‘Dear Culture’ examines how to navigate back to school time amid the pandemic
Joining us this week on the Dear Culture podcast is Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley to help us understand and contextualize what our nation’s education system is going through
As back to school looms in the middle of a pandemic, our hearts go out to parents and teachers who are encountering an unprecedented global situation. As we still don’t have a clear understanding of how public schools will mediate between distance learning and on-campus learning, the absolute main priority is how to keep our children and educators safe.
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Joining us this week on the Dear Culture podcast is Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley to help us understand and contextualize what our nation’s education system is going through. With special guest hosts theGrio’s Vice President of Digital Content Natasha S. Alford and Entertainment Director Cortney Wills, this week we’re asking “Dear Culture, how are parents supposed to navigate sending their kids back to school amidst coronavirus and social unrest?”
“Not one person, but together they are on the front lines of all those fights with us and for us,” says Pressley.
In the midst of this pandemic, teachers have been very nimble, notes Pressley. With many parents and teachers having to rise to several occasions when the nation’s administration has “leading from the behind.” From denial to criminal negligence, Pressley points out that the Trump administration has dropped the ball in many ways. The reopening of schools must be driven by data and science. The GOP-led Senate cannot simply open schools without the safety of science, especially considering educators at this time have become “martyrs” in the wake of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been behind from the very beginning, because of their signs, denials, criminal negligence and sluggish response. I don’t know if they are cruel, callous or clueless or all three, but our decision to open states must be guided by science,” remarks Pressley.
For folks like Wills, who is a parent herself, the nation’s administration does not appear to be taking responsibility. So many working parents have become teachers at home, along with teachers “having their own kids” to consider during the pandemic. On top of having to look out for children in a new way due to this public health crisis, Wills asks, what is the likelihood that our kids are going to get the best out of school?
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“The parents of Black children have constant need to ingrain certain survival skills into [our children],” says Wills.
As this pandemic is causing folks to experience higher than normal degrees of stress, Wills reminds us that speaking up about the obstacles parents and teachers are facing creates real change. As the nation grips to flatten the curve, it’s without a doubt that our community members at this time are giving grace and empathy.
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