Black Parents Across The Country Express Their Concern About Going Back To School During The Pandemic

Many parents across the country have questions and concerns about the upcoming school year as students prepare to go back to the classroom or virtual learning. One Georgia parent Keah Humphrey told Atlanta Black Star, are ready for children to go back to school. “It was tough and with me being a former educator, it was still tough,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said virtual learning was difficult for her and her family. Another mother Latasha Emeri said her family also had trouble with e-learning.

“My mother and my grandmother are both teachers, but I am not a teacher. And I found no joy in teaching my son six months,” Emeri said. Once COVID-19 shut down schools across the nation, most people didn’t know it would last until the next year.

“When you’re in school, there’s a risk of getting sick, which you don’t want to take,” Tate said. “You might risk getting sick to get this education or do I risk not getting the fidelity of education I deserve because I’m at home doing it virtually?”

For some school districts going back to school isn’t an option currently on the table. Humphrey said she believes virtual learning might be a challenge for families.

“I don’t know how virtual would work when you got several kids, they all got to be on at different times and then for my five year old I have to kind of manage and stay on with him while I’m cooking dinner and trying to keep the other ones quiet,” Humphrey said.

Tate also talked about the challenges families may face while learning at home.

“Grandma may not have even taken Geometry, so she’s looking at Geometry and has no idea what she’s looking at, might as well be Japanese to her,” Tate said in addressing that challenge. “She has no idea what she’s looking at, so she can’t help you with it. You don’t know what you’re doing, you’re trying to learn online, which is not giving you the tools you need necessarily, as compared to the face-to-face component. Face to face, there’s nothing that’s going to beat that,” said Tate.

While some parents think learning in class presents a better environment for students. Emeri said her 6-year-old son isn’t the same kid at home compared to at school.

“He just has a different respect for his teacher,” Emeri said. “I’m sure a lot of parents say that their children perform differently, you know, you act different at home than you do out in the streets.”