That tension is personal: parents and caregivers come to the job with the hang-ups we’ve amassed since childhood. We’re famously prone to imposing some version of those onto our own kids — however hard we try to free them. 

The tension is also social and cultural — even political. We’re all trying to teach our kids to stand up for themselves in the tough, pushy, sometimes violent world out there even as we coach them toward leaning vulnerably into grace, compassion, sharing and forgiveness. And a lot of it involves hiding uglier truths about the world from them. But even that only works for so long, because they’ll eventually outgrow our abilities to deceive and distract — and nothing builds resentment in adulthood like realizing how much you were lied to in childhood. 

This is beautiful, impossible work. We’re all messing up all the time, no matter how hard we push and strive — and no matter how much we try to let go and back off. 

Parenting is even harder in moments of public fear and stress. As a father of two, I spent much of Donald Trump’s first term wrestling to guard my children’s faith in virtues like patience, kindness, honesty, personal integrity and responsibility. I tried to coach them into believing in the power of peaceful, democratic institutions that represent the will of the public. I tried, in other words, to swim upstream against the prevailing Trumpist political currents. 

Now I’m a father of three. I’m dreading the implications of his second term — for my kids, for the work of raising them, for our schools and for our democracy. It’s a much more difficult project this time. How can families teach our children to believe in a better, kinder, fairer world … when they see glory, honor and power repeatedly rendered to a man like this? Can advocates for better educational opportunities for all children build a safer, kinder country with Trump unavoidably at its helm?

It’s hard to imagine. His return has launched a genuinely bleak era driven by a movement that targets and marginalizes people — — to gain power, whether they’re immigrants or transgender kids who just want to use the bathroom in peace. This is a nightmare for parents trying to raise their kids to be fundamentally polite, to stand up for the weak among us, to choose grace over scorn and peace over violence. 

If you think this is overwrought, please remember that Trump’s first arrival in office a national spike in behavior at schools. We’re seeing this time . That’s not an accident. Trump is persistently, constantly a bully, one who reserves , and   any woman who with the slightest .

This is incessant intimidation that any middle schooler would recognize, that any parent would hate to see imposed on their kid. It’s sexism that any young girl would instantly view as infuriating and behavior that any decent parent or caregiver would find unacceptable in their son.

What’s more, Trump is cynically nihilistic. That’s why many of the president-elect’s colleagues . He has been caught and never admits his deceit, even when hurt other people. This year, Trump baselessly accused Haitian immigrants in Ohio of stealing and eating pets: innocent people — immigrants and native-born Americans alike — , some closing . Note: immigrants community members than native-born Americans.

Trump’s responses to the pandemic were probably his most consequential distortions. He and insisted that the pandemic was under control and easily manageable. He promoted and , unscientific “treatments” — . People because believed . 

Any family would recognize a kid with Trump’s penchant for selfish betrayal and willful deceit as a terrible friend or classmate. No family would want an adult who treated people so carelessly in charge of their child’s safety or well-being. 

, Trump’s is . He routinely muses about using force against political opponents, journalists, and protestors. Not coincidentally, in an October 2024 poll, were sure that there would be a peaceful transfer of power after the election, what was once an unshakeable tenet of our democracy.

Even if you’re confident that you can set a strong enough example for kids to be a bulwark against this behavior, that still won’t solve for the most substantive issue: Trumpist politics have consistently failed to address the very real problems that the U.S. faces — including and particularly the ones preoccupying U.S. young adults. 

For instance, while a 2023 poll showed that American kids are , Trump and his party are pushing to , , , and close the Department of Education. None of these are real solutions. 

Families in my community tell me they’re struggling to explain the present state of American democracy to their children. One says their middle schooler keeps bringing them media articles where Trump supporters express surprise that their preferred candidate absolutely plans to follow through on his campaign promises around , , and . “Why did they vote for him then?” they say their kid asks. “What did they think would happen?” 

Trump has put families in a terrible situation. It’s hard to explain why men who violently assaulted law enforcement en route to desecrating the U.S. Capitol are touted as heroes and . It’s hard to look at all the violent, undemocratic vengeance Trump has promised and insist to kids that nonviolent politics is core to our democracy. 

See, kids are relatively sophisticated risk detectors — they know real dangers from partisan hysteria. That’s why it’s particularly difficult to tell them to be patient now and to trust in the democratic process, to believe that the adults will get their acts together and work on real problems. It’s hard to believe that the system will self-correct after you’ve spent another math period under your desk because there’s another active shooter in the neighborhood, or even worse — , as just happened again last week in Madison, Wisconsin. 

Nonetheless, the vast majority of families in my social orbit are grimly hoping they can perhaps pretend the situation away. They’re hoping that Trump won’t be who he’s been for the past decade, that he’ll step up instead and act like a prudent statesman that they can safely ignore. Most are planning to actively distract their kids from American public discourse, to try to keep them from internalizing the next four years as “normal.” 

A lot of education reformers sound similar notes. They’d like to set all this aside and just get on with their lives and careers and work with Trump to overhaul the federal role in education or expand school choice or somesuch. They’d like to pretend like Trump’s behavior can be tolerated or ignored. 

I guess I hope they’re right. But I think we all know they aren’t — and so do the kids. 

The views expressed here are the author’s alone and not those of any organization with which he is affiliated.

The Food and Drug Administration April 29 that it will reserve the dates June 8, 21 and 22 for its vaccine advisory committee to review the emergency use authorization requests of Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus shots for toddlers. While the dates remain subject to change, they provide an indication of when doses may be available to those under 5, as the FDA typically follows the recommendation of the committee in the weeks following its meeting.

Members of Congress sent a to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Monday asking whether the agency intended to delay reviewing Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for children 5 years old and younger and for “the scientific basis and any other rationale” for such an action.

The move comes after White House officials told last week that young kids, the last age group not yet eligible for coronavirus vaccines, will likely have to wait until the summer for immunizations — a longer timeline than previously expected.

Although Moderna completed the trial for its toddler vaccine in late March and submitted a on Thursday, Anthony Fauci said that the FDA is considering reviewing the pharmaceutical company’s application at the same time as Pfizer-BioNTech’s, which has not yet been submitted.

“[The] two products … are similar but not identical, particularly with regard to the dose. And what the FDA wants to do is to get it so that we don’t confuse people to say, ‘this is the dose. This is the dose regimen for children within that age group of 6 months to 5 years,'” President Biden’s chief medical advisor on Thursday.

“Such a decision could delay the potential authorization and administration of the Moderna vaccine by several weeks,” points out Rep. James Clyburn, chair of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, in its letter to the FDA. The committee asked for a staff briefing on the subject by May 9.

In early February, Pfizer-BioNTech submitted data on a two-dose vaccine series for children under 5 to the FDA, but in a highly unusual move withdrew their application just 10 days later. The two shots, which are 10 times less potent than the companies’ adult doses, were safe for all age groups, but did not provide enough protection against the Omicron variant for 3- and 4-year-olds. Pfizer-BioNTech now plans to request that the FDA authorize a three-dose regimen for children under 5, the companies have said.

The Moderna series currently submitted for review includes two shots that are each one-quarter the dose adults received. Trial data showed shots to be 44% and 38% effective in preventing illness among children 6 months to 2 years old and 2 years to under 6 years old, respectively.

But despite the relatively low efficacy, many parents of young children are anxious for a base level of protection for their kids, especially as mask mandates and social distancing requirements continue to fall across the country. 

For some, the idea that the FDA would delay the Moderna shots on parents’ behalf — ostensibly to avoid confusion — struck the wrong chord.

“If I sign a waiver saying ‘I don’t find this confusing at all,” can I go ahead and get the vaccine for my four-year-old?” parent and New York Times writer Whet Moser .

Meanwhile, a Tuesday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that more than half of Americans have been infected by the coronavirus, including . Rates of prior infection nearly doubled over the course of the Omicron surge, the agency found.

Jennifer Shu, an Atlanta-based pediatrician, agrees that if doses are ready for emergency use authorization, Washington should not delay the rollout. After all, vaccines from separate companies were approved at different times for other age groups, she pointed out.

“If it’s ready to go, if the science has proven that the vaccine is safe and effective, then why not let the parents educate themselves on it?” she told The 74, adding that health professionals like herself can help families make an informed choice.

Parents of kids under 5 may feel they’re being “thrown under the bus” as pandemic precautions dwindle and the BA.2 Omicron subvariant threatens, said Shu.

But despite thousands of families eager to vaccinate their toddlers, still more are likely to pass on the opportunity when it becomes available. 

Immunization rates remain relatively low for older kids and teens with 28% of 5- to 11-year-olds and 58% of 12- to 17-years-old fully vaccinated as of April 20, according to the . New immunizations have slowed nearly to a halt, with vaccine coverage having increased only 1 percentage point in each age group since mid-March.

Even as vaccination rates are flatlining, Pfizer-BioNTech is planning to seek authorization for a third booster shot for kids 5- to 11-years old after trials found that it offers added protection against the Omicron variant.

Children under 5 years old may be eligible for coronavirus shots as soon as the end of February — much earlier than previously expected.

On Tuesday, Pfizer and BioNTech that they requested the Food and Drug Administration authorize a two-dose regimen of their vaccine for children under 5. Meanwhile, the companies will continue to research the efficacy of a third shot.

In December, disappointing trial data showing that two smaller doses were safe for youngsters but, in children ages 2 to 4, threatened to extend the timetable before which young children would be eligible for COVID vaccines. But the FDA urged Pfizer-BioNTech to submit their initial trial data so that regulators could begin the review process, then to later submit numbers on a third shot once those become available, The Washington Post . Results from the study of a three-dose regimen are expected to arrive in late March at the earliest.

“If they get the two-dose approved, then they can get going. And by the time the first round of two-dose people are ready to boost … if they have a third dose approved, then they’ll get through this course,” explained Benjamin Linas, professor of medicine at Boston University. “But if they wait until they have all the data for the three-dose course, then they won’t even be able to get started.”

Even if three shots prove to be the optimal vaccination level for the age group, the Massachusetts doctor reassures parents that two doses provide far more protection than zero.

“Absolutely, it should give families some peace of mind having their children two-dose vaccinated,” he told The 74.

The news may bring some long-awaited relief to parents of children under 5 for whom the Omicron surge has been particularly frightening and stressful between spikes in and widespread .

“As a parent of a 3-year-old, this news does feel like light at the end of (the) tunnel,” said Jorge Burmicky, assistant professor at Howard University, in a sharing The Washington Post story.

But nationwide, rates of pediatric vaccination remain low. As of Jan. 26, just 20 percent of children ages 5 to 11 were fully immunized, while 55 percent of those ages 12 to 17, who have been eligible for shots for longer, had received two doses, according to data published by the .

As of November, nearly a third of parents of children ages 5 to 11 said they would “wait and see” before immunizing their kids in the most recent poll administered by the on parents’ vaccine attitudes.

For this decision around immunizations for children 6 months to 4 years old, Linas believes federal agencies must be upfront about the expected authorization process. Without clear messaging that young kids may ultimately need to receive three shots — but that the initial authorization of a two-shot regime allows youngsters to safely get started — he worries the eventual pivot could erode some parents’ faith in the shots. 

“If you don’t talk about it … it just creates this opportunity for misinformation, lack of trust, and then people shut down,” he said. “This is all about trust right now.”

When he fell ill from the coronavirus in April 2020 and went to the hospital during New York City’s deadly first wave, the young girl, then just 7, turned to her mother.

“He’ll be OK, right?” she asked. 

Her mother, Melissa Keaton, days later had to tell her daughter that their beloved “Papa,” who was 61, wasn’t coming back to the Flatbush apartment he had shared with them and where he helped care for his granddaughter.

“My father was in the hospital,” Keaton told The 74. “We never heard from him. We were never able to see him or speak to him. Once he passed, [Melanie] didn’t get to see that visual, final goodbye.”

The young Brooklynite is one of more than who are believed to have lost parents or caregivers to COVID during the pandemic — roughly 1 in every 450 young people in the U.S. under age 18.

The count updates the already-staggering October estimate that had lost caregiving adults to the virus, and is four times more than a springtime tally that found nearly had experienced such loss. In a Dec. 9 titled “Hidden Pain,” researchers from the and published the new total, which they derived through combining coronavirus death numbers with household-level data from the 2019 American Community Survey. 

The death toll further underscores the daunting task facing schools as they seek to help students recover not just academically, but also emotionally, from a pandemic that has already stretched 22 months and claimed more than 800,000 American lives. It’s an issue of such elevated concern that Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, on Dec. 7, used a rare public address to warn Americans of the pandemic’s . An accompanying calls out the particular difficulties experienced by young people who have lost parents or caregivers to the virus.

“As the nation looks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to address the crisis of children left behind,” said COVID Collaborative CEO John Bridgeland in a addressing his organization’s co-published research.

Bereaved children have higher rates of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder than those who have not lost parents, according to that followed grieving children for multiple years. They are more than twice as likely to show impairments in functioning at school and at home, even seven years later, meaning these children need both immediate and long-term counseling and support to deal with such a traumatic loss.

“For these children, their whole sky has fallen, and supporting them through this trauma must be a top priority.”

The sky had indeed fallen for the Keaton family. 

After having suffered a single seizure three years prior, Melissa Keaton said she developed full-blown epilepsy after losing her father, experiencing multiple uncontrolled fits. Melanie witnessed her mother in spasms on the floor on at least one occasion.

The elementary schooler’s virtual classroom was unequipped to help the young child process her multiple traumas, her mother said, and the school mental health services did not reach out to the family. Meanwhile, COVID-related lessons — for example, on the vaccine — triggered painful pandemic memories for Melanie, making online class occasionally upsetting, with her school missing signs she was struggling emotionally. 

Of all children who have lost caregivers to the virus since COVID-19 struck, a disproportionate share are Black. Those losses among African-American youth like Melanie have come at more than twice the rate of white young people, according to data in the new report. Indigenous, Hispanic and Asian youth have also suffered outsized losses, the numbers show.

“The children most likely to lose a caregiver to COVID-19 are also most likely to have faced previous adversities,” said Dan Treglia, co-author of the report and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. That ups the stakes, he added, on providing support to help those young people heal.

Also particularly vulnerable are the 70 percent of all COVID-bereaved children who are 13 years old or younger. More than 13,000 children of all ages lost their only in-home caregiver.

Despite dire need, however, professional help often remains inaccessible. In Melanie’s case, Melissa Keaton said she turned over every possible stone seeking mental health support for her daughter, but was unable to secure counseling. Well before the pandemic drove greater demand, reported offering mental health services to students and 52 percent said that inadequate funding was “a major limitation” in their ability to provide those services, according to 2017-18 data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

“Trying to find a therapist or someone for her to talk to, it was impossible,” she explained. “Calling, you know, office after office and everyone is at capacity, there’s nothing available.”

The COVID Collaborative and Social Policy Analytics report recommends that policymakers devote resources to grief camps, group counseling and therapy to support children like Melanie as they move forward and recover. They recommend the creation of a bereavement fund for affected families, similar to that which was created for relatives of Sept. 11 victims. Schools, the researchers say, can play a critical role in ramping up mental health services and mentoring for students.

The American Rescue Plan, which will send a total of $122 billion to U.S. schools, includes funding that some campuses are using to responding to students’ mental health needs, especially when it comes to pandemic-related traumas. So far, of school systems have invested some of their relief money in social-emotional learning materials, according to a Dec. 13 tabulation from the data service Burbio, which has tracked how districts are using the influx of federal dollars.

But with or without support, the Keaton family will continue to feel a gaping hole in their household. The holidays, Melissa Keaton said, are especially hard. They always used to spend Thanksgiving watching football with her father. His Dec. 23 birthday was a regular part of their Christmas routine.

“We have these people who have lost family members, and they’re kind of forgotten, the unknowns. We don’t talk about it because everyone wants to get past it and get back to normal,” she said. 

“But for people who have lost someone, certain things will just never be normal.”

Early Monday morning, a steady stream of Brooklyn families showed up at one neighborhood pharmacy for childrens’ COVID vaccines — even as hundreds of other New York City kids confronted uncertainty and long lines at school sites.

At Neergaard Pharmacy in Park Slope, Heath Griffths, 5, was soon 10 micrograms of Pfizer vaccine richer — departing for a happily delayed school day equipped with a stuffed bear from the pharmacy shop.

Elsewhere in the city, in lines hundreds deep. On the opening day for school-based vaccine pop-up sites, operated by the city and Department of Education, many were turned away as demand overwhelmed supply.

Line an ave deep for kids shots…but no one here to give the shots! H and h was supposed to be here at 630 for a 7 start. Now 730 and a line 100+ deep

— Jason Barnett (@barnettjason)

On 5th Avenue in Park Slope on Monday, Neergaard began its first official day of vaccinating kids, administering about 200 doses, preparing to offer hundreds of vaccines to 5- to 11-year-olds this week.

Vaccines have been a staple for Neergaard, an independent Brooklyn institution .  

About 15 minutes into a child’s screams from a fear of needles, one pharmacist told The 74 families choose them for their “more personalized touch — people come in and feel like they’re comforted.” He added, “that kid’s been here a long time.” 

Pharmacists had a deep bag of tricks: “Are you a righty or a lefty?” and “count down from 10 with me” were repeated throughout the morning to help calm kids’ anxieties about the dreaded needles.  

One Neergaard pharmacist said over the last two weeks, the shop has seen droves of parents walk in, seeking shots ever since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention news broke. Appointment sign-ups for 5- to 11-year-olds almost crashed Neergard’s website. 

“I definitely prefer to go here than a place far away … this felt a lot better,” Ava, 10, told The 74 after receiving her vaccine.

Meanwhile, as he waited to get his shot, Heath Griffiths silently looked to his mother, Rachel. Confident and on a mission, Heath never took off his scooter helmet. Time was of the essence — he didn’t want to miss any more school than he had to at P.S. 282 on nearby 6th Avenue.

For the Griffiths, the pediatric vaccine means indoor playdates and family visits are back on the table. Once Heath and his 8-year-old brother finish their sequences, the Griffiths will fly to Arizona for the first time since the pandemic began.

“We’re following the CDC guidance and are really excited. I hope everyone decides to do it,” Rachel Griffiths said, adding that the excitement’s been constant since authorization was announced on Nov. 2. Dancing erupted in their kitchen when Heath and his brother learned the news. 

Excitement was an understatement for Neergaard regulars Luke and Parker Trautmann, 10 and 8 years old, respectively. “Relieved,” they jointly agreed. 

“Right when the message came out that kids can be vaccinated, she was on the case,” Parker said of his mom, Amanda.

When first-week, city-run appointment slots filled up, Amanda looked to pharmacies. She said her boys needed the in-person connections vaccines afforded, and the sooner the better. 

And Ava’s mother, Allison, said what was on a lot of parents’ minds: 

“We just hope that a lot of kids are going to be protected,” she said, looking forward to the days when visiting friends and family will “feel a little bit safer, for us and for them.” 

“Happy, excited,” she said, throwing her arms up to celebrate.

Her 5-year old sister, Mayari, who also got the shot, jumped in a circle to show off her “happy vaccine dance” outside the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, where both siblings got immunized.

Then the sisters, hand in hand with their father, skipped down the street back to their car.

Days after Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave the final sign-off late Tuesday night to Pfizer-BioNTech’s pediatric coronavirus vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11, shots are now rolling out and kids are — gleefully — pushing up their sleeves.

The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, located in the borough’s Crown Heights neighborhood, is one of to offer pediatric shots. Before the site’s 9 a.m opening, a modest line of roughly a dozen parents and children gathered by the front doors. A larger crowd came for shots afterschool on Thursday, when the museum first had doses available for the age group.

“It’s emotional,” said Kira Halevy, who was bringing her 6- and 8-year-old boys to get immunized. The pandemic has taken up about a quarter of her younger son’s lifetime, and the family jumped at the first opportunity to vaccinate their kids. 

“We’ve been waiting for this,” she said.

Leading up to the shots, her family used the event as a real-world lesson in biology and medicine, explaining the mechanics of the doses.

“The first shot tells your body what corona is,” recited Zeke, Halevy’s older son. “The second shot is telling your body how to fight it.” 

In New York City, nearly ages 12 to 17 have been vaccinated, well above the national rate reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics for that group. 

Now with shots available for the younger age group, a speedy and thorough rollout could significantly lower COVID’s hospitalization and death toll in the U.S. over the coming months and dull the impact of future variants, according to recent . Polling indicates, however, that nationwide will “definitely not” vaccinate their kids and others will “wait and see.” 

But the early-bird crowd on Friday was gung-ho.

“I was literally jumping up and down,” said Jenna Sternbach, describing the feeling when she received the email telling her she could sign her 11-year-old daughter Adlai up for a vaccine appointment. Now, having received the first dose and with a second soon to come, Adlai will soon be able to play soccer without a mask, which she looks forward to. 

The elder Halevy son, Zeke, can see himself very soon back at his friends’ houses, trading  Pokemon cards, he said.

And Wesley Francois, 15, who has been eligible for vaccines since the spring but was finally persuaded to receive the shot by a requirement for his basketball team, was excited to soon be able to ease up on masking.

“I’ll be a little more free,” he told The 74.

Plus, the pain was only a 1 on a scale of 1 to 5, Mateo Vasquez, 7, estimated after his shot.

The nation’s largest school district is doing its part to encourage the vaccination effort. On Monday, New York City officials are setting up pop-up vaccine clinics at across the five boroughs.

Efforts to boost accessibility to the shots is key, said pediatrician Maria Molina, who practices in Manhattan and the Bronx.

“Now that we have a vaccine,” she told The 74, “we have to make sure that every child has the same opportunity to get it.”

That extends to cultural factors as well, she noted. “I not only share the language of my patients, but I share the culture,” said Molina, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and is now a member of SOMOS Community Care, a network of city health providers from diverse linguistic backgrounds. “It’s coming from someone who looks similar to them.”

The city has extended its for new vaccine recipients to youngsters as well, including those who receive shots at school. After first doses, families will receive an email explaining how to select between a prepaid $100 debit card, tickets to sporting events  or other perks.

“We really want kids to take advantage, families to take advantage of that,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Young folks told The 74 that they had wide-ranging plans for their newfound cash: some planning to save or donate it to school fundraisers sending holiday gifts abroad, others are planning to splurge on the aforementioned Pokemon cards or Heelys sneakers, which come with wheels in the sole.

The mayor has not stipulated whether there is a student vaccination threshold at which schools would drop universal masking rules for the classroom — a move made by at least a dozen major districts across the country in recent weeks, with mixed opinions from health experts.

Parents at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum vaccination site on Friday said that they would prefer schools wait to scrap mask mandates until vaccination rates reach as many as 90 percent of students. 

“We’d rather have any form of protection,” said Kira Halevy.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Chicago Public Schools announced Thursday that it will cancel school Friday, Nov. 12 for the nation’s first “” in an effort to boost immunization rates.

It’s an “opportunity for parents and guardians to take their children five years of age and older to get vaccinated at their pediatrician’s office, at a healthcare provider, or at a CPS school-based site or community vaccination event,” schools CEO Pedro Martinez wrote to parents.

For those wary of vaccination, other effective safety measures against the virus may soon be on the way. Pfizer announced Friday that their new antiviral pill cuts the risk of COVID hospitalization or death by in vulnerable adults. That development, alongside President Joe Biden’s recently announced vaccine mandate deadlines for large workplaces, led Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb to tell CNBC on Friday that the pandemic “” by early January. Other health experts have their doubts, citing the possibility of new mutations of the virus.

Back in Brooklyn, Winona Winkel, 9, got her first vaccine dose Friday and is already counting the days to her second. 

“Then I can hug my friends,” she said. 

The most recent vaccine timelines say your child , but with shots widely available to adolescents, teens and adults, it seemed the country was returning to something resembling normalcy: Restaurants are full, movie theaters are open and professional sports are back in full swing.

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At the same time, however, rampant spread of the more infectious Delta variant spurred the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday to reverse course on masking recommendations in schools, now whether vaccinated or not.With COVID cases , and with especially rapid transmission in under-vaccinated areas, the risks of the pandemic to kids has not faded.

“The Delta variant resets the COVID clock back to March 2020 for people who are not yet vaccinated, including children,” Rebecca Wurtz, professor of health policy at the University of Minnesota, told The 74 via email.

That leaves many parents wondering how to safely navigate the fast approaching back-to-school season. With in wide circulation, we spoke directly to health experts to offer some clarity.

Here’s what they had to say:

1 Is the Delta variant more dangerous to my child than previous strains of COVID-19?

Short answer: yes and no.

The level of danger to kids includes two important dimensions: 1) how likely is it that a child will contract the virus, and 2) how likely is it that, once testing positive, a child will suffer a serious outcome like hospitalization or long-term symptoms.

On the first front, the Delta variant is significantly more transmissible than other COVID strains. With the mutation now the predominant strain in the U.S., there is an elevated risk that anyone unvaccinated, including kids, will catch the virus, doctors told The 74.

But on the second front, there is no indication, says UCLA professor of pediatrics Ishminder Kaur, that when young people test positive, even for the Delta variant, they are getting sicker than they would with previous strains.

“We might see an increase in number [of cases], but we’re not seeing an increase in severity,” the infectious disease expert told The 74.

That’s extremely good news, says Janet Englund, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Consistent across all strains, the COVID expert told The 74, “children who get infected with the virus, even a variant, are less likely to get very sick than an adult.”

A rare but severe condition, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, does appear to be , and between also include months of “long COVID” symptoms like brain fog and tiredness. But recent numbers from the United Kingdom put the absolute risk of death from the coronavirus in children at approximately .

2 Is in-person learning safe this fall?

While of course there are exceptions, droves of academic studies show that, for the majority of students, learning in the classroom is linked to positive academic and socio-emotional outcomes.

Last school year, a collection of 130 studies found that schools were not the locus of community spread, and could safely reopen as long as safety measures like ventilation, masking and distancing were in place and infection rates in the surrounding area were not raging.

“Children should return to school in person this fall to make avail of all the benefits of in-person learning,” encouraged Amruta Padhye, pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Missouri. On Friday, the White House officials said .

But a safe reopening is predicated on schools implementing measures to mitigate spread of the virus. So what combinations of protocols actually makes a school “safe?” Read on.

3 What if my child’s school doesn’t require masks?

On Tuesday, the CDC changed its K-12 guidance to say that all students, faculty and visitors in schools should wear masks, in alignment with previous recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. But that hasn’t made the question of masks in school any less political.

Seven states still bar school districts from requiring face coverings in the classroom, while another six mandate that all schools enforce universal masking, according to Burbio’s . Most other states leave the decision up to individual school systems.

In light of super-heated debates, and quickly changing guidance that represents just how rapidly the Delta variant has changed the COVID safety landscape, parental uncertainty on how to navigate face coverings in school is extremely valid.

The research, however, is clear: “Masks have been proven to reduce transmission of virus and protect those who are still unvaccinated,” Padhye wrote in an email to The 74.

Even if your school does not require masks or your state bans face-covering mandates, you should still put one on your child when they go back to school, said Kaur.

“It’s still an extra barrier in place,” the UCLA health expert advised.

4 Beyond face coverings, what other strategies stop the spread in school?

In addition to masking, the California pediatrician points to the importance of “layered” virus mitigation strategies — or “using multiple strategies together and using them consistently,” she says.

Three-foot distancing is one key measure, she says, but staying apart can be tricky in classrooms cramped for space.

When masking is not required and proper distancing is not an option, parents can advocate for an array of other approaches, experts say, including:

• Smaller groups of students working together: Kaur recommends parents ask their district, “What is the expected class size for my child?”
• Outdoor activities, whenever possible: “You want to have a school that, for example, has outdoor recess as opposed to indoor recess,” said Englund.
• Avoiding large functions held inside: “I would discourage ‘all-school’ indoor events, like pep rallies and assemblies,” advises Wurtz.
• Maximizing airflow: “Urge your child’s school to improve ventilation in classrooms by opening windows (as long as the weather allows) and providing in-classroom HEPA filters,” Wurtz added.

5 How useful are symptom checks?

Containing the coronavirus in classrooms also means making sure the most virulent spreaders don’t walk through the schoolhouse door.

Of course, there will always be asymptomatic cases among children, but according to a recent study co-authored by Englund, .

“If you’re symptomatic, if you’re sick, you have more virus,” said the Seattle infectious disease expert. “One could infer that you’re more infectious.”

In other words, using screens such as temperature checks to aggressively keep students and staff who are experiencing COVID symptoms out of the school building could go a long way toward reducing transmission, even if a few asymptomatic carriers slip through the cracks.

“Screening sick kids to keep (them) out of school makes sense,” Englund said.

6 What else can I do to protect my child?

Vaccination has proven to be a strong defense against the Delta variant, even with the now-likely possibility that a as a booster for the elderly and immunocompromised.

While children under 12 years old still lack access to even the initial COVID shots, parents can work to ensure that those in their immediate circle are immunized, limiting kids’ exposure.

It’s a tried and true public health technique known as “cocooning” — often used for infants — Wurtz explained, where caretakers of those too young for immunization make sure their own shots are up to date to provide a level of buffer to protect the vulnerable child.

“Since children below 12 years old are not yet eligible for vaccination, it makes it even more imperative that family members who are eligible get fully vaccinated,” said University of Missouri’s Padhye.

Beyond family members, Wurtz says, the cocooning technique can include “encouraging your school district to encourage or require all of its personnel … to be vaccinated, as well as encouraging other children’s activity providers … and extended family members to be vaccinated.”

Combining available safety strategies, Kaur hopes, can allow families seeking to return their children to classrooms to feel comfortable with the move. After all, she says, “the best learning environment for a child is in person.”