City Communities Feel Unheard with Schools Reopening
(Photo via LM Otero/AP)
By Rebekah Gamble
New York City schools reopened on Sept. 21, 2020, after Mayor Bill de Blasio promised that its 1,606 public schools would offer “blended learning,” a hybrid of in-person and remote learning. Parents and guardians remain concerned that their children’s health as well as their education will suffer.
“I don't believe young children will be able to follow the rules and wear their masks all day long,” said Dania Miguel, a Lehman senior majoring in Music and obtaining her Multimedia Performing Arts BFA who is concerned about her sister starting school.
According to the medical journal Health Line, “The average adult touches their face 16 times an hour.” However, small children have even less awareness than adults about germs and the threats they pose. According to journalist Beata Mostafavi, it’s been proven that children older than age five may carry the same amount of the respiratory virus as an adult.
Although the DOE has tried to offer options regarding learning styles, parents and teachers still feel frustration. For parents, it is difficult to teach elementary school and handle their course work or jobs simultaneously. “I felt I had to choose between her education and mine,'' said Carina Xique-Tello, a Lehman senior working toward her sociology degree. “There were times when I had to multitask, and it was hard to balance our schedules.”
Xique-Tello’s younger sister will be learning remotely beginning Sept. 21. She especially found it challenging because she, like many others, has parents who are not fluent in English and the teaching methods change with time.
Remote learning was also found to be difficult for children who did not have exposure to technology before March. One Rockland County high school teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, has children of her own who didn’t adjust easily to being taught at home, despite her experience teaching younger grades. “My kids needed a lot of attention and their teachers were not available most of the time. They were never taught how to use the technology either, so they were often frustrated.”
Jessica Colon, a Lehman psychology major and junior stated, “This is horrible. My siblings did not understand how to use a computer, and there were times when we couldn’t reach the teacher.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged concerns about safety for the students and teachers, CNN reported. "When we came to the reopening of the economy, I've said I'm not going to put someone in a dangerous situation. There is no money on the planet that can pay for a life as far as I'm concerned, so it's a balance, and the same is with schools."
The blended learning model which includes only 2 to 3 days of on-site teaching will be unique and face its own set of challenges. Some Lehmanities still see a brighter side to all of the disruptions.
“This is horrible. My siblings did not understand how to use a computer and there were times when we couldn’t reach the teacher.”
“My thoughts and expectations for the upcoming school year include positivity coming from myself and my children,” said Jessica Mills, a senior Africana studies major with two children, aged five and seven. She has managed to adjust while being Coordinator at the Herbert H Lehman Food Bank and serving as a Senator of the Student Government Association.
“I'm working on maintaining a now tight schedule and dedicating my time and energy to the needs of my children,” she explained. “I also expect my academics to be well maintained as it is very important to me. I wish for not only my family, but everyone to remain mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy as well this school year.”
