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As the new school year begins, many children across the country will experience their first day back at school without mask requirements or other COVID-related mandates for the first time in over two years.
At the start of the 2021 school year, approximately 75% of U.S. schools required students or teachers to wear masks, according to the report. National Center for Education StatisticsCurrently, only a handful of schools require masks.
But for many, the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic remains. This is especially true in California, where schools have implemented some of the toughest COVID policies in the country, and the state was also one of the last states to reopen schools.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which begins its new school year on Monday, has nearly resumed mask mandates and tests over the summer, but has withdrawn them amid a major backlash.
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Several parents who spoke with Fox News Digital said they were relieved that the mask mandate was lifted, but that the impact of the last two and a half years of COVID policies remained.
“Especially in Los Angeles, socially, academically, and emotionally isolating children from their peers is having detrimental effects that we are only beginning to feel,” said a Los Angeles-area school-going child. ‘s Daniella Bloom told FOX News.Digital.
“Isolating children from seven-hour schools with no sports or social curricular activities forces them to rely on electronic devices,” Bloom said. , subject to a lot of groupthink and conformity, so there is only darkness.”
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According to Bloom, introverted and possibly anxiety-prone children use masks as a way to hide from the world.
The mask made her “very comfortable not being exposed to the public,” she said.
Another parent, Christina Ervin, said her eldest son, who was in middle school when the coronavirus hit, went from being an honor student to “getting all the F’s.”
“It was two lost years,” Irvin said. “He literally didn’t care. It didn’t help me learn because I was just sitting there.”
Irvin said he was more hopeful for next year, but added, “The battle isn’t over.”
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Another Los Angeles-area parent told Fox News Digital that she saw her children fall down a “rabbit hole” of social isolation and depression during the pandemic.
“When I walked into his room, I was always afraid he wouldn’t be with me anymore. He was so depressed. I saw him cry because he was so lonely. I remember,” she said.
Another of her children finished fourth grade due to COVID and entered college the following year at Chapman College in Orange County. However, he was plagued with depression and heavy drug use and was unable to finish his first semester.
Lance Christensen, who is running for public school superintendent and has five children who attend public schools, said “despair and despair” began when he realized what his children were missing.
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“It was a long bout of depression and despair until my kids started going through this. Please finish.” — despair and despair were quite dramatic.
Christensen told Fox News Digital that within his own network he saw “dozens of children” with spikes in depression and anxiety.
“I personally know children who have committed suicide. I know other children who have attempted suicide in very dramatic ways,” he said.
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Christensen predicted that many districts and counties will continue to push COVID-related policies in the coming months and years. He argued that children who don’t want to be forced to resume normal schools and adhere to further restrictions “will have to push back really hard.”
Recent research reflects declines in children’s well-being and mental health. According to a recent study from California Public Policy Institutemore than 4 in 10 parents say their child is behind in school.
Meanwhile, California enrollment has plummeted, in part due to the COVID quarantine. LAUSD, for example, says it cannot account for her 20,000-odd students missing from its roster. EdSource.
For now, many children and parents seem relieved that masks are no longer needed. Another LA-area-based parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, hopes the school will start doing more to build and create community.
“I think you will find a lot of parents who are very supportive and do everything they can to restore a sense of community and do more to help their children socialize. development,” she said.
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She told Fox News Digital she saw a big difference in her children’s well-being when schools in Los Angeles eliminated mask requirements in the spring.
“[My son]just said a few weeks ago, ‘I can’t believe this is what I was missing,'” she said.
Irvin, who is running for the California Senate, said he was hopeful for the year ahead but remained cautious. She predicted there would be significant backlash if schools tried to reinstate COVID policies such as masking and daily testing.
“I’m going to tell you now, it won’t work. It won’t work with parents. It won’t fly,” she said.
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Meanwhile, Bloom said parents will continue to attend school board meetings and oppose the latest congressional bill that “could directly interfere with our ability to parent our own children.” I swore.
“The battle is certainly not over,” she said. “Somebody has to do it. California parents are certainly on the front lines.”