Coronavirus: should we pull our kids out of school?
March 11, 2020 9:54 AM Subscribe
I work from home, and my wife began working remotely yesterday, so we theoretically have minimal exposure to coronavirus. But we have two kids in a Chicago public elementary school, and our city has a couple of dozen of coronavirus cases, including several with connections to schools. The school system is staying open -- but since we’d be able to do so without major disruption to our lives, should we pull the kids out unilaterally to minimize our risk of exposure, and perhaps in some small way help limit the spread of CORVID-19 in our community?
One additional data point: there are a couple of people in my wife’s (rather large) workplace who are self-quarantining after potential exposures that predate the switch to remote working, so while we don’t think she’s been exposed, we’re certainly jumpy. The school system is staying open for now, and since schools share buses it’d be easy for this to hop from one school to another, even if our kids don’t take the bus.
Since we’re already working remotely, we could keep the kids home for a couple of weeks (or even longer) without significantly rearranging our lives. We also have online educational resources, so we'd be able to keep the kids fairly busy during time off school. We’d also try to get work from school for them to stay up to speed, though of course we wouldn’t be able to eliminate the educational impact altogether. There would be some social/emotional toll — both kids are already pretty worried about coronavirus, and while we’re managing that, pulling them out of school would be a Big Deal to them.
We’re both in our early 40s, so not high risk but not bulletproof young people either — and no major underlying health issues, although we do tend to get sick pretty easily. We’re immigrants and don’t have family or much of a social network in our city (or anywhere nearby), though, so if one or both of us did get seriously ill it’d be a big deal and likely extremely disruptive for the kids.
Are we crazy to think about keeping the kids home, at least until we have more clarity about how widespread/serious the coronavirus outbreak is in our area? Are there other pros or cons we aren’t thinking of here?
One additional data point: there are a couple of people in my wife’s (rather large) workplace who are self-quarantining after potential exposures that predate the switch to remote working, so while we don’t think she’s been exposed, we’re certainly jumpy. The school system is staying open for now, and since schools share buses it’d be easy for this to hop from one school to another, even if our kids don’t take the bus.
Since we’re already working remotely, we could keep the kids home for a couple of weeks (or even longer) without significantly rearranging our lives. We also have online educational resources, so we'd be able to keep the kids fairly busy during time off school. We’d also try to get work from school for them to stay up to speed, though of course we wouldn’t be able to eliminate the educational impact altogether. There would be some social/emotional toll — both kids are already pretty worried about coronavirus, and while we’re managing that, pulling them out of school would be a Big Deal to them.
We’re both in our early 40s, so not high risk but not bulletproof young people either — and no major underlying health issues, although we do tend to get sick pretty easily. We’re immigrants and don’t have family or much of a social network in our city (or anywhere nearby), though, so if one or both of us did get seriously ill it’d be a big deal and likely extremely disruptive for the kids.
Are we crazy to think about keeping the kids home, at least until we have more clarity about how widespread/serious the coronavirus outbreak is in our area? Are there other pros or cons we aren’t thinking of here?
A couple of data points: schools are going to be very reluctant to close because 1) many families depend on the services that school provides, such as free breakfast/lunch. 2) Schools receive funding based on student attendance. 3) If schools close, parents are going to lose their shit, either because they do not have childcare available or they are in an agony of fear about their child’s academic career (more of an issue for high school). In other words, school closures are complicated. And I am saying this as a school employee—you cannot depend on a board of elected officials to think like epidemiologists. These are people caught in a really unfortunate game of chicken, the results of which are only going to be visible in hindsight.
You are not crazy. I would keep the kids at home.
posted by corey flood at 10:30 AM on March 11, 2020 [10 favorites]
You are not crazy. I would keep the kids at home.
posted by corey flood at 10:30 AM on March 11, 2020 [10 favorites]
One way to look at this is: do you want your kids to be home for six weeks, or four, keeping in mind that your choice here will likely have minimal impact on your personal odds of getting sick. Odds are, your'e going to get it at some point regardless of what you choose, it's just a matter of when.
Phrased differently, I know a couple of people who have decided to keep their kids home for the last week and a half, it's turning out to be FAR more difficult than they expected, and they now wish they hadn't done it but feel like sending them back to school would now be even more disruptive (out-back-out again at some point in the future), plus they used illness as a reason to pull them, so now everyone will think their kids had it and should be quarantined or something.
Much depends, IMHO, on whether you think your school authorities are being advised by competent health professionals or not. Mine are, but I don't know about yours.
...but don't feel bad about whatever you choose.
posted by aramaic at 10:34 AM on March 11, 2020 [8 favorites]
Phrased differently, I know a couple of people who have decided to keep their kids home for the last week and a half, it's turning out to be FAR more difficult than they expected, and they now wish they hadn't done it but feel like sending them back to school would now be even more disruptive (out-back-out again at some point in the future), plus they used illness as a reason to pull them, so now everyone will think their kids had it and should be quarantined or something.
Much depends, IMHO, on whether you think your school authorities are being advised by competent health professionals or not. Mine are, but I don't know about yours.
...but don't feel bad about whatever you choose.
posted by aramaic at 10:34 AM on March 11, 2020 [8 favorites]
Consequences...
Keep kids in school: Continued worry about potential risks to their health and health of others. Actual risks to their health and the health of others.
Remove kids from school: Disruption of social lives for a few weeks. Possibly feeling foolish if the coronavirus doesn’t hit your school district.
I’d risk it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:44 AM on March 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
Keep kids in school: Continued worry about potential risks to their health and health of others. Actual risks to their health and the health of others.
Remove kids from school: Disruption of social lives for a few weeks. Possibly feeling foolish if the coronavirus doesn’t hit your school district.
I’d risk it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:44 AM on March 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
I think pulling them out would be both prudent and socially responsible. Your action incrementally reduces the population density. Other parents will see that you pulled your kids out and find the choice to pull their kids out incrementally easier. Increments matter. Drops become a stream become a river. (Except you'd need to reverse the metaphor: a river becomes a stream becomes a bunch of isolated drops, all holed up snugly at home learning remotely while not spreading viruses.) Fewer kids on the buses. Fewer kids in the cafeterias. Fewer kids packed into the hallways. The more parents who pull kids out, the more likely the school will opt to close. But it will be better for everyone no matter what the school opts to do.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:45 AM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 10:45 AM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'd do it specifically because many people can't. If your children will eat at home, pull them out to reduce vectors of transmission to kids who won't.
posted by babelfish at 11:06 AM on March 11, 2020 [15 favorites]
posted by babelfish at 11:06 AM on March 11, 2020 [15 favorites]
Yes, do this.
posted by Chitownfats at 11:18 AM on March 11, 2020
posted by Chitownfats at 11:18 AM on March 11, 2020
I'm a teacher in Hong Kong - where kids will have been off for a minimum of three months before they begin to go back - and I'll say this:
- you have the finances, time and availability to keep your kids home safely; many Hong Kongers do not
- you have an American-sized home in which to do this; Hong Kongers are doing it in tiny apartments
- a few weeks off school does not pose a serious educational risk in any meaningful way, even if (and this is hard to imagine) they are held to account for missed material or exams are not moved/postponed and they perform poorly for the spring semester; even here, schools are trying to teach online but few schools are claiming to provide a one-for-one replacement in terms of instructional time
- you reduce your own needs for travel/being outside if your kids are already home and you don't need to pick them up/drop them off; also, I presume you have a car, unlike Hong Kongers who need to do this via public transport
- you have a smaller social network for support if things do go wrong and you say you get sick easily
All of this makes me lean toward taking them out. There will be heaps of information online on ways to keep them safe and happy during this time, and offices and workplaces will just have to learn to cope. We can't pretend this isn't an emergency.
posted by mdonley at 11:20 AM on March 11, 2020 [11 favorites]
- you have the finances, time and availability to keep your kids home safely; many Hong Kongers do not
- you have an American-sized home in which to do this; Hong Kongers are doing it in tiny apartments
- a few weeks off school does not pose a serious educational risk in any meaningful way, even if (and this is hard to imagine) they are held to account for missed material or exams are not moved/postponed and they perform poorly for the spring semester; even here, schools are trying to teach online but few schools are claiming to provide a one-for-one replacement in terms of instructional time
- you reduce your own needs for travel/being outside if your kids are already home and you don't need to pick them up/drop them off; also, I presume you have a car, unlike Hong Kongers who need to do this via public transport
- you have a smaller social network for support if things do go wrong and you say you get sick easily
All of this makes me lean toward taking them out. There will be heaps of information online on ways to keep them safe and happy during this time, and offices and workplaces will just have to learn to cope. We can't pretend this isn't an emergency.
posted by mdonley at 11:20 AM on March 11, 2020 [11 favorites]
My kids, first grade and preschool, have been home for a week and a half. We're in Seattle area, and like you we could pull them without too much cost to us, so we figured it was something we could do for our community to remove a couple vectors from the ecosystem.
My kids, especially the first grader, are worrying a lot that their friends are having fun at school without them and learning cool things they're missing. For me, knowing lots of kids are out (or schools are closed, better yet) would help just so I could tell my kids that their FOMO is unwarranted. So, there's that aspect to consider too - that you pulling your kids makes it easier on the other families pulling their kids from a peer pressure perspective.
posted by potrzebie at 11:32 AM on March 11, 2020 [6 favorites]
My kids, especially the first grader, are worrying a lot that their friends are having fun at school without them and learning cool things they're missing. For me, knowing lots of kids are out (or schools are closed, better yet) would help just so I could tell my kids that their FOMO is unwarranted. So, there's that aspect to consider too - that you pulling your kids makes it easier on the other families pulling their kids from a peer pressure perspective.
posted by potrzebie at 11:32 AM on March 11, 2020 [6 favorites]
With Spring Break coming up, they shouldn't miss too much if you pulled them out for the remainder of this month.
posted by SPrintF at 1:04 PM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 1:04 PM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
If they're going to be out anyway because school is likely to close, pulling them earlier is likely to have positive effects in terms of removing one more vector from the public at a point when it really matters, and also increasing pressure on administrators to go ahead and cancel school or move to alternative plans earlier.
However, my main concern would be that things aren't likely to be better in a "couple of weeks," so a plan to pull them now should probably involve thinking about whether that's really sustainable longer-term. Sustainable both in terms of what you and your partner can handle, as well as in terms of what the school would allow if they don't elect to close in the near future. (Our school system is allowing kids to go out for up to two weeks, but after that the parents need to withdraw the kid and formally home-school them, presumably for the rest of the year until summer.)
This is a tough question. If it were me, I'd probably do it now if I was relatively secure that we could keep it up for the longer haul (aka, until school ended in June). I wouldn't do it if I thought the pressure would be high to return them to school in a month (either because the school wouldn't allow them to be out that long, or because it got too disruptive to work). Pulling them out when things weren't quite as bad in early March and then returning them out of necessity once the virus was even more widespread in April seems counterproductive.
posted by iminurmefi at 3:20 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
However, my main concern would be that things aren't likely to be better in a "couple of weeks," so a plan to pull them now should probably involve thinking about whether that's really sustainable longer-term. Sustainable both in terms of what you and your partner can handle, as well as in terms of what the school would allow if they don't elect to close in the near future. (Our school system is allowing kids to go out for up to two weeks, but after that the parents need to withdraw the kid and formally home-school them, presumably for the rest of the year until summer.)
This is a tough question. If it were me, I'd probably do it now if I was relatively secure that we could keep it up for the longer haul (aka, until school ended in June). I wouldn't do it if I thought the pressure would be high to return them to school in a month (either because the school wouldn't allow them to be out that long, or because it got too disruptive to work). Pulling them out when things weren't quite as bad in early March and then returning them out of necessity once the virus was even more widespread in April seems counterproductive.
posted by iminurmefi at 3:20 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm an epidemiologist. My kids are too old to take out of school, but I'd absolutely do it if they were still school age.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:24 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:24 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! You're all the best. Kids are staying home, at least for now — they’re now busy making home-study schedules so they can try to stay in sync with what’s going on at school. We'd rather look back and feel silly for overreacting than look back and regret not acting sooner.
Stay safe, everyone. Thanks again.
posted by Yo Soy La Morsa at 9:50 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Stay safe, everyone. Thanks again.
posted by Yo Soy La Morsa at 9:50 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
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