Although this article from The Guardian reports on the situation in the US, many of the issues raised relate equally to children in other countries. The pandemic is impacting on education everywhere and very little of that impact is good.
Covid-19 means poverty, isolation, depression and educational failure for millions of American children. Jayla was a standout student in her Georgia grade school when it shut down. The school offered students laptops, but by the time her mom got a ride to school, the laptops were gone. Instead, Jayla was left with a photocopied work packet – without any of the material from her advanced classes.
But the family’s bigger problems are financial: Jayla’s mom lost her job due to the lockdown. She’s applied for job after job; so far, no luck.
It’s hard to overstate the scope of the crisis, or, more accurately, crises, facing Jayla and all the other kids living through Covid-19 – let’s call them Generation C. For millions of members of Gen C the pandemic has meant a food security crisis, piled on top of an educational equity crisis, piled on top of a school funding crisis, piled on top of a mental health crisis.
Right now, one in six US children are going to bed hungry and roughly one-third of families couldn’t pay their rent last month. This kind of deprivation causes lifelong harm. And in just a few weeks, things will get worse as extra unemployment benefits expire and eviction moratoriums lift.
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