Parents with school-age children found themselves in quite a conundrum this past March. Based on trying to lessen the spread of the virus, they had to fit in an extra job — as a homeschooling parent. Teaching is a difficult profession, and many parents felt the strain when they suddenly had to figure out where both a home office and a classroom would fit into their home. Many hoped that by the time September hit, things would be better.
Unfortunately, things are trending in the wrong direction. And the thought of schools opening again is leaving parents panicked. In reopening the economy, the spread of the virus continued forward. While the best method set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been to wear a cloth mask while out, several vocal Americans have refused to partake. Many feel as if wearing a mask is an affront to their human rights when they don't have symptoms. However, this virus has proven to be asymptomatic in certain people. That doesn't stop the spread.
This puts many parents in a tough situation. Every school district is trying to figure out its own way to fight this. But that means that some schedules will likely not align well with the working parent — especially since workplaces are starting to open back up, as well.
Teachers are also upset over the possibility of reopening. A classroom setting is incredibly risky for them, especially if their classrooms have a large amount of students. Politico reports that the teachers in Fairfax Country, Virginia, have spoken up about the possibility of coming back, and they don't view it positively.
Their union is encouraging its members to openly state their discomfort. If multiple voices are heard, they may push to continue forth with distance learning — at least, until the country finds a way to comfortably transition back to its original setting. It's difficult to force teachers into a situation they're openly nervous about.
The fact that these schools will be looked at state by state (and possibly district by district) leaves parents even more worried that the solution chosen may not work for their particular work schedule. "There are no plans for most of these places," Lily Eskelsen García, president of the largest union, National Education Association, said per Politico. "People are panicked and parents should be panicked."
From the parents' perspective, not knowing what will happen in the fall is enough to lose sleep at night. Smitten Kitchen founder Deb Perelman posted a tweet that went viral which summed up most of the experience. "I wish someone would just say the quiet part loud," she wrote. "In the COVID economy, you're only allowed a kid OR a job."
As she wrote, the rumored plan to work with the guidelines set by the CDC means that her kids will possibly have a schedule that just doesn't work for a working parent. Can you imagine taking a week off every month in order to stay home with your children? Most working professionals can't.
"What I am simmering with white-hot rage over is the idea that both plans are moving ahead — an open economy but mostly closed schools, camps — as if it would be totally okay if a generation of parents lost their careers, insurance, and livelihoods in the process," she continued. "It's outrageous." Parenthood provides enough challenges as is — this shouldn't be one of them.
While continuing with distance learning seems to be a solid plan for parents who are still working from home, it comes with its own sense of chaos. Parents have, rightfully, had a hard time juggling both tasks. They need to keep their jobs in order to afford to live, but they also can't put their children's education on the back burner.
"I have great respect for teachers; I've kept in touch with many of mine in my life and every single one of my closest friends are educators. So it's not like I don't know that what they're doing for all of us is amazing," mom Amanda Farinacci wrote for NY1. "I just didn't realize HOW amazing until I had to do it myself."
Her piece, which ran just a few days after schools closed, showcased her frustration when it came to the new normal. "We do our work together either in the morning before work or later in the day when I come home," she wrote. "Sometimes they're not in the mood for mom the teacher."
"Sometimes they grow impatient," she continued. "Sometimes I don't even know if I've chosen the right activity for the moment, and I wonder whether if I should be trying to do cohesive themes rather than the piecemeal topics that I'm in the mood for. And then there's the worry. Am I messing this up? Am I messing them up?"
Thinking of another year of that uncertainty is tough for working parents. University of Maryland economics professor Melissa Kearney talked to Today about how asking parents to choose one important job for another can be a choice that's impossible to make. And for single parents, it's even harder.
"We're not doing nearly enough to figure out how to get kids back to school — which is critical, both for kids' development and learning — and workers back to work," she said. Melissa, herself, is a working mom of three. She did the math and realized that right now, a quarter of American workers today have a child at home who's under the age of 13.
That's a statistic that's hard to ignore. Plus, due to new restrictions based on the virus, much of the help that parents were getting from family members is now off the table — that is, unless they chose to move in with the family, which many houses have no room for. Melissa's research indicated that only 16% of these households had an adult who was unemployed who could help out with the children.
Everyone's going to be trying their hardest to figure out the solution that works best for them. But one thing would be a big help — and that's having an employer who understands. This virus has shaken up the world and left all of us fighting predicaments we never would have expected. Having a flexible boss who's by your side is crucial for working parents right now — and might be the only way parents can make this situation work right now.
