Opening Schools Should Be Priority No. 1
The pandemic has done immense harm to students. Getting kids back to class should top everyone’s agenda.
A better experience.
Photographer: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Over the long course of the Covid-19 pandemic, one comforting fact has been that children have been at very little risk from the virus. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they haven’t suffered.
In fact, research on pandemic-related school closings suggests that the harm imposed on kids could last a lifetime. A recent report from McKinsey & Co., which analyzed data for 1.6 million elementary-school kids in the U.S., found that on average they were five months behind in math and four months behind in reading. Hardest hit were kids from low-income districts, as well as predominantly Black and Hispanic ones. The authors warn that this “unfinished learning” could impede future academic progress and depress wages “far into adulthood.” They also found rising rates of anxiety and depression.