A lot of Georgia Schools have gone 100% virtual, but others choose to go back to in-person learning with precautions. A picture from Paulding County has many upset, because they aren't seeing the social distancing.
The Georgia Department of Education in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health have released guidelines to follow for in-person learning and promised they'd "prioritize safety" for students with back-to-school. This picture, that's made national news from North Paulding High School, has many thinking this is about to get disastrous and cause many COVID-19 spikes with young kids.
Granted, the disease hasn't shown much effect on teens or youth during the past months of quarantining and isolation, but that may be because students weren't experiencing large crowded hallways and classrooms, as they will be now. It's hard to say, but we'll see soon enough, how this may effect the spread in youth.
Another picture from Woodstock's Etowah High School, shows a large group of seniors gathering for a big photo together and none are wearing masks or social distancing either.
I hope that we don't see this sickness hit our youth, and I agree that mental health is extremely important too. That's why it's so hard for parents to feel like they're making the correct move, when sending their kids back or doing the home learning. For some, it's not an option for homeschooling, because of financial reasons. Also, some parents have special needs children, who aren't able to learn digitally.
Whatever your decision is for your student is, shouldn't be criticized by anyone. Everyone is allowed to make that decision for their family, and it's no one else's business.
We should expect that our school's can truly prioritize keeping our students safe in school, though. This should be addressed by faculty with the utmost urgency.