talk about the positive aspects of going to school and venturing out in new ways.</strong> Children (and adults!) can have a hard time seeing the positive aspects of anxiety-inducing situations. Parents can help children see the positive side of the back-to-school, including learning new things, time with friends or participating in extracurricular activities. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Model positive behaviours.</strong> Children are not the only ones that have seen an increase in their anxiety this past year. There have also been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00074-2">rises in</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-parents-can-be-emotion-coaches-as-kids-navigate-back-to-school-during-covid-19-166148">parental anxiety</a>. Even with respect to school, many parents may also be anxious about being separated from their child. When parents discuss their anxiety and stressors, children may internalize these worries. Try to avoid discussing your life stressors in front of your child, and also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764203254619">avoid exposure to alarming media, which has been shown to increase children’s anxiety</a>.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r_5eiYIo1XM?wmode=transparent&start=70" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video from Anxiety Canada models how parents can accompany their kindergartener to school.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is understandable that children may struggle with separating from their loved ones as they experience another unconventional back-to-school. Nonetheless, these strategies can help parents play an important role in easing their children’s anxiety and making the back-to-school more enjoyable for them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-childrens-resilience-and-your-own-amid-coronavirus-unknowns-135789">How to build children's resilience, and your own, amid coronavirus unknowns</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If you have questions about <a href="https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/separation-anxiety-linked-to-poorer-health">whether your child could benefit from additional support</a>, you can consider reaching out for professional help, including talking to your family physician. Anxiety Canada provides a <a href="https://www.anxietycanada.com/resources/find-help/">directory of professional services available across Canada</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Audrey-Ann Deneault receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheri Madigan receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, and the Canada Research Chairs program.</span></em></p>When you layer a pandemic on top of back-to-school, many children may struggle with separation anxiety. Here are some strategies parents can use to help reduce anxiety in their children.Audrey-Ann Deneault, Postdoctoral research fellow, Department of Psychology, University of CalgarySheri Madigan, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1648232021-09-06T12:04:39Z2021-09-06T12:04:39ZChildren’s concerns and feelings are ignored in back-to-school planning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418978/original/file-20210901-27-7a63c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C36%2C6017%2C3987&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do children feel about pandemic measures that affect their lives and sense of security?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is the pandemic affecting children? We can only speculate because we are not asking them how the pandemic is affecting them.</p>
<p>We are choosing to view the pandemic-derived challenges surrounding childhood through an adult lens. In other words, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Childhood-and-Postcolonization-Power-Education-and-Contemporary-Practice/Cannella-Viruru/p/book/9780415933476">we are re-inscribing western colonialist ideology on children</a>, in the way we choose to understand their struggles and their need for education and socialization. </p>
<p>How we make decisions affecting children’s lives today is shaped by our social legacies. Can we change this narrative to consider the agency of children during the pandemic?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-isnt-the-end-of-childhood-innocence-but-an-opportunity-to-rethink-childrens-rights-134478">Coronavirus isn't the end of 'childhood innocence,' but an opportunity to rethink children's rights</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the huge shuffle of lock downs, stay-at-home orders and travel bans, one constant issue has been the reopening of schools. Perhaps this could be considered a diligent consideration of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8315225/">children’s mental and physical well-being</a> due to the lack of socialization and the relentless number of hours spent behind a screen.</p>
<p>I have been observing and writing about the social construction of childhood through my fieldwork with children, where I study <a href="https://carleton.ca/slals/people/siddiqui-juwaeriah/">their motivation to learn languages other than English</a>. </p>
<h2>Prioritizing education</h2>
<p>Since when has the education and socialization of a child been given so much emphasis that it has been placed above the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01549-w">mental health of that very child</a>? </p>
<p>For a moment let us take the child back to their safe space, their homes, and assess how we have shifted their meaning of safety and comfort to virtual interaction and forced listening. Take a look at young children — and not <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1843925">their parents</a> — required to attend six hours of schooling through a screen. We hear from parents about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105440">how hard it is for their families</a> to balance school and working from home. </p>
<p>But have we thought about the child — their agency and choice when it comes to learning? As adults, we understand six hours of online school learning is way more challenging than in school learning, yet we have enforced this transition on children without hearing from them. Despite <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09720502.2021.1889780">knowing the challenges</a> and despite the resistance from children, we have revisited — or rather, reinforced — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2016.1168259">the historical construction of children and their actual needs</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I1Wpls7xcQo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">As children return to school, CBC looks at pandemic measures in place.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Virtual isolation</h2>
<p>In my fieldwork, I hear from children about their feelings in the pandemic. “I usually feel lazy by the fourth hour,” one five-year-old who was required to attend school from home during the pandemic. Another child who had just started school said: “School is fun with friends, I still cannot talk to my friends.” </p>
<p>When we think of how schools made a transition to a virtual environment, we usually think of the curriculum, the classroom engagement level and the quality of teaching and learning. It is all about re-creating the ultimate learning experience at home. Yet, the connection with other children — the ability to bond, share and have fun with peers — was removed. </p>
<p>The emotional well-being of children was rarely if at all considered in the process of transferring knowledge. How else do you justify six hours of online learning?</p>
<p>The focus has always been on the success of the economy and on <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/canadian-families-today-9780199025763">producing a skill set that can lend to it</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-childrens-day-young-people-deserve-to-be-heard-during-covid-19-149904">World Children’s Day: Young people deserve to be heard during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Today’s public schools serve as institutional spaces where children, who once worked in factories, could now have something valuable to do while their parents contributed to the economy. It serves as a way to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aaron-Benavot/publication/280131310_Institutional_Approach_to_the_Study_of_Education/links/55ab80c408ae481aa7fbddbc/Institutional-Approach-to-the-Study-of-Education.pdf">keep children occupied while the adults take on economically productive tasks</a>.</p>
<p>This notion is so deeply rooted in our ideologies of what education looks like and how it should be imparted that, even during a global crisis, public well-being is equated with economic well-being at the expense of a child. Our performance as a society is measured in terms of how quickly we can get them out of our common work spaces, to gain the preordained skill set, at the expense of the child’s well-being. If that means we intrude on their safe spaces, to educate them, we do! If that means we expect children as young as four to work on their devices as though they were young adults, we present that as modern-day schooling.</p>
<h2>Centering children</h2>
<p>Do we truly believe, as an advanced society in the current world, the only way a child can be educated is by spending the same number of hours in school at home learning? Are we saying that while businesses and governments can run on reduced capacity, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/pandemic-learning-gap-unesco-report-1.5888860">our educational curriculum cannot be reduced given the pandemic</a>? </p>
<p>Asking questions like these brings the child to the centre of the conversation, which doesn’t happen unless there is an adult’s interest at stake. It all boils down to how we view the role of children traditionally and how we can continue to keep them in <a href="https://www.redglobepress.com//page/detail/The-Social-Study-of-Childhood/?K=9780230308343">institutionalized school systems</a>.</p>
<p>As we think about their return to school, children have no voice in asking for reduced school hours, lesser workloads or the option of attending school during a pandemic. We continue to push the boundaries around children’s education without addressing their concerns or recognizing their agency. Instead, we choose to force them to adjust to a system of education that has not been built to truly serve children’s interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juwaeriah Siddiqui does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children are excluded from decisions related to schooling during the pandemic. This denies children their agency and reflects a historical colonial attitude about the place of the child.Juwaeriah Siddiqui, Ph.D. Candidate, Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663132021-09-03T15:14:55Z2021-09-03T15:14:55ZCOVID-19 has made the transition from primary to secondary school harder. Here’s how parents can help<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-school-how-to-support-children-as-they-head-into-a-new-class-144453">transition to secondary school</a> is a major life event for 11-year-old children in the UK. With a <a href="https://theconversation.com/adapting-to-secondary-school-why-the-physical-environment-is-important-too-110894">larger school environment</a> comes greater social challenges. New pupils have to make new friends as well as build new relationships with lots of different teachers. The change brings academic challenges too: testing becomes more common and more important and children are taught a greater array of subjects. </p>
<p>For some children, this is a pretty straightforward process. They easily meet people and settle into new routines and different styles of teaching. For others, though, it can prove very stressful. Leaving primary school can have a negative impact on their emotional well-being. And where they lack support from adults or do not have <a href="https://doi.org/10.25082/aere.2021.01.003">good coping skills</a>, these effects can be long-lasting. </p>
<p>Psychologists <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00534.x">suggest</a> that our ability to cope with challenges declines as the number of stressors in our life increases. Indeed, <a href="http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/79186/3/__its-home.uscs.susx.ac.uk_home_sc328_Desktop_Papers%20for%20SRO_Field_frontiers_psychology_jul18.pdf">research shows</a> that transitioning from primary to secondary school can be more difficult if children are also experiencing other changes at the same time. </p>
<p>So how has <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-school-how-can-parents-best-help-children-deal-with-covid-anxiety-167216">COVID-19</a> impacted children’s experience as they move from year six to year seven? And what can parents do to help? </p>
<h2>COVID stress</h2>
<p>Over the past four years, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper">UK government</a> has placed an increased emphasis on supporting children’s emotional well-being within schools. However, pandemic school closures have meant that the transition support offered in primary schools in previous years, such as school visits and classroom work, could not be put in place. </p>
<p>This year, like last year, children moving from primary to secondary school face additional <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-school-what-works-to-keep-children-safe-from-covid-19-podcast-167125">uncertainties and stresses</a> associated with the pandemic, from handwashing and social distancing, to concern about their own and their loved ones’ health and well-being. They have had to deal with changes to their school environments including remote learning and the bubbles in which school life continues to be organised.</p>
<p>They will also have missed out on opportunities they would usually have had to mark the end of their primary school experience: sitting national assessments, saying proper goodbyes to classmates and teachers, school trips and leaving ceremonies. This is likely to have affected how they adjusted to secondary school. </p>
<h2>What can parents do</h2>
<p>We recently conducted a UK-wide survey to explore parents’, children’s and teachers’ experiences of primary to secondary school transition during the pandemic. Our findings show the importance of prioritising children’s emotional well-being, which is something that parents can do at home.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2020.1855669">Celebrating</a> children’s time at primary school is a way of encouraging them to see school transition as an opportunity for growth and progression rather than a loss. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12273">research</a> shows that the end of primary school can be more upsetting when children are focused on what they are leaving behind. One year seven child we spoke to in a focus group said that school transition is more often presented as the end of primary school and not as a new beginning at a new school. </p>
<p>Parents can help children talk about how they feel and provide reassurance that being sad and anxious about leaving primary school is normal. They can also help children to focus on the new and exciting opportunities secondary school will bring. Education specialists talk about the benefits of doing this in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.25082/aere.2021.01.003">gradual, child-led manner</a>. </p>
<p>Children need to know what secondary school will be like and parents should try to tell them without passing on their own anxieties. As one year seven child <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12273">told us</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If they make too much of a fuss about it, then it does proper worry you. It’s like a soldier preparing for war, like if they give them a whole entire suit of armour it’s then they can think, ‘What are we going against?’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12273">giving children space</a> to explore their feelings and develop coping skills can help them see transition as an exciting opportunity. The lesson plans we have developed, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2020.1713870">Talking about School Transition</a>, encourage children to think about how their thoughts, feelings and behaviours are interlinked. Through structured activities and class-based discussions children are led to identify negative thoughts (“I won’t make any friends”) and to try and change them into more positive thoughts (“I had good friends at primary school and will make good friends at secondary school too”). </p>
<p>As COVID-19 continues to transform the society we live in, more research is needed on how to support children. Additionally, transition support for children and parents should start much earlier than year six and be integrated throughout their time at primary school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Skipper has received funding from the ESRC, Not Equal and the British Academy. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Bagnall and Claire Fox do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Making the jump from year six to year seven can be stressful, which only adds to the anxiety children feel from the pandemic. Support from parents and teachers alike is vitalCharlotte Bagnall, Lecturer in Educational Psychology, University of ManchesterClaire Fox, Reader in Educational Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityYvonne Skipper, Senior Lecturer in Psychology (Education), University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1672162021-09-02T13:29:02Z2021-09-02T13:29:02ZBack to school – how can parents best help children deal with COVID anxiety?<p>As children return to school this year –- the third academic year to be affected by COVID – many parents, carers and teaching staff are worried about their safety from infection. They will also be concerned about the impact the pandemic has had on their academic progress and their <a href="https://theconversation.com/child-mental-health-how-acting-out-during-covid-can-be-a-coping-mechanism-and-what-parents-can-do-to-help-158083">mental health</a>. </p>
<p>For children, the return to school after the summer break can of course be challenging in ordinary times. The past two academic years however have seen children and young people experience enormous change and uncertainty, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/schooling-in-lockdown-isnt-home-schooling-but-we-can-learn-from-the-real-thing-165004">successive lockdowns</a> and the self-isolation and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-academy-school-groups-defied-their-business-focused-reputation-to-help-students-in-lockdown-162683">remote learning</a> they have brought. </p>
<p>Between May and July 2020, the University of Oxford conducted <a href="https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/research/schoolmentalhealth/summary-report">a survey</a> of over 19,000 eight-to-18-year-olds in the south of England. When asked about how they felt about going back to school, over half of the respondents said they were looking forward to seeing their classmates, friends and taking part in extracurricular school clubs. One third, however, said they were worried about school work and attending lessons. </p>
<p>We all need time to adjust to the new academic year. So what are the factors parents and carers should keep in mind? How best can we support children in facing ongoing COVID uncertainty and any anxieties that might lead to? </p>
<h2>Talking together</h2>
<p>Talking with your child about the upcoming term is the first and most important step in supporting them, especially if they are starting a new school. For neurodiverse children it will be particularly important to make sure they know about things that will definitely be different in advance if possible. </p>
<p>Opt for neutral questions that encourage children to <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence-based-practice-unit/files/coronavirus_research_bite_3_talking_to_cyp_v2_0.pdf">express their feelings</a> rather than statements that assume negative or positive feelings. “How do you feel about..?” is more likely to prompt an honest conversation than assuming you know how they feel. </p>
<p>And <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence-based-practice-unit/files/coronavirus_research_bite_3_talking_to_cyp_v2_0.pdf">honesty is key</a>. Children and young people are quick to detect spin and it is better to explain uncertainty when it exists than to pretend that it does not. Anxiety arising from uncertainty can be supported by reminding children about what we know and what we can do. </p>
<p>It is important to listen to children and young people’s own thoughts about returning to school. For children who tend to get sucked into a whirlpool of worry, it might be helpful to make a <a href="https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/blog/how-to-make-a-worry-box-a-guide-for-parents/">worry box</a> or introduce a worry time where a certain but limited amount of time is given to talk through any concerns they have. </p>
<p>Some young people may be <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-to-help-your-kids-break-out-of-their-pandemic-bubble-and-transition-back-to-being-with-others-157732">concerned</a> about returning to school and protecting themselves, or more frequently vulnerable relatives, from COVID-19. It can help for the young person to feel in control where they can be. For example reminding them that regularly washing their hands, wearing masks, keeping a distance and opening windows or being outside as much as possible will help reduce the chances of catching or transmitting infections. </p>
<p>Others may feel particularly anxious or become obsessive over certain things such as checking the news often. They may feel reassured by gentle reminders of what is and what is not their responsibility – and that scientists, healthcare staff and others are working hard to keep us all as safe as possible. </p>
<h2>Healthy habits</h2>
<p>While we all love slipping out of our work and school schedule during the holiday, the return to a regular routine can be beneficial. So encourage <a href="https://natcen.ac.uk/blog/sweet-dreams-aren%E2%80%99t-made-of-these-the-pandemic,-mental-health-and-sleep-problems-in-children-and-young-people">healthy habits</a> – regular times to eat, sleep, study and play – in order to increase a <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence-based-practice-unit/files/emerging_evidence_issue_8.pdf">sense of structure</a> throughout the day. This can help children and young people feel <a href="https://charliewaller.org/resources/low-mood-poster">safe and secure</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/pedal/archive/newsevents/EvidencebriefSummer2019.pdf">Play</a> is an important factor here. We all need to do things that we enjoy to support our mental health and well-being. However great the need to catch up on academic work, children and young people learn best when mentally healthy, and it is important that school work does not squeeze out all the activities that children and young people find <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-back-to-school-during-covid-19-bolster-childrens-mental-and-emotional-well-being-through-play-165453">fun and engaging</a>. </p>
<p>This is particularly important in the run up to exams, when given the increased stress and academic pressure, nourishing activities are all the more important. So prioritise time <a href="https://emergingminds.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID19_advice-for-parents-and-carers_20.3_.pdf">playing and exercising</a> – outdoors where possible – in order to boost mood and help relieve anxiety and stress. </p>
<p>According to England’s Mental Health of Children and Young People <a href="https://files.digital.nhs.uk/CB/C41981/mhcyp_2020_rep.pdf">Survey</a>, there has been an increase in probable mental health conditions, from one in nine children aged five to 16 years in 2017 to one in six children in July 2020 across all age, sex, and ethnic groups. But we should note that this still means that five out of six children and young people are doing fine despite the disruption and uncertainty resulting from the pandemic. </p>
<p>While some mixed feelings are normal about the return to school, distress or difficult behaviour that persists over weeks or months and gets in the way of coping with the ordinary demands of life – however extraordinary life during COVID might feel – can signal a mental health problem. We would encourage parents, carers and teachers to seek help.</p>
<p>Further resources for parents and carers to support young people are available through the <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/school-guidance-for-coping-with-coronavirus">Mental Health Foundation</a>, <a href="https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/supporting-your-child-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/#HowcanIsupportmychildasrestrictionsease">Young Minds</a>, <a href="https://www.minded.org.uk/">MIndEd</a>, <a href="https://charliewaller.org/what-we-do/for-parents">Charlie Waller</a> and <a href="https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/media/2077/coronavirus-toolkit-return-to-school.pdf">Mentally Healthy Schools</a>. Resources are also available in foreign language translations at <a href="https://emergingminds.org.uk/advice-for-parents-carers-supporting-children-young-people-with-worries-about-covid-19/">Emerging Minds</a> and for all practitioners working with children and young people via <a href="https://www.acamh.org/">ACAMH</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tamsin Ford receives funding from Place2Be, a third sector organisation who supports children's mental health via schools</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rasanat Fatima Nawaz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>COVID has made the usual jitters about returning to school that much more intense. Parents can support their children by listening carefully and prioritising healthy habitsTamsin Ford, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of CambridgeRasanat Fatima Nawaz, Doctoral researcher in psychiatry, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668702021-08-31T22:09:12Z2021-08-31T22:09:12ZCOVID-19 back to school Q&A: Is it safe for unvaccinated children to go to school in person? Is the harm of school closures greater than the risk of the virus?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418729/original/file-20210831-23-rml689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C35%2C3343%2C2128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For children, the risks associated with school closures have surpassed the health risks associated with COVID-19.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Back-to-school is here again. While we might hope that beginning the academic year with schools open for in-person learning would set the trend for the rest of the year, the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-covid-fourth-wave-factors-1.6150366">presence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, makes everything less certain</a>. </p>
<p>Some parents have already made decisions <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/we-are-no-longer-comfortable-how-canada-s-rising-covid-19-cases-have-some-abandoning-back-to-school-plans-1.5550156">to keep their children home for online learning when schools open</a>. Others may revisit these choices as the fall unfolds. Yet many parents also need to go with what their school systems offer. </p>
<p>With over a year’s worth of data on how SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease manifest in children and our experience from last year’s school closures, we can at least answer some important questions about the risks of infection in unvaccinated children and the risks of missing in-person school.</p>
<h2>What are the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated children?</h2>
<p>Children infected with SARS-CoV-2 may be asymptomatic. A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/34/e2109229118">review of several studies</a> found that roughly half of infected children did not show any symptoms. A study of children in Alberta found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.202065">one-third of those infected were asymptomatic</a>.</p>
<p>Children with COVID-19 symptoms, in general, have a mild illness.</p>
<p>A large study in the United Kingdom, that included data up to February 2021, showed that when children aged five to 11 have symptoms, these tend to last five days. In 3.1 per cent of this age group, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00198-X">symptoms last longer than</a> 28 days. This duration can be compared with people aged 12 to 17, and adults: 5.1 per cent of the former had symptoms for longer than 28 days; 13.3 per cent of adults had symptoms one month after infection. Only six of 445 younger children (1.3 per cent) included in the U.K. study had symptoms that lasted longer than 56 days.</p>
<p>In children, the risk of hospitalization, severe disease and death is low, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-age.html">relative to adults</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/now-everyones-a-statistician-heres-what-armchair-covid-experts-are-getting-wrong-144494">Now everyone's a statistician. Here's what armchair COVID experts are getting wrong</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/">In the United States</a>, 0.2 to 1.9 per cent of COVID-19 cases detected in children led to hospitalization, including children infected with the now-circulating Delta variant. </p>
<p>In Belgium, hospitalization rates and admission to intensive care units for children with COVID-19 have been low, and <a href="https://covid-19.sciensano.be/sites/default/files/Covid19/COVID-19_Hospital_epidemiology_Part_1.pdf">haven’t changed while new variants have been circulating</a>. A <a href="https://www.sciensano.be/en/biblio/prevalence-and-incidence-antibodies-against-sars-cov-2-children-and-school-staff-measured-between-2">Belgian school study</a> showed that in June 2021, 15.4 per cent of Belgian elementary school children had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, meaning they had already been infected with the novel coronavirus some time during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Delta constitutes more than 75 per cent of the <a href="https://www.uzleuven.be/nl/laboratoriumgeneeskunde/genomic-surveillance-sars-cov-2-belgium">sequenced cases</a> since July 5, 2021, in Belgium, and almost all cases in the country as of Aug. 16.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two teddy bears seen in a window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418276/original/file-20210827-17674-1rqhn1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two teddy bears are seen in Antwerp, Belgium, in March 2020, in a window with instructions about good hygiene practices to help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/epidemiological-summary-covid-19-cases.html">In Canada</a>, 0.5 per cent of the detected and recorded cases in children under 19 years old have led to hospitalization, and 0.06 per cent to admission to the pediatric intensive care unit, since the start of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Research suggests that the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), presenting two to six weeks after infection and affecting mostly children aged six to nine, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.16420">remains rare</a>, with an incidence of three MIS-C cases per 10,000 SARS-CoV-2 infections in people younger than 21. Canadian research awaiting peer-review and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-051155">research from the U.S.</a> show that the child <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.14.21257058">generally recovers rapidly</a> from an MIS-C episode. </p>
<p>As the pandemic evolves, combining multiple data sources will give us a more <a href="https://fullfact.org/health/bbc-children-covid-risk/">valid and precise</a> calculation <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19478-2">of risk</a> related to children’s infection and illness.</p>
<h2>Is it safe for unvaccinated children to go back to in-person school with the variants circulating?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/">In the U.S.</a>, the number of pediatric cases of COVID-19 has increased in recent weeks.</p>
<p>Pediatric cases have also increased as a proportion of the total number of all detected cases and accounted for 22.4 per cent of total cumulative cases for the week ending Aug. 19 (up from 14.6 per cent a week earlier). This is occurring, however, in the context of high community transmission and low vaccination coverage.</p>
<p>When more children get infected, there are more opportunities to have children become ill and more severely ill, both with acute infection and MIS-C, even if this absolute risk is small. The <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/">mortality rate</a> of COVID-19 in children under 17 is less than three deaths per 10,000 cases. </p>
<p><a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/epidemiological-summary-covid-19-cases.html">Public Health Canada data</a> show a mortality of one per 20,000 in children under 19. </p>
<h2>What’s the bigger risk: COVID-19 or school closures?</h2>
<p>For children, the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FMD.0000000000026709">risks associated with school closures</a> have surpassed the health risks associated with COVID-19. </p>
<p>Schools provide instruction that allows students to gain academic skills, but they also help socialize students and teach behavioural skills. Schools provide social support and favour the <a href="http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/education/jeunes/pfeq/PFEQ-tableau-synthese-primaire-2018-EN.pdf">acquisition of healthy habits</a>. Schools can help immigrant children learn new languages and/or foster integration into their new communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-oldest-child-in-syrian-refugee-families-needs-the-most-urgent-support-and-what-schools-can-do-159887">Why the oldest child in Syrian refugee families needs the most urgent support, and what schools can do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Research shows that long school interruptions have both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12334">short-term</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/opinion/covid-education-schools.html">long-term</a> negative impacts on the development of students’ academic skills and academic achievement, and on how they fare with employment in adulthood.</p>
<p>The negative impacts of school closures can even be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/703134">transmitted to the next generation</a>. </p>
<p>School closures during this pandemic in Belgium and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022376118">the Netherlands</a> had negative impacts on kids’ learning, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3754">children in vulnerable households</a> more severely affected. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An empty classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418273/original/file-20210827-21791-1mfcaa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research has shown that school closures have had negative effects on children’s learning and well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What effects do school closures have on physical and mental health?</h2>
<p>The experience of last year’s confinement and school closures provided data on its negative effect on children’s physical health. Increased numbers <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-shadow-pandemic-of-young-people-with-eating-disorders-strains-capacity/">of children developed</a> <a href="https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/sante/587778/coronavirus-epidemie-de-troubles-alimentaires">eating disorders</a> and weight problems.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8">Physical activity</a> decreased in Canadian youth. Screen time was up. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22917">Excessive screen time</a> is associated with a sedentary lifestyle and with cardiovascular disease risk factors like high blood pressure, insulin resistance and obesity. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-006924">School meal programs that ordinarily offer some protection against children’s hunger and malnutrition were not available during the pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>Confinement also affected young children’s <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1619">mental health</a>. </p>
<p>A recently published review of several <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482">studies on children’s mental health</a> estimated that anxiety affected a quarter of children and that one-in-five were depressed during the pandemic, which is twice the pre-pandemic rate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-and-youth-mental-health-problems-have-doubled-during-covid-19-162750">Child and youth mental health problems have doubled during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We also know that reporting of child abuse <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0525">went down during school closures</a>, not because these events <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104757">did not occur</a>, but because teachers and school staff didn’t have the opportunity to detect and <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/child-maltreatment-2019">report abuse</a>.</p>
<h2>Can virtual schooling replace in-person education?</h2>
<p>There is limited research on children and full virtual schooling,
<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3642969">but neither preliminary</a> nor <a href="http://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20191507">peer-reviewed research</a> suggest that virtual schooling can fully and adequately compensate for in-person schooling.</p>
<p>School closures put children’s physical, mental and academic development at risk and displace many children from the optimal environment to develop social skills and receive support. </p>
<p>In-person schooling is essential for schools to achieve their diverse objectives and for the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-016824">well-being of children</a>, especially <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00001-eng.htm">vulnerable children</a>. </p>
<p>This doesn’t mean we can’t embrace the positive aspects of online learning, or design education that looks different from what we have today. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-childrens-day-young-people-deserve-to-be-heard-during-covid-19-149904">including children in decision-making</a> and designing the school environments and experiences that meet their needs — and having equity in mind — should be equally high on our agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna-Trees Merckx receives funding as a consultant for Belgian Public Health as a co-investigator in the Belgian school SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies. She was an employee of bioMérieux Canada, inc. a diagnostic company, until July 31, 2021. This work is independent of her prior appointment within medical affairs in this organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Haeck receives funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec and Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitri Van der Linden is one of the investigators of DYNATRACS, a study on dynamic of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools in Belgium. This study is funded by Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB). Dimitri Van der Linden does not receive any personal payment for this study. Dimitri Van der Linden receives payment from the Belgian government for expert meetings related to SARS-Cov-2 crisis management strategy. Dimitri Van der Linden is the french-speaking spokesperson of the Belgian Covid-19 pediatric task force, independent non funded organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay Kaufman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Amid uncertainties about what the pandemic will look like this fall, experts answer questions about risks of infection in unvaccinated children and the risks of missing in-person school.Joanna-Trees Merckx, Lecturer, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill UniversityCatherine Haeck, Full Professor, Economics Department, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Dimitri Van der Linden, Clinical professor, Pediatric Department, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)Jay Kaufman, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1646842021-08-31T00:04:56Z2021-08-31T00:04:56ZBack-to-school FAQs on children’s health & COVID-19: Delta variant, preventing infection, testing and international examples<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418497/original/file-20210830-23-1lqbgor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C176%2C4111%2C2596&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To reduce the spread of COVID-19 in unvaccinated children, epidemiologists rely on a layered approach of interventions including masking, ventilation, cohorting and promoting vaccination for all eligible community members. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/back-to-school-faqs-on-children-s-health---covid-19--delta-variant--preventing-infection--testing-and-international-examples" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>This fall, we once again start a school year during a pandemic. While we have learned many important facts about COVID-19 and how to limit its spread, the circulation of new variants of concern and more specifically of the Delta variant raise questions about sending children to school. </p>
<p>Parents, policy-makers and school administrators are concerned with how society can <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.4619">make the best choices</a>, fine-tune interventions and increase the odds for kindergarten to Grade 12 children to thrive and remain physically and mentally healthy during in-person learning. </p>
<p>With no vaccines yet approved for children under 12, <a href="https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/children-and-school-settings-covid-19-transmission">balanced decision-making</a> will be crucial and should be done according to local epidemiology and vaccination coverage.</p>
<h2>1. How have SARS-CoV-2 variants spread in schools?</h2>
<p>Research suggests that transmission in schools depends on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30882-3">level of community</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-021-04222-9">transmission</a>. </p>
<p>Some schools in Canada remained open <a href="https://cmajnews.com/2021/06/18/covid-variants-1095949">after new variants</a> were <a href="https://nccid.ca/covid-19-variants">detected and</a> in circulation.</p>
<p>Only the United Kingdom has good data on transmission <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/school-closures-covid?time=2021-08-25">in schools</a> while the Delta variant was the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d4abbe5e-8650-4a76-9fea-2d3efa2ed52b">dominant strain</a> in circulation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/masks-ventilation-vaccination-3-ways-to-protect-our-kids-against-the-delta-variant-166413">Masks, ventilation, vaccination: 3 ways to protect our kids against the Delta variant</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1445">Infections with the Delta variant</a> were detected in British students, but this did not lead to high case numbers. Only <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/covid19schoolsinfectionsurveyengland/round6june2021">0.27 per cent of primary school pupils</a> tested positive compared to about one per cent in the winter period.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/situation-coronavirus-in-quebec/#c70108">In Québec</a>, where some of our epidemiology research is based, 94 per cent of schools reported cases by April 2021. </p>
<p>An overview of global studies (not all had been peer-reviewed), where the data had been collected after January 2021, suggests there is evidence of transmission <a href="https://www.nccmt.ca/covid-19/covid-19-rapid-evidence-service/19">in schools and daycares worldwide</a>. Transmission, however, remained limited under a wide range of prevention measures such as masking, cohorting, cancelling higher-risk activities, distancing, hygiene protocols, reduced class size and enhanced ventilation.</p>
<p>Both children and adults have been primary cases in schools — meaning that either children or adults can be the first in a given environment to spread the infection to others. A good way to measure and compare how the infection spreads from primary cases is to calculate the “secondary attack rate” (the number of new cases an initial case infects, per 100 exposed individuals) and to report this rate separately for children and adults. The secondary attack rate can also be compared between settings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teacher in face shield faces students in a yard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418257/original/file-20210827-25-vniwhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A teacher greets students in the schoolyard at the Philippe-Labarre Elementary School in Montréal last August.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children who are infected have often been undiagnosed because they are less likely to be tested. Studies that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100086">randomly tested school children</a> for an active infection did not detect <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab332">widespread silent transmission among</a> children and adults in those schools. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/serotracker/">Seroprevalence</a> studies, including a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.16.21258861">Canadian study</a> from Vancouver that is not peer reviewed, have looked for the presence of antibodies following infection, and have shown that children in in-person learning were typically infected at similar rates as other groups in the local community. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00544-1">School outbreaks have been investigated</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7035e2.htm">reported</a> by researchers and in the media. It can be difficult to identify the origin of the outbreak and its transmission, when many cases are diagnosed at the same time, and without a complete outbreak investigation. Overall, children who had <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2021.710785">contact with an infected household member</a> had the highest risk of infection. SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks can be related to superspreading events, however, to our knowledge, no <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n628">superspreading event has been attributed to a young child</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-few-superspreaders-transmit-the-majority-of-coronavirus-cases-139950">A few superspreaders transmit the majority of coronavirus cases</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Population studies estimate the Delta variant is <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/08/11/1026190062/covid-delta-variant-transmission-cdc-chickenpox">two to three times more contagious</a> than the wild strain and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57431420">50 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant</a>. </p>
<h2>2. How are schools stopping the spread of variants and decreasing airborne transmission in schools?</h2>
<p>Implementing infection control measures and guidelines is crucial to decrease the risk of transmission in the school environment. </p>
<p>In order to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, epidemiologists rely on <a href="https://preventepidemics.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/160_PE_COVID-in-Schools_Fact-Sheet_0721_Rev-A_v4.pdf">a layered approach</a> of applying timely detection of symptoms and testing, limiting direct contact or distancing, limiting the number of contacts and mixing, ventilation, masking, standard hygiene practices and vaccination. This layered approach is also called the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/health/coronavirus-swiss-cheese-infection-mackay.html">Swiss Cheese Model</a> of infection prevention, where each additional measure prevents further transmission should the virus escape other barriers.</p>
<p>A study, which has not been peer-reviewed, estimates that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.10.21261726">this layered approach</a> is necessary to control transmission with Delta in kindergarten to Grade 12 schools, as does <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25169-3">other research</a> about transmission in university environments.</p>
<p>However, measures must be tailored to local epidemiology and vaccination coverage, and tested for their feasibility (for example, the feasibility of distancing with younger children).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Desks spaced out in a classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418255/original/file-20210827-21-wrjy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To limit spread of COVID-19, epidemiologists rely on a layered approach that includes distancing, applying timely detection of symptoms and testing, ventilation and masking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Less attention needs to go to disinfecting and cleaning, because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00251-4">transmission through surfaces or objects</a> is unlikely. The extent to which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3223">distancing rules</a> lower the transmission risk depends on additional measurements already in place (like masking and ventilation) and the occupancy of the space.</p>
<p>The focus has shifted to air quality and ventilation in the classroom. Some schools changed the quality of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/gta-school-ventilation-update-1.6071032">air filters</a> they use in mechanical systems or distributed portable <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/school-ventilation-systems-1.6130891">HEPA filters</a>. Others pledged to install <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/air-quality-covid-schools-1.6097934">carbon dioxide monitors</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Should schools test students for COVID-19?</h2>
<p>Masks and mask mandates remain part of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-back-to-school-covid-19-2021-1.6151255">many Canadian</a> provinces’ <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-health-and-safety-measures-schools?gclid=CjwKCAjw95yJBhAgEiwAmRrutFW0xgoHAzoW6gGVzBlNMUwJ2bF2T8nKheroS5N4Dp__h8ERZDOAQBoCglQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#section-1">guidelines for schools</a>. Some parent groups and advocates in <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-covid-health-measures-schools-1.6153257">Alberta have criticized</a> decisions to <a href="https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/mobile/rocky-view-schools-drops-mask-mandate-for-2021-22-school-year-1.5562638">drop mask mandates</a> <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/k-12-learning-during-covid-19.aspx#jumplinks-2">in schools</a>.</p>
<p>Because there were insufficient data on mask use and effectiveness in young children, masks were inconsistently implemented <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-321017">in Europe and the U.K.</a> when the pandemic was hitting hardest in 2020-21. </p>
<p>It is difficult to <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/8/26/22643549/covid-masks-schools-research">measure the impact of masks in schools</a> in particular. We do know that mask wearing among adults <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818">reduces COVID-19 cases</a>, and also <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7010e3.htm">reduces mortality</a>. Masks are a potent tool against transmission, but a mask-wearing mandate alone is not enough. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kids-masks-and-back-to-school-faqs-are-cloth-masks-best-to-protect-against-covid-19-how-often-should-masks-be-washed-146059">Kids, masks & back-to-school FAQs: Are cloth masks best to protect against COVID-19? How often should masks be washed?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Masks also protect children from <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7942074/covid-19-children-viruses-ends-canada-immune">other respiratory infections</a>, which have been circulating again since the spring. The extra barrier can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052089">decrease the spread of many other viruses</a>, and may decrease the amount of time students spend out of school because of symptoms that cannot be distinguished from those of COVID-19 and will lead to testing and quarantines. </p>
<p>Testing has been used in schools to diagnose cases, in outbreak investigations, for quarantine guidance and as prevention. Tests can, for example, be applied to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.2392">decrease the duration</a> of quarantine. Tests can also be used to prevent students and teachers from coming to school when they are infectious. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofab287">Repetitive, weekly and bi-weekly testing</a> has been used as an additional layer of protection. However, the burden and costs related to the testing are large, especially when the community incidence is low and only low numbers of cases can be picked up. A more realistic option would be to randomly choose some schools <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101028">to monitor viral circulation</a> across the country.</p>
<p>Whether testing is used for preventive screening or for diagnosis, it is crucial that samples are collected in a child-friendly way, for example, using <a href="http://doi.org/10.1128%2FJCM.02427-20">gargle samples</a>, spit or saliva. The tests should be equally accessible and readily available for the family, and the results be rapidly available to decrease time in uncertainty. </p>
<p>The type of tests made available for children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofab287">should also have</a> few false positives, so that we don’t isolate children who are no longer carrying infectious virus. </p>
<p>Another concern is children who are tested and receive a false negative result (the test says negative, but they’re actually positive). Both testing errors have a disruptive effect and cause harm. What’s needed is easy, accessible and frequent testing with a modestly sensitive but highly specific test. </p>
<p>Vaccination remains the most effective direct and sustainable <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32657-X">prevention</a> against infectious diseases. Vaccine mandates and <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/go-vaxx-bus-schedule">other initiatives encouraging vaccines</a> to increase vaccine coverage in schools of all who are eligible — teachers and older children — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01549-z">seem to be</a> the most <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-mandates-are-lawful-effective-and-based-on-rock-solid-science/">valuable strategies</a> to decrease transmission. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy receives an antibiody test from a solidier at a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418246/original/file-20210827-18-6x40y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Israeli soldier conducts a COVID-19 antibody test on a boy in Hadera, Israel, Aug. 23, 2021. Israel is using antibody tests to inform decisions about in-person school attendance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. What best practices of infection prevention and control should schools follow?</h2>
<p>The set of mitigation practices described in Question No. 3 are implemented in most countries. There are, however, major differences in the intensity, method, co-ordination, communication and measurement of their implementation and their feasibility. </p>
<p>In terms of mass vaccination, Canada is one of the fortunate countries to have this implemented broadly. Some countries around the globe have not been as fortunate. </p>
<p>Many countries developed guidelines for infection prevention and control measurements, often prescribed by public health and ministries of education. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girls walk wearing face masks on a street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418250/original/file-20210827-22-oxf8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children wear face masks as they walk in Brussels in August 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Advice from <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools/">pediatric medical societies</a> and <a href="https://www.sickkids.ca/en/news/archive/2021/covid19-updated-guidance-school-operation-during-pandemic/">their experts</a> has been integrated in some of the guidelines. The <a href="https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/children-and-school-settings-covid-19-transmission">European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control</a> provides an overview of mitigation guidelines, as do the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and the <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/340872/WHO-EURO-2021-2151-41906-57497-eng.pdf">World Health Organization</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/guidance-documents/planning-2021-2022-school-year-vaccination.html">Government of Canada</a> made a guideline document available, while the provinces are providing local guidelines. </p>
<p>Even among the neighbouring European countries of <a href="http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=26823&do_id=8467">Belgium</a>, <a href="https://lci.rivm.nl/Handreiking-contact-en-uitbraakonderzoek-kinderen">the Netherlands</a> <a href="https://men.public.lu/fr/support/coronavirus.html">and Luxembourg</a>, the measures differ. Masks, for example, are mandatory in primary school in Luxembourg unless students are sitting more than 1.5 metres apart in classrooms, which is feasible because there is a maximum of 15-18 pupils per classroom there. Masks are mandatory at all times inside primary schools <a href="https://www.education.gouv.fr/covid19-mesures-pour-les-ecoles-colleges-et-lycees-modalites-pratiques-continuite-pedagogique-et-305467">in France</a>, but not in Belgium or the Netherlands. Rules for quarantine also differ in those countries.</p>
<p>Of course, experts’ recommendations do not always <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.0374">align with political decisions</a>.</p>
<p>This fall, policy-makers and school leaders must continue to deploy <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/4/e2020048090">preventive measures</a> in schools in an equitable manner. Parents, <a href="https://www.caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/immunization/covid-19-vaccine-for-children">older children</a> and all community members who are eligible for vaccination have a role to play by becoming vaccinated. They can also listen to children’s voices and experiences as children enter a challenging school year — and seek to <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-isnt-the-end-of-childhood-innocence-but-an-opportunity-to-rethink-childrens-rights-134478">understand and practise their own roles in keeping one another healthy</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna receives funding as a consultant for Belgian Public Health as a co-investigator in the Belgian school SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies. She was an employee of bioMérieux Canada, inc. a diagnostic company, until July 31, 2021. This work is independent of her prior appointment within medical affairs in this organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitri Van der Linden is one of the investigators of DYNATRACS, a study on dynamic of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools in Belgium. This study is funded by Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB). Dimitri Van der Linden does not receive any personal payment for this study.
Dimitri Van der Linden receives payment from the Belgian government for expert meetings related to SARS-Cov-2 crisis management strategy.
Dimitri Van der Linden is the French-speaking spokesperson of the Belgian Covid-19 pediatric task force, independent non funded organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay Kaufman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With no vaccination yet in children under 12, preventing COVID-19 spread in schools depends on fine-tuning policy interventions according to local epidemiology and vaccination rates.Joanna-Trees Merckx, Lecturer, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill UniversityDimitri Van der Linden, Clinical professor, Pediatric Department, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)Jay Kaufman, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1661482021-08-26T19:02:14Z2021-08-26T19:02:14ZHow parents can be ‘emotion coaches’ as kids navigate back-to-school during COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417445/original/file-20210823-26-1udge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C71%2C3658%2C2665&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Noticing, validating and managing emotions is an important part of family health and wellness.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-parents-can-be--emotion-coaches--as-kids-navigate-back-to-school-during-covid-19" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>As children head back to school, families are once again facing a September of uncertainty. This worry is compounded by <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482">depressive and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents that have doubled</a> in the past 18 months. </p>
<p>Our team has been studying the mental health of children and families since the start of the pandemic to develop strategies that support those who are struggling. Getting kids back in the classroom is an <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18030981">important step</a>. However, we must not forget the well-being of families, as children are most successful when they are jointly supported in both the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1521/scpq.2005.20.4.473">classroom and at home</a>. </p>
<p>Noticing, validating and managing emotions is an important part of family health and wellness. Emotion coaching is a simple strategy parents can use with their children and loved ones. </p>
<h2>How the pandemic got in the way</h2>
<p>Our family science research group in southern Ontario has recently published three studies highlighting how the pandemic has interrupted relationships and mental health in children and families. Findings were based on an <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/whole-family-lab/current-research/cramped-families-study">international sample</a> of 549 families and 1,098 children. </p>
<p>We found that pandemic stress falls into one of three categories: economic stress (things like job loss, debt problems), relational stress (showing up, for instance, as more hostility or withdrawal between family members) and pandemic-specific stress (seen in things like being overwhelmed by the news cycle). In other words, many parents are simply <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyt.2021.669106">too stressed</a> to provide emotionally supportive responses during parenting exchanges. That said, not all families have been affected equally. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/parenting-in-a-pandemic-how-to-develop-stronger-family-relationships-during-covid-19-149699">Parenting in a pandemic: How to develop stronger family relationships during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Among the parents we studied, we found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113801">that women</a> with a history of early life adversity were the most vulnerable to mental health problems. But men with a history of early life adversity were still at greater risk for mental health problems than men without such early adversity.</p>
<p>Parents experiencing mental health challenges creates a ripple effect across the entire family unit. It predicts higher mental health problems in children, psychological distress in parents and parenting challenges. </p>
<p>Even within the same family, one sibling may be struggling more. In a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shealyn-May-2/publication/352996842_COVID-19_Disruption_gets_Inside_the_Family_A_Two-Month_Multilevel_Study_of_Family_Stress_during_the_Pandemic/links/60e3257f299bf1ea9ee21eb9/COVID-19-Disruption-gets-Inside-the-Family-A-Two-Month-Multilevel-Study-of-Family-Stress-during-the-Pandemic.pdf">sibling comparison study</a>, forthcoming in the peer-reviewed journal <em>Developmental Psychology</em>, caregivers reported having more parenting challenges over time with the child who had higher levels of anxiety, depression and anger at the start of the pandemic. </p>
<p>This is an important and unique finding since it describes how COVID-19 stress “gets inside the family,” highlighting and widening differences between siblings. This creates an added challenge for parents. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Parents in masks congregate with their children in a school yard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417450/original/file-20210823-16-1q4tbg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not all families have been affected equally by the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is emotion coaching?</h2>
<p>Emotion coaching is a pattern of communication that emerged from the work of <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Raising-An-Emotionally-Intelligent-Child/Daniel-Goleman/9780684838656">psychologist John Gottman</a>, and has since become embedded in many <a href="https://www.emotiontraininginstitute.org/courses/efstp">types of therapy</a>. </p>
<p>That said, it’s not complicated and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/What-to-Say-to-Kids-When-Nothing-Seems-to-Work-A-Practical-Guide-for-Parents/Lafrance-Miller/p/book/9781138344631">anyone can do it</a>. </p>
<p>In its simplest form, emotion coaching is a two-step process that parents can use when their child is distressed. </p>
<p><strong>1. Parents first validate the emotion.</strong> This requires that they identify the emotion by saying something like: “I understand you might be feeling worried …” and then by explaining the emotion: “… <em>because</em> it’s almost September, <em>because</em> you are worried about what back to school will look like and <em>because</em> you have been home for so long.” This conveys to a child that their feelings make sense, that they are not wrong or bad for feeling the way they do, and that their parent understands them. To remember this step, parents can remind themselves that you’ve got to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/foc.8.1.foc32">feel it to heal it</a>.</p>
<p><strong>2. After validating the emotion, parents provide support.</strong> This may be emotional support that is comforting, reassuring and hopeful. It could also be a sign of togetherness, in saying something like: “I will be here with you every step of the way this fall.” </p>
<p>Next, practical support can take the form of distraction, redirection, problem-solving or encouragement. If a child is focused on the uncertainty of September, parents may suggest doing a fun activity together. If an adolescent is refusing school, parents could provide encouragement or set limits and reinforce expectations. </p>
<p>The important thing is the order of emotion coaching steps — first a parent helps their child to feel the emotion (validation), and then the parent helps their child to feel better (support). </p>
<p>Not only will emotion coaching help calm the emotional storm in the moment, but it will also teach children how to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000904">manage their own emotions</a> in the future. </p>
<h2>Parents’ own emotions</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sneakers walking up outdoor stairs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417453/original/file-20210823-20-xhb588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Exercise can help parents manage their own emotions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children transitioning back to school will likely require additional support. Emotion coaching is not complicated, but it can be very difficult for parents to respond with patience and empathy when at their wits end. </p>
<p>Parents can manage their own emotions by seeking professional support by <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists">going into therapy</a>, accessing <a href="https://self-compassion.org/">online mental health materials</a> or <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/caring-for-your-mental-health">taking care of their mental health</a> with activities like exercise, healthy eating and sleep routines. </p>
<p>We also recommend that parents take time to talk with their children before school starts. For an anxious child, this might be five minutes of validation and support each day. For another child, checking in occasionally may be enough. </p>
<p>To quote <a href="https://www.fredrogerscenter.org/about-fred/Fred-Quotes">a shorthand version of Mr. Rogers’s philosophy</a>, “<a href="https://www.fredrogerscenter.org/2018/02/anything-mentionable">If it’s mentionable, it’s manageable</a>.” There will undoubtedly be a lot to mention this fall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dillon Thomas Browne receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Society for Research in Child Development, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Heather Prime receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Banting Research Foundation (partnered with Mitacs), and the Faculty of Health at York University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Jenkins receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation, the Lawson Foundation, the Atkinson Charitable Foundation and the University of Toronto.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Wade receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.), the Society for Research in Child Development, and the Connaught Foundation. </span></em></p>A successful transition in September is a whole-family affair.Dillon Thomas Browne, Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of WaterlooHeather Prime, Assistant professor, Department of Psychology, York University, CanadaJennifer Jenkins, Atkinson Chair of Early Child Development and Education and Director of the Atkinson Centre, University of TorontoMark Wade, Assistant Professor, Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1666402021-08-25T19:08:31Z2021-08-25T19:08:31ZCanadian colleges and universities can mandate COVID-19 vaccination without violating Charter rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417832/original/file-20210825-21-ampdcx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C105%2C5378%2C3531&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">University students wait to be vaccinated at Andres Bello University in Santiago, Chile, in June 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Esteban Felix) </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadian-colleges-and-universities-can-mandate-covid-19-vaccination-without-violating-charter-rights" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>It’s time for all Canadian colleges and universities to adopt mandatory vaccination policies. <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/covid-19-updates-for-canadas-universities/">Many schools here</a> and in the <a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/list-of-colleges-that-require-covid-19-vaccine/">United States</a> have already taken this step, yet <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/confusing-rules-loopholes-legal-issues-college-vaccination-plans-are-mess-n1267981">others remain reluctant</a>.</p>
<p>One reason for this hesitancy is the worry that a mandatory vaccination requirement might violate Section 7 of the <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/schedule-b-to-the-canada-act-1982-uk-1982-c-11/latest/schedule-b-to-the-canada-act-1982-uk-1982-c-11.html">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some universities and colleges are concerned that a student or staff member might use Section 7 to challenge a vaccine mandate. Would Canadian courts uphold vaccine mandates in the face of a Section 7 challenge? As legal scholars and educators, <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2021CanLIIDocs1946">we believe the answer is a resounding “Yes!”</a></p>
<h2>Vaccine mandates are not forced vaccinations</h2>
<p>Would-be claimants alleging that vaccine mandates violate Section 7 face multiple hurdles to prove their case. The first obstacle is establishing an infringement of a protected interest in “life, liberty or security of the person.”</p>
<p>Two leading cases have looked at the role of individual autonomy in medical decisions: <em><a href="https://canlii.ca/t/24432">A.C. vs. Manitoba (Director of Child and Family Services)</a></em> and <em><a href="https://canlii.ca/t/1frmh">B. (R.) vs. Children’s Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto</a></em>. Based on these decisions, forced vaccinations would violate the rights to liberty and security of the person.</p>
<p>But campus mandates are not forced vaccinations. Mandates offer choices: receive or decline the vaccine. Employees who decline must be reassigned to off-campus work or take a leave of absence. Students who decline must enrol in online classes or take the semester off.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Masked people sit on the pavement in the sun." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C33%2C5539%2C3664&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417831/original/file-20210825-21-bnde32.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students wait for COVID-19 tests at a Western University testing centre in London, Ont., in September 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These options may be inconvenient and unappealing to some, but as a recent <a href="http://www.franczek.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Klaassen-v.-Indiana-Univ.pdf">U.S. decision</a> denying an injunction against a vaccine mandate stated: “This hard choice doesn’t amount to coercion.” In short, nobody is forced to undergo a medical procedure against their wishes.</p>
<h2>Fundamental justice</h2>
<p>The second hurdle is establishing that a campus vaccine mandate is inconsistent with principles of fundamental justice. In other words, the mandate is arbitrary, overly broad or grossly disproportionate.</p>
<p>A measure is arbitrary if it cannot fulfil its objectives. Mandates seek to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/vaccines/effectiveness-benefits-vaccination.html">protect the health and safety</a> of the campus community. There is a clear nexus between this objective and the vaccination requirement.</p>
<p>The prohibition against being overly broad asks if the measure goes too far by covering situations unrelated to its purposes. An overly broad mandate would sweep a wide range of people and activities into its net, like online students and alumni. But the mandates under consideration are limited to those physically attending classes and meetings, and doing research and other activities on campus.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People pushing carts of bags across a driveway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417834/original/file-20210825-21-8aczyj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students move their belongings into residence at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., in September 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art7.html">Gross disproportionality</a> examines whether the measure is disproportionate to the institution’s interest in ensuring campus health and safety. While claimants might argue that requiring individuals to abide by other precautions, such as masking, testing and distancing is sufficient, there is strong evidence that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-crucial-vaccine-benefit-were-not-talking-about-enough1/">vaccines can reduce transmission, in cases where lockdowns, masking, social distancing and testing cannot</a>.</p>
<p>Campus vaccine mandates are neither arbitrary, overly broad nor disproportionate. And granting exemptions for individuals with legitimate religious and medical objections reinforces those mandates’ consistency with the principles of fundamental justice.</p>
<h2>A free and democratic society</h2>
<p>A claimant’s third hurdle is that even if a claimant establishes a violation of Section 7, this violation can be upheld under <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art1.html">Section 1 of the Charter</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A claim of justification under Section 1 must pass all four prongs of the “<a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1986/1986canlii46/1986canlii46.html">Oakes test</a>.” This leading case established how courts should go about resolving issues under Section 1 of the Charter.</p>
<p>The first prong requires the measure — in this case, the vaccine mandate — to be based on a pressing and substantial objective. This is easily met given we’re now in the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-4th-wave-arrival-1.6136506">fourth wave</a> of the pandemic.</p>
<p>In the recent case <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/jdt3v"><em>Beaudoin vs. British Columbia</em></a> involving public health orders that limited gatherings for religious services, public health was considered a pressing and substantial objective. Another case, <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/j9p6v"><em>Taylor vs. Newfoundland and Labrador</em></a>, involved a woman who was denied entry to Newfoundland in May 2020 for her mother’s funeral in order to protect people from illness and death from the importation and spread of COVID-19. The court ruled that this constituted a pressing and substantial objective. </p>
<p>The second prong requires a rational connection between the challenged measure and its objective. This is satisfied when <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-health/how-we-know-covid-19-vaccines-work">scientific evidence regarding the benefits of immunization</a> supports the mandate. Judges in these other cases have accepted COVID-19 modelling and scientific evidence showing that gatherings are routes of transmission for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People dancing and drinking on a beach at sunset." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417835/original/file-20210825-21-j4gqos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People attend a ‘non-compliance’ party on Toronto’s Cherry Beach in May 2021 to protest COVID-19 restrictions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The third prong requires that the measure impairs the protected right as little as possible. Travel restrictions to Newfoundland met this test because of exemptions and because some visitors evaded self-isolation. So did restrictions on religious services, where the health officer made exemptions and avoided restrictions until there was evidence of an exponential increase in cases.</p>
<p>Similarly, a vaccine mandate will meet this prong where it includes human rights exemptions and where less intrusive measures are insufficient to control transmission.</p>
<p>The final prong considers overall proportionality, comparing the negative effects with the positive value of the objectives. Asking whether the infringement is “too high a price to pay for the benefit of the law,” it considers “<a href="https://canlii.ca/t/1frnq">the proportionality between the deleterious and salutary effects of the measures</a>.”</p>
<p>In a campus setting, regardless of whether students or staff are personally concerned about catching COVID-19, they may <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/prevention-risks.html">spread the disease to others</a>, and the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/why-delta-variant-spreads-fast-covid-1.6120982">now-dominant Delta variant is highly contagious</a>, placing individuals at risk of hospitalization and death.</p>
<h2>Action is imperative</h2>
<p>In the unlikely event a court finds vaccine mandates violate Section 7, Section 1 would nonetheless justify an evidence-based mandate with reasonable exemptions. Put simply, the case for campus vaccine mandates is compelling, and this conclusion is bolstered by recommendations from the <a href="https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.alphaweb.org/resource/collection/D927A028-023E-4413-B438-86101BEFB7B7/COMOH_Vaccine_Policies_at_Ontario_Universities_and_Colleges_240821.pdf">Ontario Council of Medical Officers of Health</a>. </p>
<p>It’s imperative that Canada’s colleges and universities act quickly to adopt campus vaccination policies that are clear, fair <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-vaccine-mandates-without-teeth-are-just-performative-promises/">and enforceable</a>. Along with masking, social distancing and classroom occupancy limits, vaccine mandates would allow us to return to the traditional campus environment where teachers and students can interact, if not face-to-face, at least mask-to-mask.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel E. Trosow receives funding from SSHRC and Western Law. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Western Ontario but does not speak for the University. The views expressed herein are solely of the authors</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Lowe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The case for campus vaccine mandates is compelling, and this conclusion is bolstered by recommendations from medical doctors.Samuel E. Trosow, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Information & Media Studies, Western UniversityJulie Lowe, Research Assistant, Faculty of Law, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653602021-08-23T18:46:26Z2021-08-23T18:46:26ZUniversities need to prepare for student binge drinking after COVID-19 shutdowns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417073/original/file-20210819-27-1w32dr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C68%2C5042%2C2825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students headed to university are thirsty for socializing and missed milestones, and risky alcohol consumption could be more of a problem than it usually is. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Kathy Willens) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This fall, students headed to university campuses aren’t only dealing with the usual transitions. Students are facing unique transitions to post-secondary life because of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Both new and returning university students are preparing to study in-person for the first time since the pandemic began. Some may be looking for <a href="https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/pop-up-covid-19-vaccine-clinic-for-post-secondary-students-launches-tuesday-1.5531922">clinics to get vaccinated</a>. </p>
<p>At some schools, there are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/university-students-residence-spaces-1.6111147">fewer spaces in residence due to social distancing policies and more competition for those spots</a> from students who deferred admission and those coming from Grade 12.</p>
<p>These transitions — coupled with usual student patterns of socializing and using substances — may challenge students, institutions and campus communities. </p>
<h2>Period of experimentation</h2>
<p>The shift from secondary to post-secondary life is one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146517693050">densest periods of transition</a> in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13164">person’s life</a> — a time when multiple changes happen simultaneously. </p>
<p>It is a period of experimentation and exploration where students try new things as they progress towards adulthood. For many students this will be the first time they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617699195">consume or regularly use alcohol and other drugs</a>. </p>
<p>Among different age and demographic cohorts in Canada, binge-drinking rates are <a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/alcohol/cpads/">most prevalent</a> among post-secondary students. Research indicates that in the United States, <a href="https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/7822928">nearly 40 per cent of post-secondary students</a> have engaged in binge drinking. Some research suggests that between <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28526355">2001 and 2013 there was a significant increase of binge drinking</a> among adults aged 18 and older in the U.S. </p>
<h2>Double cohort</h2>
<p>Some early signs suggest <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/universities-seeing-influx-of-applications-for-september">applications to universities for this fall have increased across the country</a>. But regardless of how many new applicants enter universities this year, there <a href="https://heqco.ca/david-trick-finding-precedents-for-the-unprecedented-part-1-a-new-double-cohort">will be an increase in the number of students transitioning to post-secondary education in Canada</a>. That’s because, as Lynn Wells, interim president of Brock University, notes, “<a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/universities-seeing-influx-of-applications-for-september">last year’s first-year students didn’t really have the experience of being at university in its fullest sense</a>.” </p>
<p>Universities saw something similar in 2001 when Ontario stopped offering Grade 13, so high school graduates <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ontario-s-double-cohort-strains-resources-1.360698">from grades 12 and 13 entered post-secondary education simultaneously</a>, <a href="http://eduvation.ca/2020/03/covid-impacts2/#">forming a “double cohort.”</a> </p>
<p>Beyond increased competition for residence spaces or student housing, students transitioning to university straight from high school and students whose university attendance has been entirely virtual to date <a href="https://www.dal.ca/covid-19-information-and-updates/our-approach.html">would all benefit from basic campus orientation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417077/original/file-20210819-21-1ypkvz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students fresh out of Grade 12 and those who spent first year entirely online will both be facing a basic orientation to campus life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Lauren Witte/Fresh Take Florida via AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Drinking behaviours and harms</h2>
<p>The harms associated with alcohol use, like death and serious injury, have been found to peak as people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.019">transition over the minimum legal drinking age</a>. </p>
<p>Drinking is a <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814788325/getting-wasted/">behaviour learned</a> collectively and vicariously among peers via a highly social process where individuals experiment to find a level of consumption they’re <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3375385/">comfortable with</a>. </p>
<p>The social functions associated with drinking are assumed to produce positive social benefits for those who participate, and to offset the negative effects of alcohol like hangovers, sickness or injuries. </p>
<p>The most common answer for why some Canadians reduced alcohol consumption during the pandemic was the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210304/dq210304a-eng.htm">decrease in available social opportunities</a>. Notably, Statistics Canada finds that the number of Canadians who increased alcohol consumption is similar to the number of those who decreased their consumption, and among those who drank more in the pandemic, stress and boredom played a role.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/university-student-mental-health-care-is-at-the-tipping-point-122743">University student mental health care is at the tipping point</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Large gatherings?</h2>
<p>We’ll likely see increased alcohol use among students this fall.</p>
<p>Some people have been willing to attend large gatherings like the Calgary Stampede and its <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8018158/covid-coronavirus-calgary-stampede-2021/">crowded party tents</a>. Some universities have moved <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/news/local-news/queens-university-reverses-decision-to-host-in-person-homecoming-2021">to cancel</a> homecoming, and <a href="https://westerngazette.ca/news/homecoming-2021-clouded-by-uncertainty/article_72d073a0-8c52-11eb-a6cf-37629b067deb.html">questions still loom</a> over what many schools will do. </p>
<p>Cancelling events may not be effective in mitigating raucous behaviour. Students often organize events regardless of a school’s desire to host them. This summer Queen’s University students hosted a <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/news/police-break-up-street-party-in-university-district-saturday-night">street party</a>, much to the chagrin of local residents. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A police car passes a student house where people are drinking outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417079/original/file-20210819-15-ebs4oe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Street parties are a concern in addition to large campus-sponsored events like homecoming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Navigating ‘party culture’</h2>
<p>The rapid transition that comes when students move into post-secondary study comes with a period where <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.12945">individuals meet and establish their new peer groups</a>. </p>
<p>Some people perceive alcohol as a perfect chemical facilitator associated with socializing when they are anxious about meeting new people. This year, students entering campus for the first time may feel added pressure or desire to seek the social gatherings they missed — to form bonds and make up for lost time. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-high-school-seniors-cope-with-milestones-missed-due-to-coronavirus-139147">How to help high school seniors cope with milestones missed due to coronavirus</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Students returning to campus having had their first year cut short in 2020 will also find unique challenges. They may be the gatekeepers to the campuses’ “party culture,” having achieved this status as students who are familiar with popular culture images in the west of a “regular college experience” connected to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-07987-013">mass alcohol consumption and partying</a>. </p>
<p>This group may also want to amplify what remaining opportunities they have to attend large drinking events as they prepare to transition out of university, promoting a stronger drinking culture as they leave. </p>
<h2>Boost student programming</h2>
<p>It will be important for university communities to discuss the risks associated with high-intensity drinking and the intersection of harms that can come from such behaviours like hangovers, injuries and poor academic performance. </p>
<p>Schools should look to boost programming for new students and provide opportunities for structured social activities to prevent risky alcohol consumption by students. Programming to keep students engaged like concerts, sports days and group excursions could serve to support students in a prolonged orientation experience.</p>
<p>Communities and local public health units should look to work with student groups to communicate accepted behaviours with regards to socializing to ease the transition back to campus for the well-being of all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leo Erlikhman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cancelling campus events won’t address the potential harms of binge drinking this fall. Universities must plan additional activities to curb risky alcohol use and promote student wellness.Leo Erlikhman, Affiliated researcher, School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654532021-08-23T18:10:26Z2021-08-23T18:10:26ZThis back-to-school during COVID-19, bolster children’s mental and emotional well-being through play<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417002/original/file-20210819-27-7b7rqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=132%2C286%2C7216%2C4252&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Play will be essential to give children space to work out anxieties, and will also provide many other social and cognitive benefits.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents, educators and children alike are watching the calendar as the new school year draws closer. </p>
<p>The last school year was spent under COVID-19 lockdowns, restrictions and school closures, resulting in children being subject <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-update-nova-scotia-may-19-2021-1.6032261">to a dizzying array of changes</a>. Added to this were disruptions to daily family life, as many parents scrambled to be both teacher and entertainer to children.</p>
<p>We are part of a growing global team of cross-discipline researchers considering how play and children’s lives have been affected during the pandemic. In our pilot research with five neighbourhood families in Eastern Canada, we found that while parents expressed concern about children’s missed school time, the children aged six to 12 were seeking creative ways to reclaim their former pandemic play lives through virtual sleepovers and Zoom neighbourhood ukulele lessons.</p>
<p>As schools return to in-person learning, the joint efforts of school communities and families to make time for play at school and at home will be essential to give children space to work out anxieties carried over from the pandemic, <a href="https://www.hbe.com.au/ready-to-learn-using-play-to-build-literacy-skills-in-young-learners.html">in addition to providing many other social and cognitive benefits</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child wearing a face mask looks up at a climbing wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417005/original/file-20210819-25-1yrqecd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Play will be essential to give children space to work out anxieties carried over from the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Play and resilience</h2>
<p>Resilience is an important element in childhood development, a <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-handbook-of-developmental-psychology-and-early-childhood-education/i683.xml">reserve of emotional strength a child can draw on for the rest of their lives</a>. </p>
<p>The value of play in developing children’s resilience is well-known. Play is the means by which children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.10.007">experiment and interact with the world</a>. It’s the way they process their classroom and home learning, a vital part of their mental and social development.</p>
<p>The pandemic has highlighted <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/canadian-kids-share-their-pandemic-experiences-and-creativity-your-story">children’s play as a wellspring for creativity,
exploration and socialization</a>. But it has also <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/building-kids-resilience-through-play-is-more-crucial-than-ever">underlined how children experienced</a> the pandemic’s stress and trauma — <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/children-unstructured-play">and how play can help them cope</a>. </p>
<h2>Play affected by pandemic</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A sign attached to an outdoor play structure says 'COVID-19: Playground closed.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417007/original/file-20210819-27-1x1y4kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children have had to cope with seeing their familiar playspaces shut down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children and families have watched as the pandemic unravelled the world of school, <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/07/02/BC-Urged-Respond-Pandemic-Kid-Crisis">children’s activities and playgrounds</a>. </p>
<p>Important milestones, such as concerts and graduations were held virtually in socially distanced classrooms. Teachers and parents alike were dismayed at the loss of children’s “red-carpet” moments. </p>
<p>While some education officials might argue that post-pandemic <a href="https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse">academic recovery</a> should be first priority following gaps in face-to-face education, our concern is that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/students-falling-behind-pandemic-1.6014355">academic recovery should not — and need not</a> — come at the expense of bolstering children’s mental and emotional well-being through play. </p>
<p>Play is also critical in laying the groundwork for <a href="https://www.stenhouse.com/content/invitations-play">academic learning both in terms of children’s socio-emotional regulation as well as for the development of motor skills and conceptual thinking</a>.</p>
<h2>Returning to school</h2>
<p>We heard from parents who participated in our research that online schooling gave them a new window into the challenges of teaching. </p>
<p>One parent said they worried that their child wouldn’t stay focused, but the teacher tried very hard, having the kids do scavenger hunts for objects from the book they were reading, or timed exercises to give their bodies a break. </p>
<p>Such attention to children’s rhythms and needs will need to continue as they return to in-person learning.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, continuing COVID-19 protocols and practices in children’s environments will restrict play. This will necessitate using creative strategies to address how children can play freely and socially during school <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12832">and have venues to communicate and express their feelings</a>. </p>
<p>It will be important to continue to talk with children about the important roles they play in helping to keep themselves and others safe, such as through handwashing. Open communication and play, especially when these happen in dialogue with each other, will be vital as children return to school and play with friends.</p>
<h2>Communicate, give kids clear facts</h2>
<p>Tracy Rose, director of the Memorial University Childcare Centre, said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I encouraged parents to keep communication open to children’s questions — but also to be aware of transferring adult-related stress onto children.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many teachers understood at the height of the pandemic that balancing their own fears against children’s needs would be critical. One teacher relayed to us that she read the book <em><a href="https://teachersbooksreaders.com/2020/08/11/why-did-the-whole-world-stop-talking-with-kids-about-covid-19-by-heather-black">Why Did the Whole World Stop? Talking with Kids about COVID-19</a></em> just before children left for an extended lockdown: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It was fact-based and honest, and told them a truth they could understand.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Children are adept at taking understandable facts, and transferring them into play spaces to wrestle with their meanings. This gives children some of the crucial tools they need to interpret stressful times and build resilience.</p>
<p>We have already seen how children are playing out their COVID-19 experiences in classrooms — for example, <a href="https://twitter.com/MKindergartens/status/1397339514192924675">kindergarteners pretending to give vaccines</a>. Even if parents and teachers don’t always include children in discussions about the pandemic, children are still listening and learning through play. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child gives a doll a vaccine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417274/original/file-20210820-17-1gylo9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children will play out their COVID-19 experiences and what they have heard about the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Collaborating about importance of play</h2>
<p>Understanding and promoting children’s play during COVID-19 requires global <a href="https://play-observatory.com/about/about">collaboration and knowledge exchange among researchers, educators and policy-makers</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-spotlights-equity-and-access-issues-with-childrens-right-to-play-137187">Coronavirus spotlights equity and access issues with children's right to play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We believe our global research efforts can help advance our society’s understanding about the role of play in supporting resilience, renewal and recovery in diverse contexts and cultures. This knowledge can better mitigate many negative societal effects experienced by children and families during moments of crises like the pandemic. It can also further amplify the often-unheard voices of children. </p>
<h2>Recovering lost ground</h2>
<p>Despite the trials of the past year, children will thrive if <a href="https://teachereducationnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/05/childrens-play-in-pandemic-times.html">play offers them opportunities to foster resiliency and emotional health</a>.</p>
<p>Play develops children’s resiliency — their best defence mechanism during times of stress, confusion and crisis. As we move beyond COVID-19, opportunities to play will be paramount to recovering lost ground in a changed world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165453/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Burke receives funding from Social Sciences Humanities Research Council
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristiina Kumpulainen receives funding from the Academy of Finland and European Union.</span></em></p>Communicating clearly with children and providing space for them to play will be vital during back-to-school and beyond as children manage stressors associated with COVID-19.Anne Burke, Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandKristiina Kumpulainen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1652792021-08-23T12:02:46Z2021-08-23T12:02:46ZStudents are returning to school with anxiety, grief and gaps in social skills – will there be enough school mental health resources?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417457/original/file-20210823-23-1oiql6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6240%2C4147&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School districts are using federal COVID-19 relief funds to hire more mental health professionals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/finding-symbols-in-his-drawings-royalty-free-image/1319207671">mmpile/E+ Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Even before COVID-19, as many as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html">1 in 6</a> young children had a diagnosed mental, behavioral or developmental disorder. New findings suggest a <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482">doubling of rates</a> of disorders such as anxiety and depression among children and adolescents during the pandemic. One reason is that children’s well-being is tightly connected to family and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-013-9178-6">community conditions</a> such as stress and financial worries. </p>
<p>Particularly for children living in poverty, there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201700317">practical obstacles</a>, like transportation and scheduling, to accessing mental health services. That’s one reason <a href="http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Foundations-of-School-Mental-Health/">school mental health professionals</a> – who include psychologists, counselors and social workers – are so essential. </p>
<p>As many kids resume instruction this fall, schools can serve as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-018-9262-7">critical access points for mental health services</a>. But the intensity of challenges students face coupled with school mental health workforce <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/policy-priorities/critical-policy-issues/shortage-of-school-psychologists">shortages</a> is a serious concern. </p>
<h2>Key issues</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C9YZiOsAAAAJ&hl=en">school psychology professors</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=wP7uXtkAAAAJ">train future school psychologists</a>, we are used to requests by K-12 schools for potential applicants to fill their open positions. Never before have we received this volume of contacts regarding <a href="https://www.ctreap.net/jobsrch.php?srch=200&position=280">unfilled positions</a> this close to the start of the school year. </p>
<p>As researchers on school mental health, we believe this shortage is a serious problem given the increase in mental health challenges, such as anxiety, gaps in social skills and grief, that schools can expect to see in returning students.</p>
<p>Anxiety should be expected given current <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/what-does-delta-variant-have-store-us-we-asked-coronavirus-experts">COVID-related</a> uncertainties. However, problems arise when those fears or worries prevent children from being able to complete the expected tasks of everyday life.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, school closures and disruptions have led to lost opportunities for students to build social skills. A <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning">McKinsey & Co. analysis found</a> the pandemic set K-12 students back by four to five months, on average, in math and reading during the 2020-2021 school year. Learning loss also extends to social skills. These losses may be particularly profound for the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/remote-kindergarten-during-covid-19-could-impact-this-generation-of-kids-for-their-lifetime-11620552653">youngest students</a>, who may have missed developmental opportunities such as learning to get along with others.</p>
<p>And it’s important to remember the sheer number of children under 18 who have lost a loved one during the pandemic. A study published in July 2021 estimates that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01253-8">more than 1 out of every 1,000 children in the U.S.</a> lost a primary caregiver due to COVID-19.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students wearing backpacks walk down school corridor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C13%2C4352%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416095/original/file-20210813-13-1j15h1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools can help kids and their families get mental health support they might not otherwise have access to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-head-to-class-at-west-ridge-elementary-in-the-27j-news-photo/1333828207">RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hiring more school psychologists</h2>
<p>Hiring more school psychologists may not be simple. The <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/policy-priorities/critical-policy-issues/shortage-of-school-psychologists">National Association of School Psychologists</a> recommends a ratio of 1 psychologist for every 500 students. Yet current estimates suggest a national ratio of 1-to-1,211. It’s like having to teach a class of 60 instead of 25 students. </p>
<p>Shortages are <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-psychology/shortages-in-school-psychology-resource-guide">particularly severe</a> in rural regions. There are also not enough <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-psychology/shortages-in-school-psychology-resource-guide">culturally and linguistically diverse</a> school psychologists. </p>
<p>Scarcity of school mental health personnel affects important student outcomes from disciplinary incidents to on-time graduation rates – especially for students attending schools in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0001600207">high-poverty communities</a>.</p>
<p>To address these shortages, legislators have <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/policy-matters-blog/hill-day-prep-getting-to-know-the-shortages-bills">proposed federal bills</a> that aim to expand the school mental health workforce. Meanwhile, local school districts and <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-approves-new-hampshires-plan-use-american-rescue-plan-funds-support-k-12-schools-and-students-distributes-remaining-116-million-state">state education agencies</a> are using American Rescue Plan funds to increase mental health training, hire additional mental health staff or contract with community mental health agencies. </p>
<h2>Preparing all school personnel</h2>
<p>We believe increasing the number of mental health providers in schools is important. Workforce increases, however, must be coupled with attention to readying all school personnel to cope with students’ anxiety, grief and gaps in social skills. </p>
<p>For example, when it comes to anxiety, schools can help students build both <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2020-52963-001.pdf">tolerance of uncertainty and coping skills</a> through strategies such as seeking support, <a href="https://sdlab.fas.harvard.edu/cognitive-reappraisal/positive-reframing-and-examining-evidence">positive reframing</a>, humor and acceptance. School mental health professionals can train other staff members on simple strategies to use in a nurturing relationship. Long-term benefits such as sense of belonging can happen when each student has an informal <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.26300/96bs-6m26">mentoring relationship</a> that offers emotional nurturance and practical help.</p>
<p>More schools have adopted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721718815668">social-emotional learning curriculums</a> in recent years. However, additional time may be needed to teach and reinforce basic skills such as taking turns and sharing.</p>
<p>In addition, school mental health personnel can assist with defining a clear process for identifying who needs help, and be ready to share <a href="https://www.unicef.org/parenting/child-care/how-talk-your-children-about-death-loved-one?fbclid=IwAR287U1mmqvLVqJYwYQQGqUSZmdKAHcp6XIc2Yd4_NUXkCior2eind0lcYE">resources about grief</a> and <a href="https://health.tki.org.nz/Key-collections/Curriculum-in-action/Change-loss-and-grief/The-developmental-stages-of-children-and-their-responses-to-loss">how kids respond</a> to loss. </p>
<h2>Partnering with families and communities</h2>
<p>Even with these efforts, schools cannot be expected to identify and meet all young people’s mental health needs. Strong partnerships with families and communities are critical.</p>
<p>Seeking input from families may offer valuable information about student experiences. This might be done, for example, by <a href="https://csch.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2206/2020/06/CSCH-Report-Responding-to-COVID-19-Planning-for-Trauma-Informed-Assessment-in-Schools-Final-June-2020.pdf">adding questions</a> to beginning-of-the-year student forms. Knowing how families are experiencing loss or insecurities, for example, can help school mental health personnel plan for and target supports.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210809112840.htm">youth mental health crisis</a> requires a comprehensive response. We believe the priority should be ensuring equitable access to a mental health professional through school settings.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra M. Chafouleas receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, Connecticut State Department of Education, and the Neag Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Briesch receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education.</span></em></p>A shortage of school psychologists will pose serious problems as children return to school with higher levels of stress and anxiety, two experts on student mental health say.Sandra M. Chafouleas, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of ConnecticutAmy Briesch, Associate Professor of School Psychology, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1640442021-08-16T17:48:28Z2021-08-16T17:48:28ZDo university students want more online learning, post-pandemic? Here’s what some chose before COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415311/original/file-20210809-25-149neyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=178%2C321%2C7761%2C4964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pre-pandemic research about courses offered online and in-person found students took online courses selectively and strategically.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across Canada, <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/covid-19-updates-for-canadas-universities/">universities are</a> working toward reopening <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/colleges-and-universities-on-track-to-fully-reopen-in-the-fall-without-capacity-limits-memo-1.5514477">for in-person classes</a>. After a year and a half of teaching mostly online due to COVID-19, universities now have to consider how much ongoing student demand there will be for online options and what resources to allocate for it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-may-have-changed-university-teaching-and-testing-for-good-158342">How the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed university teaching and testing for good</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>How will students choose what they want to study in-person or online? What influence will the experience of fully online learning before and during the pandemic have on what they’re now looking for? These are crucial questions.</p>
<p>Many students undoubtedly experienced some benefits of online learning during the pandemic. But as we launch into new ways of teaching and learning post-pandemic, professors and administrators should resist making easy assumptions about what technological “progress” means or demands. </p>
<h2>‘Emergency remote teaching’</h2>
<p>Traditionally, a fully online university course is developed by a professor with substantial support from someone with expertise in online learning (if the professor doesn’t have such expertise themselves), following a <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674660021">substantial body of research</a>. During COVID-19 there wasn’t time for this. </p>
<p>Instead, many professors were forced to hurriedly adapt courses normally taught in-person for the internet. For this reason, online teaching experts called the rapid switch online “<a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-this-is-emergency-remote-teaching-not-just-online-teaching/2020/03">emergency remote teaching</a>.” </p>
<p>Remote courses weren’t expressly designed to offer complete flexibility in space and time like a typical fully online course, but this doesn’t mean they couldn’t be great. Still, when my colleagues and I surveyed 100 undergraduates in the summer of 2021 to understand their experiences with such remote teaching, we weren’t surprised to hear that many courses differed little from the traditional in-person course, other than class meetings being held over Zoom. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-pushes-universities-to-switch-to-online-classes-but-are-they-ready-132728">Coronavirus pushes universities to switch to online classes — but are they ready?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Over the past year, universities did offer instructors <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-keep-human-connections-when-moving-learning-online-due-to-coronavirus-134351">support from online teaching experts</a>. Some professors who had taught their whole careers in the classroom <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/cee/news/experiences-johnson.html">invested a lot of effort</a> in pre-recording lectures and changing class activities to provide more flexibility during the pandemic, to maximize the benefits of a technology-mediated experience and to minimize its problems. This kind of practice should continue.</p>
<p>But let’s not get carried away. Some educational technology promoters viewed the forced shift to remote teaching as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanneallen/2020/03/13/how-technological-innovation-in-education-is-taking-on-covid-19/?sh=15c18eb47bc7">a reckoning</a> for old-fashioned instructors who had refused to accept the progress of technology. What they fail to realize is that it wasn’t just the instructors but many students who preferred the status quo of attending classes in-person.</p>
<h2>Positives and negatives</h2>
<p>Remote learning has no doubt been a gift for some students, such as those who are chronically ill and face difficulty attending class regularly.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1420052231718572032"}"></div></p>
<p>Remote learning also works well for those who <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-covid-19-funding-post-secondary-students-directly-could-create-more-accessible-education-152112">don’t want to move in order to complete their studies</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, there were also losses. Some students learned that <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/7-missing-pieces-why-students-prefer-in-person-over-online-classes">not getting to go to campus meant the loss of community</a> and made it harder to find quiet time and space to study. </p>
<p>Finally, since students sometimes choose to attend classes on campus <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43648697">to make themselves keep pace with their studies</a>, those who had avoided fully online classes in the past may have discovered how much they’d relied on the in-person experience to succeed.</p>
<h2>Choices before the pandemic</h2>
<p>Research from the United States before the pandemic showed that despite a gradual rise in student enrolments in fully online courses and programs over the years, the majority of post-secondary students had continued <a href="https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/grade-increase-tracking-distance-education-united-states/">to choose in-person courses</a>. <a href="https://wcetfrontiers.org/2019/03/26/tracking-enrollments-in-online-and-distance-education-in-canada-2018/">The same was the case in Canada</a>.</p>
<p>Prior to the pandemic, my colleagues and I conducted a study of how undergraduates at a public university in Canada chose which courses to take online. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2020.100776">We surveyed 650 students</a> from courses that were offered both in-person and fully online at the same time, across a wide range of disciplines, from archeology to computing science. </p>
<p>Among the things we asked students about were practical issues like how long their commute to campus was, their level of responsibility to care for others at home and the number of hours per week they worked. We also asked about things like their goals in taking a course, and how organized they were about their study time. We used a statistical technique called logistic regression to evaluate the strength of these different influences on their preference for online or in-person courses.</p>
<h2>Reasons for choosing online</h2>
<p>About 30 per cent of the time, students enrolled in an online course as their second choice after failing to get into the equivalent in-person course. </p>
<p>The more important a student thought the course was for them and the more inclined they were to seek help when they were struggling, the less likely they were to prefer the online version. </p>
<p>The more courses a student had taken online previously, the more likely they were to prefer the online version of a course. They were also more likely to prefer the online course the better they were at organizing their study time, and more they aimed to minimize their effort on the course. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student in front of laptop with headphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416066/original/file-20210813-28-1cqi0jh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some students surveyed reported they felt forced into taking online courses to fill their loads, since in-person courses often conflicted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Selective, strategic</h2>
<p>Overall, findings from our pre-pandemic survey made <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1896484">clear that students took online courses selectively and strategically</a>. Since many students could not get into their preferred offering of a course, the choice they faced was not so much between taking a particular course online or in-person this semester, but between taking the online course as their non-preferred choice this semester, or waiting and trying to get into the in-person course later.</p>
<p>Students also told us that they often felt forced into taking online courses to fill their loads, since in-person courses so often conflicted.</p>
<p>These findings contrast with the assumption sometimes seen in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.11.005">academic research</a> that the important limiting factor to the expansion of online learning is not student demand, but reluctant professors. And this summer, a majority of students surveyed by my colleagues and I told us that the pandemic had not really changed what was important to them when choosing whether to take a course online or in-person.</p>
<h2>The future of university learning</h2>
<p>Some remote teaching has been innovative in ways that enhanced students’ learning experiences. These innovations should continue. </p>
<p>But if students have been subjected to lengthy lectures via Zoom, with few breaks and little student-instructor or peer-to-peer interaction — something students also reported this summer in our survey — they might be desperate to get back into an old-fashioned classroom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin O'Neill's research on students' choice of online or in-person courses and on teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic has received funding from Simon Fraser University and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Some promoters of educational technology see COVID-19 as a ‘tech reckoning’ for professors who refused to accept progress. But before the pandemic, many students also preferred in-person classes.Kevin O'Neill, Associate Professor, Education and Technology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1651352021-08-16T17:48:19Z2021-08-16T17:48:19Z‘Hybrid learning’ in Ontario schools will rob children of quality education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415741/original/file-20210811-13-8ociau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=183%2C423%2C5914%2C3669&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a time of COVID-19 uncertainty, adopting hybrid learning for children will only stress students and teachers further.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Flickr/Phil Roeder)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With an eye on back-to-school during the COVID-19 pandemic, some education advocates in the <a href="https://twitter.com/pauldaniel28/status/1418954902794129410">Greater Toronto Area’s York</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryFramilton/status/1405667059816673283">Peel regions</a> have been <a href="https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/york-region-advocacy-group-chalking-up-a-no-to-hybrid-learning-at-newmarket-event-3970573">calling for school boards to say no to hybrid learning</a>. The hybrid model forces educators to teach online and in-person at the same time. </p>
<p>In May, the York Region District School Board <a href="https://www.thestar.com/local-newmarket/news/2021/05/05/york-region-district-school-board-will-implement-hybrid-teaching-model-for-2021-22.html">announced it would be adopting</a> a hybrid model where by “<a href="https://www2.yrdsb.ca/york-region-district-school-board-shares-information-about-school-models-2021-2022-school-year">students attending face-to-face and students attending remotely will be taught simultaneously by the same educators</a>.” The Peel District School Board plans to follow the same model <a href="https://www.thestar.com/local-mississauga/news/2021/06/18/peel-district-school-board-implements-hybrid-learning-for-secondary-students-this-september.html">in secondary schools</a>. Other boards across the province are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/september-school-students-opt-out-1.6136656">weighing options now that families have opted for in-person or virtual schooling</a>.</p>
<p>What these decisions don’t show is that the hybrid learning plan for schooling in the COVID-19 pandemic is more about politics than what’s best for kids.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1418039603580256256"}"></div></p>
<h2>Nickel-and-diming education</h2>
<p>At the very time that researchers and child advocates have sounded the alarm about <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/covid-19-pandemic-disrupted-schooling-impact/">kids disengaging from school during the pandemic</a>, Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office recently announced the Ministry of Education’s spending plans for the next eight years <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ontario-education-ministry-faces-multi-billion-shortfall-in-funding-report-says">fall $12.3 billion short of expected expenses.</a></p>
<p>The early pandemic created an <a href="https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning">emergency remote teaching</a> crisis: teachers and students were forced online, unprepared. For fall 2020, Ontario’s Ford government mandated separate online “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-school-reopening-online-remote-home-1.5675026">virtual schools</a>,” while also re-opening classrooms. </p>
<p>But when the province announced in spring 2021 that school boards would have to <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-boards-must-offer-virtual-learning-as-option-for-entire-2021-22-school-year-ford-gov-t-says-1.5413676">offer virtual learning for the entire 2021-22 school year</a>, amid announcements about funding allocated to “<a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000064/ontario-unveils-2-billion-plan-to-keep-schools-safe-and-support-learning-recovery-and-renewal">keep schools safe and support learning renewal and recovery</a>,” <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000064/ontario-unveils-2-billion-plan-to-keep-schools-safe-and-support-learning-recovery-and-renewal">there was no mention of funding earmarked for additional teachers</a>. It was up to boards to structure and fund their own virtual plans. </p>
<p>Some boards latched onto hybrid, which offers a solution for financial savings. Hybrid learning collapses virtual and face-to-face classroom options under a single teacher’s salary, instead of having to hire additional teachers for virtual learning.</p>
<h2>Refusal to reduce class size</h2>
<p>For boards mandated to provide virtual schooling by a province unwilling to fund separate virtual schools, hybrid education may seem like the only choice.</p>
<p>But the province’s Ministry of Education has also likely created demand for a choice to keep students out of school when schools are officially open by repeatedly ignoring <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/08/07/class-sizes-vital-to-curbing-spread-of-covid-19-in-schools-sick-kids-experts-say.html">health experts’ calls for small class sizes</a> as a COVID-19 safety measure. In the lead-up to September 2020, the Ministry of Education refused to assure families <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-lecce-school-plan-distancing-covid-19-ontario-update-1.5677727">of smaller class sizes</a> to support physical distancing and COVID safety. The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-back-to-school-covid-19-cases-outbreaks-1.6127752">same is true this year</a>.</p>
<p>Hybrid learning, then, isn’t a choice so much as an abdication of responsibility by the province. And it doubles demand on teachers, in the process.</p>
<h2>Teaching kids isn’t about ‘delivering content’</h2>
<p>The face-to-face strategies effective teachers use to encourage participation and engagement are not the same things that work for online teaching and learning. Hybrid learning models expect teachers to teach in two ways at the same time, splitting their attention and capacity to be present to students. </p>
<p>Hybrid learning plans that have been announced in Ontario also operate on a flawed assumption: they presume kindergarten to Grade 12 teaching is fundamentally about delivery of content. It isn’t. It emphasizes <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/golden-rules-for-engaging-students-nicolas-pino-james">active engagement</a>, whether <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/parents-guide-play-based-learn-en.pdf">through play-based learning in kindergarten</a> or engagement with ideas, one’s peers or hands-on projects in later grades.</p>
<p>The relationships teachers build and support in their classrooms — and what they can <a href="https://theconversation.com/strong-relationships-help-kids-catch-up-after-6-months-of-covid-19-school-closures-145085">address as a result of observing and knowing their students</a> — are integral to children’s engagement, learning and wellness. </p>
<p>A hybrid model disrupts those practices, and encourages a default to simple, slowed-down, teacher-led approaches. A parent of a kindergartener relayed to <em>Mississauga News</em> that her child was having <a href="https://www.mississauga.com/news-story/10393898-hybrid-learning-faces-strong-opposition-from-peel-unions-and-educators/">fewer hands-on experiences</a> and was spending more time sitting at a desk while the child’s teacher was focussed on the computer.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/writing-and-reading-starts-with-childrens-hands-on-play-125182">Writing and reading starts with children's hands-on play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And as some teachers in the United States reported last year, hybrid teaching is often “<a href="https://vtdigger.org/2020/10/15/hybrid-learning-is-less-effective-and-twice-the-work-teachers-say/">less effective and twice the work</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teachers in face masks greet students in a schoolyard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415743/original/file-20210811-15-ie0bjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The relationships teachers build and support in their classrooms is integral to children’s engagement, learning and wellness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Approach suited to adult learners</h2>
<p>What Ontario boards call hybrid learning is a repackaging of what higher education calls a <a href="https://www.thetambellinigroup.com/hyflex-byeflex-rethinking-the-way-forward/">“hyflex” model</a>. The “flex” part, however, was designed to allow mature learners to choose when they tune in online and when they show up. That flexibility isn’t part of the kindergarten to Grade 12 model.</p>
<p>For all the talk of “choice” in the <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-will-continue-to-offer-option-for-virtual-learning-next-year-1.5413126">government’s framing of virtual learning mandates</a>, there is minimal choice at the core of the hybrid model. Families who’ve chosen to have their kids in school, after a year and a half of frustration with limited online engagement, will still find that their children’s classrooms are focused on online delivery. </p>
<p>And for teachers, there appears to be neither choice nor the kind of support that such a drastic pivot in professional practice would usually call for. Building equitable classrooms across two learning modes <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/08/26/strategies-teaching-online-and-person-simultaneously-opinion">demands that educators have online skills</a>. Instead, teachers will broadcast their regular classroom activities to children at home. </p>
<h2>Defunding public education</h2>
<p>At best, the hybrid mandate demonstrates a failure to value the high-quality legacy of Ontario education.</p>
<p>At worst, it suggests ways that the province is looking at the pandemic as an opportunity to defund public education. <em>Press Progress</em> reports that the Ontario government has invested millions of dollars in private contracts with McKinsey, <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/company-hired-to-manage-ontarios-covid-19-school-reopening-highlighted-business-opportunities-for-private-education-providers">a management consultancy with expertise that has been “linked to wage and job cutting policies</a>” and that the company was awarded a contract to manage the province’s 2020 school reopening for $3.2 million. </p>
<p>Such funds could have been directed to smaller class sizes, virtual schools or a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-covid-19-rules-cases-contacts-outbreaks-1.6137527">school COVID-19 safety plan communicated prior to August 11</a>. </p>
<h2>Disrespect for public education</h2>
<p>In a time of COVID-19 uncertainty, adopting a hybrid learning plan for children will only stress students and teachers further.</p>
<p>Virtual education piggybacked onto classroom learning and relationships demonstrates disrespect for teachers, for <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/7-ways-to-make-distance-learning-more-equitable">equity in Ontario schools</a> and for public education generally.</p>
<p>It’s not a choice that any board of education should have to make.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165135/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bonnie Stewart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Virtual education piggybacked onto classroom learning demonstrates a lack of respect for teachers, student equity and public education.Bonnie Stewart, Assistant Professor, Online Pedagogy & Workplace Learning, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1575472021-08-12T15:52:43Z2021-08-12T15:52:43ZA ‘return to normal’ on campus? 5 ways university students and faculty hope for better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415301/original/file-20210809-27-egylu1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=96%2C329%2C9073%2C5251&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Flexible approaches to teaching and learning will likely feature significantly in our future, as we grapple with threats like climate change. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent announcements by the B.C. and Ontario governments emphasize that institutions of higher education should plan a familiar return to campuses over the next month. Their recommendations call for <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/post-secondary-education/institution-resources-administration/covid19-return-to-campus-guidelines-web.pdf">a return to normal</a> with an eye on <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-post-secondary-schools-told-to-prepare-for-normal-fall-with-backup-plans-1.5514651">backup plans and transitions</a>.</p>
<p>But the research my colleagues and I have done suggests that faculty and students hope for better futures. They don’t want “a return to normal.”</p>
<p>Over the last year and a half, my colleagues and I have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13065">interviewed faculty across Canada</a> and <a href="https://osf.io/2rb9w/">sifted through surveys</a> gathering the opinions of nearly 150,000 Canadian students. We have also surveyed faculty and administrators in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i2.2285">the United States</a> multiple <a href="https://www.bayviewanalytics.com/reports/teachingduringapandemic.pdf">times about</a> their experiences with teaching and learning during the pandemic. Most recently, we have returned to interviewing faculty across Canada to learn more about their hopes and fears. </p>
<p>We heard that many of our students and colleagues are anxious, tired and <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-survey-shows-how-covid-19-pandemic-is-hampering-career-progress-for-women-and-racialized-faculty-153169">disproportionately</a> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cKB_-k1ssMOXWEBR6LD6d7LD9PxBaZBx/view">affected</a> by the pandemic. Students and faculty recognize that the pre-pandemic “normal” wasn’t optimal. It was simply the status quo, the default, that students and faculty were living with.</p>
<p>What faculty and students hope for is that their colleges, universities and governments support them as they seek to carry forward what they learned and experienced during the pandemic. They are hoping the lessons of the pandemic aren’t fleeting. Some of these lessons appear below.</p>
<h2>What should we carry forward?</h2>
<p><strong>1. Teaching and learning innovation</strong></p>
<p>Regardless of how a course is delivered — online, in-person or in a hybrid fashion — faculty noted that they hoped to carry forward various teaching and learning innovations.</p>
<p>Such innovations include things like the ability to invite other experts to their courses for virtual appearances as lecturers or discussions with students. Others include continuing to develop new assessment practices, in favour of more frequent and authentic evaluations of learning rather than tests. </p>
<p><strong>2. Greater support</strong></p>
<p>Faculty and students want greater support from their institutions and from government that will help them maintain physical and mental health during and after the pandemic.</p>
<p>Both students and faculty noted that commitments for predictable and consistent funding can alleviate concerns and anxieties about the challenges that they foresee. To put this into perspective, a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200512/dq200512a-eng.htm">Statistics Canada survey</a> of approximately 100,000 students from May 2020 identified that 67 per cent of respondents “were very or extremely concerned about having no job prospects in the near future.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/low-funding-for-universities-puts-students-at-risk-for-cycles-of-poverty-especially-in-the-wake-of-covid-19-131363">Low funding for universities puts students at risk for cycles of poverty, especially in the wake of COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Faculty expressed anxiety about workload, program cuts and precarious academic work, hoping that they can be involved in discussions about these issues <a href="https://www.cufa.bc.ca/cufa-bc-letter-to-aest-minister-over-institutional-autonomy-and-safe-campus-decisions">and about campus safety</a>.</p>
<p><strong>3. Flexibility</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A student at work with a book by a computer screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415539/original/file-20210810-27-1rxizrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students appreciated flexibility in deadlines when they were facing uncertainties in their lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels Oladimeji Ajegbile)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One idea that emerged consistently in both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00196-3">our work</a> and the work of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10110304">other</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00534-0">researchers</a> is the value that flexibility affords students and faculty. Students, for instance, appreciated flexibility in deadlines, when they were facing uncertainties in their lives outside their studies. </p>
<p>Faculty whose institutions supported them in working remotely expressed gratefulness for such flexibility. Some also appreciated being able to approach their courses with flexible designs that supported student learning (for example, shifting lectures to pre-recorded sessions and using real-time meetings for workshops). Flexible approaches to teaching and learning will likely help colleges and universities grapple with future local and global threats like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F20427530211022951">climate change</a>.</p>
<p><strong>4. Trust and compassion</strong></p>
<p>While education is an endeavour that involves establishing standards of learning and evaluation, it is also one that involves humans, with all of life’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0013189X031008018">unpredictability and variation</a>. In approaching education with a humanizing lens, faculty and students hope that institutions and governments do not lose sight of the trust and compassion that was extended to them during the pandemic. </p>
<p>In practical terms, trust and compassion may translate to rethinking assessment practices that are grounded on mistrust, such as using surveillance technologies for online exams. It may mean trusting faculty to determine the best assessments for their courses. For example, a faculty member told us they felt what’s needed is “culture shift” towards trusting students, away from an “adversarial kind of relationship” that assumes everyone’s cheating.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/online-exam-monitoring-can-invade-privacy-and-erode-trust-at-universities-149335">Online exam monitoring can invade privacy and erode trust at universities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>5. Focus on equity</strong></p>
<p>The pandemic has brought to light the many gaps that students of varied socio-economic and demographic backgrounds face, such as <a href="https://www.mhec.org/resources/digital-divide-among-college-students-lessons-learned-covid-19-emergency-transition">inequitable access to technology and private study spaces</a>, as well as inequities in having their <a href="https://hope4college.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/RCReport2021.pdf">basic needs met</a>.</p>
<p>Students and faculty are hopeful that institutions and governments continue to take action on addressing inequities. Some ideas offered include the purposeful design of courses to accommodate different people’s needs, and institutional supports to enable broader access to programs and resources.</p>
<p>Rather than regressing “back to normal,” what our research highlights is how students and faculty hope for a better future — better than the one dominated by COVID-19, and better than the status quo that existed prior.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157547/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Veletsianos receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs program, SSHRC, and CIHR. He is affiliated with the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association and the Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association .</span></em></p>Precarious academic work, stable funding, purposeful course design and greater attention to equity are issues that students and faculty want to see addressed.George Veletsianos, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology, Royal Roads UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653482021-08-10T18:18:49Z2021-08-10T18:18:49ZPandemic education crisis: Canada is failing to tackle ‘lost year’ in K-12 education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415043/original/file-20210806-90669-fwxet5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C116%2C5100%2C3273&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The adverse effects of the pandemic on student learning loss and absenteeism mean Canada urgently needs a national vision for supporting this generation. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada’s existing national education co-ordinating body, the <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/11/About_Us.html">Council of Ministers of Education</a> (CMEC), will prove unequal to the challenge of tackling the recovery from what some analysts see as a <a href="https://archive.macleans.ca/article/2021/7/1/the-lost-year">“lost year in education.”</a> Students have experienced adverse effects on their learning, achievement and well-being.</p>
<p>While public calls have arisen for <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-needs-a-temporary-minister-of-education/">a more robust pan-Canadian presence</a> in kindergarten to Grade 12 education, CMEC as it’s currently constituted is not the answer.</p>
<p>The council has devolved over the years into a shell of an organization, little more than an exclusive club presided over by the 13 provincial and territorial ministers of education. </p>
<h2>Nudged provinces into larger-scale assessment</h2>
<p>While providing a forum for annual discussions, CMEC’s scope of activity is restricted by <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/building-a-brighter-future/parkin/">the need to respect provincial jurisdiction.</a></p>
<p>Founded in 1967, CMEC did at one time perform a critically important role in forging pan-Canadian educational co-operation and nudging Canadian provinces into larger-scale student assessments. </p>
<p>Sparked by uneven Canadian student mathematics performance on the <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED309068.pdf">1988 International Assessment of Educational Progress</a>, CMEC initiated in 1989 a national testing program, a form of which still operates today. The Pan-Canadian Assessment Program, begun in 2007, assesses <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/docs/pcap/pcap2016/Information-for-parents-and-students.pdf">Grade 8 students (or in Québec, Secondary II students)</a> in reading, math and science.</p>
<p>Under the leadership <a href="https://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/public-international-affairs/people/cappon-paul">of Paul Cappon</a>, director general from 1996 to the early 2000s, CMEC began to <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-604-x/2009001/intro-eng.htm">focus on establishing national indicators</a> in core skills (mathematics, reading, writing and science) and embracing participation in international assessment programs. </p>
<p>Cappon wooed and won over the provinces, then <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/state-of-the-system--the-products-9780228000846.php">paved the way for broader participation in programs such as</a> the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) flagship <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Program of International Student Assessment (PISA)</a>.</p>
<p>Support for expanded student testing was galvanized by warnings of a looming literacy crisis affecting Canada’s global competitiveness, which was amplified in an influential <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ449580">1992 Economic Council of Canada report</a>.</p>
<h2>Assessment in global context gave purpose</h2>
<p>Preparing Canada’s provinces for PISA and other international assessments gave CMEC its rationale and sense of purpose. In 2000 and 2003, when Canadian 15-year-olds fared well in the <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/docs/pisa2003/pisa2003.en.pdf">first two rounds of PISA</a>, CMEC’s viability was secure.</p>
<p>Cappon’s 2004 departure left CMEC rudderless and a shell of its former self, <a href="https://www.cicic.ca/1302/the_council_of_ministers_of_education_canada_(cmec).canada">chaired by the provincial and territorial education ministers, serving on two-year rotations</a>. Cappon initiated authoritative, evidence-based pan-Canadian research and performed excellent national advocacy work in his next role with the <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/ccl-loses-funding/">Canadian Council on Learning</a>, but that body shut down after losing funding in 2010.</p>
<p>CMEC devolved into a secretariat, convening meetings, producing short reports of aggregated data and research briefs amplifying the strengths of kindergarten to Grade 12 education. Provincial ministers held sway, ensuring that CMEC served the interests and upheld the reputations of the member provinces.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student steps off a school bus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415051/original/file-20210806-15-eik1sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For the sake of students, we need national educational leadership that isn’t hampered by provinces serving their own interests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Highlights strengths, minimizes deficits</h2>
<p>Most of CMEC’s recent reports about student assessment in the body’s <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/396/PISA2018_PublicReport_EN.pdf">“Measuring Up” series</a> compile aggregate student performance data, comparing countries and provinces, but tend to highlight strengths and minimize deficits. </p>
<p>CMEC’s <a href="https://cmec.ca/459/overview.html">latest research brief</a> “Are You Smarter than a Fourth Grader?” released in March 2021 is a thinly veiled rationale for putting <a href="https://cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/416/AMatters_2020_No17_EN.pdf">more emphasis on “reading literacy,” defined as the capacity to understand and communicate in many forms and contexts rather than on reading fluency and comprehension</a>, two critical indicators of reading effectiveness. </p>
<p>Of course, in Grade 4, students’ capacities to understand increasingly complex texts and vocabulary is important, but the point is that in post-pandemic times, children already struggling with basic reading are going to need urgent support.</p>
<h2>Pandemic learning loss</h2>
<p>Policy-makers missed the early warning signals of pandemic learning loss, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/17/e2022376118">which have fallen unevenly on students from disadvantaged, racialized and marginalized communities</a>. </p>
<p>Provinces made school closure decisions without any real knowledge of their impact upon student learning and well-being. A few months into the pandemic, in the fall of 2020, we had to look elsewhere (<a href="https://lirias.kuleuven.be/3189074?limo=0">for example, Belgium</a>), to learn that students in the middle grades suffered learning losses in mathematics and actually went backward in the case of language and writing skills. </p>
<p>It took a U.S. management consultancy research summary, published in December 2020, to identify and provide reasonably reliable estimates of the <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-learning-loss-disparities-grow-and-students-need-help">total potential learning loss</a> (amounting to five to nine months) to the end of the school year in June 2021.</p>
<h2>Where was cross-Canada analysis?</h2>
<p>To get an idea of how students were doing when it came to early reading, Canadian educators had to rely on two <a href="https://troymedia.com/education/online-learners-falling-behind-in-their-reading-skills/">Alberta research studies</a>, conducted by University of Alberta educational psychology professor George Georgiou, that demonstrated <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-reading-lag-pandemic-1.5814752">young readers are lagging behind the learning curve</a> in the wake of school shutdowns and the default to online learning.</p>
<p>CMEC didn’t publish a comparative cross-Canada analysis of school closures or the effects on students. Instead, the best public information to date about this comes from research commissioned by the
<a href="https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/">Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table</a>. That <a href="https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=laso_faculty">study, released in June 2021</a>, documented the actual number of instructional days lost province-to-province. It revealed the impact of mass and localized school closures, multiple models of educational provision and gaps in support for students with disabilities and socio-economic disadvantages. </p>
<p>But researchers said <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-shows-the-cracks-in-public-education-heres-how-to-repair-them-148712">gaping holes in data</a> research adversely affected their capacity to develop learning recovery programs.</p>
<h2>Student absenteeism, disengagement, dropouts</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/education-pandemic-missing-students-1.5971911">Teachers and educational experts</a> have sounded alarm bells about students disengaging from remote schooling, and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/hwdsb-social-workers-student-engagement-1.581592">some social workers have</a> expressed concern about chronic absenteeism.</p>
<p>It became clear early in the pandemic that there were gaps in how aware schools or provinces were of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/education-at-home-learning-covid-19-1.5613025">student attendance or school participation</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/high-school-dropouts-cost-countries-a-staggering-amount-of-money-115396">High school dropouts cost countries a staggering amount of money</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While student <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/students-absent-red-level-covid-new-brunswick-schools-open-1.5880395">attendance tracking</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/students-absent-red-level-covid-new-brunswick-schools-open-1.5880395">improved during the 2020-2021</a>
school year, we still have no reliable data on student disengagement from the public school system. </p>
<p>Policy reform advocate Irvin Studin has drawn attention to the <a href="https://archive.macleans.ca/article/2021/7/1/the-lost-year">cohort of children</a>
who fell through the cracks last year, and who are now either totally disengaged from or missing from public schools. Will they now be regarded as the human casualties of two years of disrupted education?</p>
<p>Replacing CMEC has more resonance in the wake of the pandemic shock and its destabilizing effect on kindergarten to Grade 12 education. It’s time to rethink and restructure a body that’s now simply an <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442615892/learning-to-school/">aggregation of provincial authorities</a> inclined to protect their own interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul W Bennett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada’s Council of Ministers of Education has yet to articulate a vision for overcoming two school years of disrupted education.Paul W Bennett, Adjunct Professor of Education, Saint Mary’s UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629922021-08-09T15:04:09Z2021-08-09T15:04:09ZIslamophobia in schools: How teachers and communities can recognize and challenge its harms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415015/original/file-20210806-17-18lqoxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=179%2C26%2C5811%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Islamophobia shows itself not only in obvious hate acts, but in seemingly innocuous attitudes and assumptions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent overt attacks against Muslims <a href="https://theconversation.com/muslim-family-killed-in-terror-attack-in-london-ontario-islamophobic-violence-surfaces-once-again-in-canada-162400">in London, Ont.,</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8024358/hamilton-police-investigating-anti-muslim-hate-crime-in-ancaster/">Hamilton</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/muslim-women-attacks-edmonton-1.6081152">Edmonton</a> have surfaced and exacerbated <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3523535/hate-crimes-canada-muslim/">the fear that Canadian Muslims</a> have been living with for many years. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago, I porch-visited a friend. I was about to knock when her daughter opened the door and said she was off to have ice cream with her friend. She said “Goodbye!” and left her home without her hijab. I was heartbroken. Even though my friend lives in a part of Missisauga, Ont., <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2020/05/06/a-small-gesture-of-compassion-for-muslims-during-the-pandemic-unleashes-ugly-torrent-of-intolerance-in-mississauga.html">a densely Muslim-populated city</a> in Canada (also referred to by its Muslim residents tongue-in-cheek as “Muslim-sauga”), she and her three daughters do not feel safe.</p>
<p>They are afraid to be <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/13/why-are-muslim-women-living-in-fear-in-this-canadian-city">visibly Muslim</a> for fear of being identified and targeted for their religion. </p>
<p>I’m an <a href="https://doi.org/10.29173/assert16">anti-Islamophobia researcher</a> and educator focused mostly on Islamophobia in schools. My research suggests that Islamophobia is not only manifested as isolated incidents or overt attacks. Islamophobia shows up frequently in covert ways. </p>
<h2>Seemingly innocuous attitudes</h2>
<p>Here are five seemingly innocuous attitudes that educators and school communities can learn to spot and address.</p>
<p><strong>1. “I treat all students the same” or “I don’t see colour.”</strong> A comment I hear often from teachers and administrators is “I am not always aware of Muslim students as Muslims,” or “All students are the same,” or “I don’t see colour.” When I probe and ask more questions, I notice the fear of being perceived as an Islamophobe, or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2009.00463.x">harbouring Islamophobic sentiments</a> is camouflaged and wrapped up in such statements. <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-fair-is-not-equal/2019/11">Research shows</a> that treating students the same means that all students receive the same treatment irrespective of their needs. </p>
<p>To have a <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-educators-must-disrupt-colorblind-ideologies/2020/02">“colour-blind” approach</a> is rooted in the notion that being “different” is a deficit. Emphasizing “same treatment” and “colour-blind treatment” means covering implicit biases. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-curb-anti-black-racism-in-canadian-schools-150489">How to curb anti-Black racism in Canadian schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>2. “Muslims in Canada are more respectful and civilized than Muslims in other parts of the world.”</strong> In my doctoral research, I explored the experiences of Muslim students in an urban public high school in Ontario with a reputation of having a large Muslim student presence. I found that teachers generally have positive relationships with the Muslims in their school communities. Yet something strange happens when they process the all-too-often <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814707326/arabs-and-muslims-in-the-media/">negative narratives</a> of Muslims in the media as suspicious, dangerous and backwards. </p>
<p>A teacher I interviewed for my research asserted that Muslims who live in Canada are very different from Muslims outside of Canada. Such views reflect and replicate what literary and cultural critic Edward Said identified as an <a href="https://www.sam-network.org/video/orientalism-as-a-tool-to-justify-colonialism-1-4">“orientalist” and colonial</a> narrative that living in the west (in this case, Canada) is “civilizing” Muslims.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in hijab smiles and holds two pieces of fruit over her eyes like binoculars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415024/original/file-20210806-19-5q57cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The view that Muslims living in Canada or the West are somehow different than Muslims elsewhere reflects colonial attitudes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Harun Benli)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. Muslim students are considered spokespersons for their religion.</strong> Just as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43133788">Muslim organizations are </a> expected to be first to condemn any terrorist attack, Muslim students also find themselves called upon to condemn attacks, defend their faith and speak on behalf of their faith: “Does Islam oppress women? What does Islam say about homosexuality? Why are ‘Muslim’ countries in such disarray?”</p>
<p>Similarly, one teacher concerned about student academic integrity asked me “… does the Qur’an say that cheating is OK? Because in most religions that is not right.” The teacher could not fathom that a student who was wearing a hijab could also cheat in their class. The pressure of representing an entire religion, in its best form, is a daunting task for an adult, let alone for a student.</p>
<p><strong>4. Divisive and dangerous Islamophobic narratives.</strong> Such narratives repeated in the media have a very strong hold in the societal psyche and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5301549/racism-poll-canada">negatively affect Muslims</a>.</p>
<p>Some of the very first questions any visible Muslim female student gets asked is “Did your husband/father force you <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-truths-about-the-hijab-that-need-to-be-told-63892">to wear hijab</a>? Is your father/husband <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.15365/joce.1003082013%22%22">strict or controlling</a>?” And irrespective of the answer, students feel that some teachers will not change their way of thinking no matter what evidence is presented. </p>
<p>Another example I encountered in my research is when a student spoke about his teacher. The student said the teacher “is fair in everything.” But when it comes to topics like Islam and terrorism, the teacher “holds on to his opinions…. Muslims in the class kept saying ‘this is not Islam,’ but I don’t think our message was received.”</p>
<p><strong>5. Speaking about Muslims as if they are not “Canadian.”</strong> This is part of viewing any practice outside of a white settler normative culture as not “Canadian.” Students are contending views, such as those of one teacher, in my interview, who claimed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Parents [of the Muslim students] do not want to accept the norms of the Canadian culture.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The “norms” the teacher was referring to were white settler norms. </p>
<p>Students find themselves pressured to frequently profess their sense of belonging to Canada and assert their religious practices and beliefs are part and parcel of the Canadian mosaic. Similarly, when a 2016 <a href="https://www.environicsinstitute.org/projects/project-details/survey-of-muslims-in-canada-2016">survey of Muslims</a> by the Environics Institute was released, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-muslim-canadians-environics-1.3551591">media focussed on reporting</a> mainly about the sense of belonging and “Canadianness” of Muslims.</p>
<h2>Worried for Muslim students</h2>
<p>It is clear that <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483385686.n15">classrooms and teachers are not insulated from these broader negative narratives and media points of view</a>. </p>
<p>I am worried for Muslim students navigating a system with embedded Islamophobic sentiments. Some young women are <a href="https://broadview.org/taking-off-the-hijab/">taking their hijabs off</a>; other Muslim students may struggle with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3195968">academic disengagement</a>, <a href="https://cmha.ca/news/muslim-womens-mental-health-a-study">mental health issues</a>, difficulty <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2001.32.4.399">reconciling their Muslim and Canadian identities</a> and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.1813">suicide, </a>to name just a few issues. </p>
<p>I am also worried that teachers, with their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2018.1544551">work intensification</a>, do not know how to support their Muslim students.</p>
<h2>Get to know each other’s communities</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="People hold signs reading, 'United against Islamophobia.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415017/original/file-20210806-19-1ax6bem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When we know each other, we support one another. Here, people gather at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto after the New Zealand mosque shooting in March 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael_Swan/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As I was winding down that day, images of my friend’s daughter’s forced smile haunted me. I opened my Qur’an to find solace and comfort. I came across a verse I use frequently that <a href="https://theconversation.com/islams-anti-racist-message-from-the-7th-century-still-resonates-today-141575">Prophet Muhammad shared in a climate of racism 1,400 years ago</a>: “We have … made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another” <a href="https://quran.com/49/13?translations=43,19,101,85,84,21,20,17,95,22,18">(49:13)</a>.
This notion has served as one of the powerful takeaways in my workshops to teachers and faculty members about how to actively be an anti-racist. </p>
<p>Racist beliefs cannot find root in the minds and hearts of those who genuinely and frequently get to know each others’ communities. Knowing each other helps allow for the unlearning of <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/five-charts-that-show-what-systemic-racism-looks-like-in-canada-1.4970352?cid=ps%3A921">racist conditioning that we have been saturated</a> in. </p>
<p>When we know each other’s communities, we understand and we support one another. We <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/11/ibram-x-kendi-discusses-antiracism-in-education/">strive to be anti-racist</a>, and thus amass the force needed to dismantle systemic and institutionalized racism in our spheres of influence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162992/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asma Ahmed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Racist and Islamophobic beliefs cannot find root in the minds and hearts of those who genuinely and frequently get to know each other’s communities.Asma Ahmed, Adjunct Professor, Department of Education, Niagara UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647462021-08-05T19:25:52Z2021-08-05T19:25:52ZMandatory COVID-19 vaccination in schools this fall? Ontario’s 1982 legislation spurred organized opposition<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/mandatory-covid-19-vaccination-in-schools-this-fall--ontario-s-1982-legislation-spurred-organized-opposition" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>As our minds turn to back-to-school, it is urgent <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/how-can-canada-avoid-a-fourth-wave-of-covid-19-doctors-weigh-in-1.5530730">to increase Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination rates</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-increase-covid-19-vaccine-uptake-and-decrease-vaccine-hesitancy-in-young-people-161071">among young people</a>. </p>
<p>Currently <a href="https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data/covid-19-vaccinations-data">eligible children (12-17) and young people (18-29) have the lowest rate of vaccination</a> of any age group in Ontario: 49.2 per cent of 12- to 17-year-olds and 56.2 per cent of 18- to 29-year-olds have received two vaccinations.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410911/original/file-20210712-19-geybnm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/ca/topics/vaccine-confidence-in-canada-107061">Click here for more articles in our series about vaccine confidence.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many universities have decided not to make vaccination <a href="https://theconversation.com/mandatory-covid-19-vaccines-on-university-campuses-an-obvious-solution-or-a-problem-164738">mandatory but to encourage it</a>. Ontario’s back-to-school plan for viral safety does not include mandating COVID-19 vaccines for eligible students <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-back-to-school-covid-19-cases-outbreaks-1.6127752">and staff</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8083611/covid-ontario-school-guidance-reaction/">prompting criticism from some health experts</a>.</p>
<p>The experience with Ontario’s current compulsory school immunization for other diseases shows there are advantages and disadvantages of requiring vaccination. Mandating vaccines for school attendance may not be the best way to increase vaccination rates for COVID-19. </p>
<h2>Ontario’s 1982 legislation</h2>
<p>Ontario is one of only two provinces in Canada that requires students to have up-to-date vaccinations in order to attend school. The other is New Brunswick. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90i01">Ontario’s legislation</a> has been <a href="https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=ontario_statutes">in place since 1982</a>, and currently requires that students be inoculated against <a href="https://www.wechu.org/your-health/immunization/immunization-requirements-school">nine diseases including mumps, measles, diphtheria and polio</a>. Children who are not vaccinated can be suspended from school for up to 20 days, and their parents can be forced to pay fines of up to $1,000.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A stop sign reading 'measles alert'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414656/original/file-20210804-13-g7e0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Disease outbreaks can occur where there are clusters of unvaccinated people. Here, a sign at a clinic in Vancouver, Wash., warns visitors of a measles outbreak in January 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are exemptions for medical, religious and philosophical reasons. The total <a href="https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20140088">number of exemptions is small</a> (1.8 per cent among seven-year-old students in 2012-13), although the number of exemptions for religious and conscientious reasons is rising. </p>
<p>Of even more concern is the fact that exemptions are <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/research-reports/public-health-significant-reports/toronto-schools-immunization-coverage-rates/">geographically concentrated</a>. An epidemic could race through a school where many parents have sought exemptions.</p>
<p>Parents who chose to object for conscientious reasons are now required to attend a vaccine education session. The <em>National Post</em> reports that according to a survey it did of Ontario’s province 35 health units, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/ontarios-mandatory-class-for-parents-seeking-vaccine-exemptions-has-zero-conversions">this education is ineffective in changing parents’ minds</a>.</p>
<h2>Measles rates, U.S. example affected legislation</h2>
<p>A vaccine against the measles was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/clinids/5.3.445">first used</a> in Canada in 1964, and after that rates of the disease fell substantially. But measles infections fell even faster in the United States, where many states passed laws requiring vaccinations to attend school. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cmaj.ca/content/126/2/123">By 1980, all U.S. states</a> required immunization for school attendance. In 1979, as rates in the U.S. continued to fall, Canada experienced a significant outbreak with over 20,000 infections across the country. But vaccine mandates were not the only reason why measles rates were falling more rapidly in the U.S. </p>
<p>Vaccination rates in Canada were fairly high. In some provinces, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7059877">more than 90 per cent of children were immunized by the time they went to school</a>. But not all Canadian children were fully protected against the measles despite having received their shots. </p>
<p>In the early years of the measles vaccination program, a killed virus was often used, but this turned out to be less effective than the live virus. Also, physicians often administered half doses of the live vaccine to conserve the supply. The killed virus vaccine was only used in the U.S. for one year, but it was used in Canada for four years, particularly in Ontario and Alberta. </p>
<p>During the 1979 epidemic in Alberta, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4453054?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">78 per cent of the students</a> infected with the measles had a documented history of being vaccinated against the disease. Despite this, public health officials in Canada looked at the American success at reducing measles and recommended similar measures be taken here. In 1981, the Canadian Paediatric Society <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/09/17/Measles-could-be-stamped-out-in-Canada-if-every/6280369547200/">called for mandatory measles vaccinations</a>. </p>
<p>In 1982, three officials at the Department of National Health and Welfare in Ottawa published an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, saying that the U.S. experience showed that “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7059877/">more can and must be done</a>.” They recommended that provinces enact compulsory measles vaccination programs. </p>
<h2>Did compulsory vaccination work?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman holding a baby holds a placard reading 'Forced medical procedures equals violence against children.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414653/original/file-20210804-13-cvsbbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters outside the Ontario Legislature in Toronto in 2019 supported a group that announced filing a constitutional challenge against the province’s vaccination law.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1346155/?page=1">significant uptick in vaccination rates in Ontario schools</a> in the years following the introduction of the vaccine mandate. From 1983 to 1984, the number of vaccinated children in grades 1-6 increased from 92 per cent to 95 per cent. For high school students, the results were more dramatic. Vaccination rates increased from 53 per cent in 1983 to 87 per cent in 1984.</p>
<p>But vaccine compulsion also hardened opposition to vaccination. While there had been <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.9.2.159">anti-vaccine groups in Ontario</a> in the early decades of the 20th century, these groups had disappeared before the Second World War. </p>
<p>The passage of the 1982 legislation spurred the formation of the Committee Against Compulsory Vaccination, which lobbied for exemptions to be extended to people who objected to vaccination for reasons of conscience, not just religion. The legislation was amended accordingly in 1984. Anti-vaccination advocates have <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2019/10/29/child-vaccination-rally-toronto">continued their fight against the legislation ever since</a>.</p>
<h2>Provincial comparisons</h2>
<p>Nor has the vaccine mandate resulted in elevated rates of vaccination in Ontario compared to provinces without vaccine mandates. According to the 2017 Childhood National Immunization Coverage Survey, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/2017-vaccine-uptake-canadian-children-survey.html">two-year-old children in Alberta and Newfoundland</a> are significantly more likely to be fully vaccinated than Ontario children. New Brunswick, the other province with a vaccine requirement for school entry, is similar to the countrywide average. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A vial of MMR vaccine next to a box of vials." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414660/original/file-20210804-23-8wgjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ontario vaccination rates against measles, mumps and rubella are similar to national averages, but Ontario children are slightly more likely to be vaccinated against tetanus and pertussis.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Childhood National Immunization Coverage Survey only provides countrywide data on the vaccination status of seven-year-olds. But data from Public Health Ontario suggests that <a href="https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/i/2020/immunization-coverage-2018-19.pdf?la=en&sc_lang=en&hash=3DA1B035CC80AFC2341F7AE6BD87041F">seven-year-olds in Ontario</a> are slightly more likely to be vaccinated than their peers in other provinces. </p>
<p>Ontario vaccination rates against measles, mumps and rubella are very similar to national averages, but Ontario children are slightly more likely to be vaccinated against tetanus (85.8 per cent compared to 80.5 per cent), and pertussis, popularly known as “whooping cough” (85.7 per cent compared to 80.5 per cent).</p>
<h2>Other ways of improving vaccination rates</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/shot-arm-how-improve-vaccination-policy-canada">A 2015 report</a> by the C.D. Howe Institute argued that relatively few parents are actively opposed to vaccination. Instead, “barriers to access, complacency or procrastination” are more important. </p>
<p>The institute recommended adopting Ontario’s policy of forcing parents to make a deliberate choice about vaccinating their children along with elements of Alberta’s early intervention. Alberta makes extensive use of public health nurses at community health centres. </p>
<p>Public health nurses reach out to parents after their children are born to talk to them about health services, including immunization. If a child is not immunized by the time they reach two months of age, the nurse calls the parents or sends them a letter <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.02.034">to remind them</a>. Up to three calls are made to ensure vaccination. </p>
<p>While mandating vaccines for children in school holds the promise of increasing vaccination rates, for now, it seems prudent to increase access and education around vaccines to encourage uptake. </p>
<p><em>Do you have a question about COVID-19 vaccines? Email us at <a href="mailto:ca-vaccination@theconversation.com">ca‑vaccination@theconversation.com</a> and vaccine experts will answer questions in upcoming articles.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164746/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Carstairs received funding from AMS Healthcare for this research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Curtis Fraser and Kathryn Hughes do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The effects of Ontario’s compulsory school immunization show there are advantages and disadvantages of requiring vaccination.Catherine Carstairs, Professor, Department of History, University of GuelphCurtis Fraser, MA student, History, University of GuelphKathryn Hughes, Research assistant, Department of History, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647382021-08-02T14:03:31Z2021-08-02T14:03:31ZMandatory COVID-19 vaccines on university campuses: An obvious solution or a problem?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413895/original/file-20210730-25-uzcvhe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=495%2C770%2C3098%2C1627&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People line up outside the University of Toronto Mississauga campus for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Mississauga, Ont., in May. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.9342">United States</a>, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/live-coronavirus-updates/heres-a-list-of-colleges-that-will-require-students-to-be-vaccinated-against-covid-19?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in&cid2=gen_login_refresh">more than 600 institutions of higher education</a> are requiring <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57905068">students to be vaccinated</a> to return to campus this fall.</p>
<p>In Canada, <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-college-will-make-covid-19-vaccination-mandatory-for-students-and-staff-on-campus-1.5507086">Seneca College</a>
in Ontario is making vaccination mandatory for anyone attending campus. The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/university-of-ottawa-mandatory-vaccine-residence-1.6102600">University of Ottawa</a> <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8051866/waterloo-guelph-university-students-covid-vaccination/">and others will require</a> students living on campus to be vaccinated. </p>
<p>The University of Toronto has announced that in addition to requiring vaccination for <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-require-covid-19-vaccinations-students-living-residence">students living in residence</a>, it will “require students, faculty, staff and librarians who participate in activities that carry a <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-require-vaccination-high-risk-activities-self-declaration-vaccination-status">higher risk of COVID-19 transmission to be vaccinated — and require all community members to self-declare their vaccination status</a>” on an online platform. The university will use “anonymous, aggregate data on vaccination status, by campus,” to inform health and safety measures.</p>
<p>As September approaches, more post-secondary institutions <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/covid-19-updates-for-canadas-universities">will announce how they are managing COVID-19-related decisions</a>.</p>
<p>We are two researchers with an interest in social and structural determinants of health who have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02940-z">discussing and writing</a> about the pandemic for the last 16 months. </p>
<p>We are involved in research about increasing <a href="https://www.idrc.ca/en/project/effect-ehealth-intervention-covid-19-knowledge-behaviours-and-mental-wellness-lgbt-people">COVID-19 knowledge and protective behaviours, and reducing pandemic stress among diverse LGBTQ+ and racialized people</a>, and <a href="https://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/2020-06-19/pandemic-research-help-people-who-use-drugs">how harm-reduction programs for people who use drugs, and other addiction services</a> and HIV prevention have changed in response to COVID-19.</p>
<p>While one of us is more supportive of mandatory vaccination on campuses — given voluminous evidence for COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness — we are both nevertheless concerned about mandatory vaccination. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1420869102286086145"}"></div></p>
<h2>Avoid ‘battleground’ scenario</h2>
<p>Our shared experience in social work, public health and ethics, including sexual health and HIV research, leads us to believe that <a href="https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/2021/06/29/hpv-vaccine-safety-concerns-must-be-addressed">mandating vaccination can risk turning a highly effective and routine public health intervention</a> into a contentious battleground. </p>
<p>What otherwise might be an everyday health behaviour <a href="https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/fvl.14.91">becomes increasingly loaded with stereotypes and assumptions about political motivations</a> that <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-truth-about-science/politicization-of-science">can divide communities</a> and marginalize individuals and their lived experiences.</p>
<p>Our research has shown us that reasons for engaging in practices often not condoned by health researchers and public health officials — such as sharing drug-using equipment — are often complex. And they often make sense in the context of people’s daily realities. </p>
<p>In the case of people living with HIV and people who use drugs, they often have sophisticated understandings and complex interactions with the health-care system. These communities often have innovative ideas about how to better meet the needs of their peers. </p>
<h2>Mandatory in public sectors?</h2>
<p>The great <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/video/ask-experts-covid-19-vaccines.html#a4">success of COVID-19 vaccines</a> has led to calls to make them mandatory for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.202755">health-care workers</a>, for elementary and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mandatory-covid-vaccines-school-staff-1.6033242">high-school</a> staff, and in other public sectors. </p>
<p>We have personally followed public health requirements and have been vaccinated. We also recognize that vaccines have been the most impactful public health intervention of the last century. Vaccines <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/vaccines-and-immunization#tab=tab_1">save millions of lives every year</a>. </p>
<p>But we also understand that while everyone who lacks antibodies to new coronavirus strains is at risk, the risks of infection, morbidity and mortality are influenced by broader <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00700-x">socio-political and economic systems</a>. In this way, COVID-19, like many <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/default.htm#:%7E:text=Tuberculosis%20(TB)%20is%20caused%20by,kidney%2C%20spine%2C%20and%20brain.">other infectious diseases</a> that concern public health experts, <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/health-inequities-and-their-causes">is rooted in inequity</a>. </p>
<h2>Social contexts, inequities</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities among racialized
(“<a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00079-eng.htm">visible minority</a>”) communities because of systemic racism in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.201579">health-care system, workplaces and living conditions</a>.</p>
<p>Communities that experience the brunt of systemic racism and ongoing colonization, including in the health-care system, may be understandably reluctant or <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/black-canadians-vaccine-hesitancy-covid19-1.6102770">hesitant to get vaccinated</a>. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/upshot/bad-medicine-the-harm-that-comes-from-racism.html">Black and</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.210112">Indigenous communities</a> are navigating especially painful histories with harmful state-sponsored medical interventions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/contrary-to-sensational-reporting-indigenous-people-arent-scared-of-a-covid-19-vaccine-156444">Contrary to sensational reporting, Indigenous people aren't scared of a COVID-19 vaccine</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Engaging these communities about vaccination requires cultural humility and respect.</p>
<p>Some people have medical reasons to not get vaccinated, <a href="https://yalehealth.yale.edu/yale-covid-19-vaccine-program/information-special-populations-and-covid-19-vaccine">such as allergies</a>. Others may have <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/voices/covid-19-vaccine-religion-trust-and-vaccine-acceptance">religious reasons</a>. </p>
<p>Then there are those considered “<a href="https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-vaccine-resistance-problem-in-canada-and-how-confront-it/">anti-vaxxers</a>,” who reject vaccinations despite the evidence for their safety and efficacy.</p>
<p>In Canada, 70 per cent of the population has received at least one vaccine dose. Fifty-six per cent are <a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccination-coverage/">fully vaccinated</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students sit on the ground wearing face masks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413991/original/file-20210730-16-3dc86s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students at Western University wait for a COVID-19 test on campus in London, Ont., in September 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Risk of infection on campus</h2>
<p>We share concerns about the risk of infection on campus and the importance of students <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/07/13/canadian-colleges-and-universities-need-to-mandate-vaccines-for-students-within-the-next-two-weeks.html">getting vaccinated</a>. </p>
<p>We also see rates of vaccination among young people ages <a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccination-coverage">19 to 29 (69 per cent at least one dose, and 46 per cent fully vaccinated) in a positive light</a>, considering they only became eligible recently, and with challenges in vaccine availability across Canada. Assuming single doses translate into fully vaccinated, we are left with questions about the remaining 31 per cent.</p>
<p>We consider two possible stances: mandatory vaccination and vaccine promotion. </p>
<h2>Mandatory vaccination</h2>
<p>In scenario one, post-secondary institutions view the nearly one-third unvaccinated as a threat — to the health and safety of themselves, other students, faculty and staff on campuses.</p>
<p>Putting aside the small subset unable to be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons, we are left with young persons who may be vaccine-hesitant. Or possibly anti-vaccination. </p>
<p>With the rapidly spreading Delta variant, the unvaccinated are at considerable risk for infection, and transmission to others. Clusters of infection increase risks of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/doctor-unvaccinated-clusters-allow-covid-to-mutate-and-increase-risk.html">further mutations</a>. Mandatory vaccinations might be necessary in this case. But is anything owed to the unvaccinated?</p>
<p>As many people return to workplaces, they <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/23/work-flexibility-here-to-stay-in-post-covid-world-says-director-at-three-fortune-500-companies.html">want flexibility</a>. Many universities adopted online learning platforms. If the unvaccinated are not permitted to attend in-person classes, they should be offered online alternatives. </p>
<p>Concerns that this will breach students’ privacy and open them up to shaming from instructors and classmates need to be addressed. <a href="https://cmajnews.com/2020/12/11/shaming-1095910/">Shaming people</a> for health choices often backfires, sometimes intensifying their beliefs. We imagine online options being extended to all students during this transition period. </p>
<h2>Vaccine promotion</h2>
<p>Scenario two, vaccine promotion, considers the role our respective universities have played during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Both the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/news/one-university-three-clinics-how-u-t-supported-canada-s-mass-vaccination-effort">University of Toronto</a> and the University of Windsor host vaccine clinics and offer expert advice. </p>
<p>The University of Windsor (UW) does <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/no-mandatory-vaccine-policies-uwindsor-st-clair-college-fall-1.6111510#:%7E:text=In%20support%20of%20a%20safe,provincial%20numbers%2C%22%20Porter%20explained.">not require students to be vaccinated to return to campus at this time</a>. It is partnering with UW Students’ Alliance and WE-Spark Health Institute to promote vaccination through peer-engagement and accessible information. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9h7a42gejZA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">University of Windsor ‘Take a Jab’ campaign.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The approach means vaccination is made readily available, including on-campus clinics, and students are given time to make the decision about vaccination. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/a-1-million-lottery-didnt-improve-covid-19-vaccination-heres-what-did">Incentive-based approaches</a> are another option; they may lead some students “on the fence” to be vaccinated, but are unlikely to sway the truly hesitant.</p>
<p>Scenario two creates options for diverse students from across Canada, with different levels of vaccine access, to return to campus. This approach may be in keeping with the role of universities as bastions of critical debate. As COVID-19 continues to evolve, it will require ongoing vigilance. </p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>In considering a highly consequential policy, we both support dialogue and community engagement, for which our research in Canada <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68067-7">and globally</a> has afforded ample evidence. An important way forward is for higher education leaders to consult with students, faculty and staff. </p>
<p>Universities have a short window to be proactive about the fall and winter semesters. They need to consider what a gentler return home for students might look like this time compared to 2020.</p>
<p>Significantly, they should also be considering how they can meaningfully support students, faculty and staff to return and recover from this exceptionally challenging period — one that is not yet over.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164738/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter A. Newman receives funding from the Canadian Instututes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the International Development Research Centre, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Guta receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the University of Windsor Humanities Research Group. </span></em></p>Mandating vaccines risks turning a highly effective public health intervention into a contentious battleground — but it also may save lives.Peter A. Newman, Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of TorontoAdrian Guta, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.