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Andrea Richardson

Prof. Hugetz

ENGL-1301-04

5 November 2020

Reopening Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Good Idea or Not

In December of 2019, the city of Wuhan, China revealed a deadly virus called Coronavirus

also known as COVID-19. The virus is an airborne disease that is transmitted through the air and

contact surfaces. Coronavirus spread quickly throughout China resulting in an epidemic;

spreading faster and faster, the virus then became a global pandemic. COVID-19 has not only

killed over a million people worldwide but has also caused an economic recession. Through the

course of the pandemic, the government has issued mandates that attempt to reduce the spread of

the virus and keep the public safe. Some of these mandates include staying six feet apart, also

known as social distancing, limiting group gatherings, closing all “non-essential” businesses, and

wearing a face mask in public areas. All of which, have caused controversy throughout the

public. While some leaders, economists, health care professionals, and politicians believe that

wearing face masks and practicing social distancing will allow students and teachers to safely

resume in-person classes due to the decline in students mental health and grades, others believe

that face masks and social distancing will not keep students and teachers safe from coronavirus

in school despite the decline in students mental health and grades.

Wearing a face mask will not only help prevent the spread of coronavirus, but also allow

students and teachers to safely resume in-person classes. Although the threat of coronavirus is

still present, it is on a decline and it is currently safe to be in public areas granted one follows
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CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, including wearing a face mask

and maintaining social distancing. Face masks are the safest way to keep germs from being

spread from one person to another during lectures, recess, and all other activities related to

school. By keeping students in online classes, the education system is neglecting to take proper

care of students' mental health and grades, as shown by (Risks with reopening education

settings); “The risks to student mental health, wellbeing, welfare, socialization and development

associated with children not being in school.” Allowing schools to reopen with said precautions

will not only help the wellbeing of students and teachers, but also the families of said students,

“School closures or partial reopenings disproportionately harm lower-income families, as parents

have to miss work to look after their kids” (Forbes). Although wearing a face mask is the safest

way to allow students to resume in-person classes, there is another precaution that will add

another level of protection to students and teachers.

Maintaining social distancing is a key point in allowing students and teachers to resume in-

person classes. Social distancing is the act of staying at least six feet away from anyone that does

not live in the same household as oneself. Although wearing a face mask will help prevent the

spread of germs from person to person, adding social distancing will help provide extra

protection to students and teachers. As said in the above paragraph, keeping students from

returning to in-person classes is affecting their mental health and lowering their grades. By

allowing students and teachers to go back to school with social distancing protocols in place, it

will inevitably cause students to pay more attention in class than before the coronavirus

pandemic. “Colleges can return to old-time classroom instruction by having smaller class sizes,

with proper distancing and everyone wearing masks” (Forbes). As shown by Forbes, social

distancing in classrooms means having smaller classes which will allow teachers to help students
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in a one-on-one setting that will inevitably help relieve students stress and raise their grades.

Overall, allowing students and teachers to resume in-person classes with social distancing and

face masks in place will do more good to students' mental health and grades than online school.

Although wearing a face mask helps prevent the spread of coronavirus, it is not enough to

allow in-person classes to resume. The decline in COVID-19 cases has been caused by the

decrease in human-to-human contact due to the closure of the economy. Yes, face masks have

been proven to help the spread of coronavirus, and yes, schools have and will take precautions to

protect the students and teachers, but kids will be kids and it is impossible to keep eyes on them

24/7. During recess, in the bathroom, and at lunch are all places that could allow children to take

off or even switch masks with one another without teachers seeing. “A study from the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa Health Department said on Monday that the provincial schools have registered 225

coronavirus cases since reopening.” (Pakistan Today). This goes on to show that even with the

protection of face masks, students are still at risk for coronavirus. Although students mental

health and grades are worse with online school than with in-person classes, it would be even

worse if they had to self-quarantine for two weeks because they got coronavirus while attending

in-person classes.

Social distancing was put into place to help prevent the further spread of coronavirus, but it

is not enough to keep students and teachers safe during the reopening of schools. Social

distancing was meant for people that had to be in a public place for a short period of time, not for

hundreds of people to be around each other for eight plus hours a day, five days a week. “Mrs

Long Bailey pointed out that as social distancing would be virtually impossible for younger

groups...” (Commons on COVID-19 and School Reopening). Elementary aged children are hard

enough to control as it is, they already do not listen when a teacher asks them to be quiet so why
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would they listen when a teacher tells them they must stay six feet apart or that they cannot play

tag at recess. As for middle and high school aged children, they are bigger and therefore take up

more space in a classroom than younger children do which means less people in a classroom, but

not all schools have the extra room for more classes or the budget for more teachers. Overall, the

benefits of keeping students in online school trumps the benefits of resuming in-person classes.

In total, some believe that wearing face masks and social distancing provides enough

protection to allow schools to reopen, whereas others believe that schools should stay closed and

only allow online classes because face masks and social distancing do not provide enough

protection to students and teachers. The argument between both sides is due to the fact that they

both want what is best for the children. On one hand, allowing students to return to school with

the proper precautions will help their mental health and learning ability. But on the other, even

with face masks and social distancing, allowing students to return to school puts them at a higher

risk of getting coronavirus than they would have if they stayed home. Regardless of any one

person's beliefs, what is best for students and teachers is up to the government and the CDC

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to decide.

Works Cited

"225 Covid-19 Cases Registered in KP Schools since Reopening." Pakistan Today. 5 Oct. 2020.

Web. 28 Oct. 2020. <https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/10/05/225-covid-19-cases-

registered-in-kp-schools-since-reopening/>.
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"Commons on COVID-19 and School Reopening." Commons on COVID-19 and School

Reopening. Education Journal, No. 412, 19 May 2020. Web. 28 Oct. 2020.

<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=25&sid=811f88f1-3172-450c-

a21e-cb557e07258c%40sdc-v-sessmgr02>.

Forbes, Steve. "Should Covid-19 Delay Reopening Schools?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 09 July

2020. Web. 28 Oct. 2020. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2020/07/09/should-

covid-19-delay-reopening-schools/>.

"TFC: Risks Associated with the Reopening of Education Settings in September, 8 July 2020."

Risks with Reopening Education Settings. GOV.UK, 24 July 2020. Web. 28 Oct. 2020.

<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tfc-risks-associated-with-the-reopening-of-

education-settings-in-september-8-july-2020>.