ANN ARBOR – After months of remote learning, some students are returning to schools as districts begin to reopen.
With schools shuttered for most of the year, many parents are concerned about how safe it is to return to in-person learning and how schools and children could contribute to COVID-19 community transmission.
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Returning to school may bring social, emotional and behavioral challenges for some children and teens as they readjust to classes during a pandemic.
Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital will host a live Q&A session with its experts to answer families’ top questions about undergoing these changes at noon on Thursday.
“Returning to in-person learning is an exciting milestone for our communities, but many families may also be apprehensive about the transition,” Jenny Radesky, M.D., developmental behavioral pediatrician at Mott who will moderate the chat, said in a statement.
“Parents may have questions about everything from COVID-19 exposure risks to supporting their child or teen’s emotional, social and mental health. We hope to help answer some these questions as families approach this new era of the pandemic.”
Mott pediatric infectious disease specialist Alison Tribble and chief of adolescent medicine at Mott, Terry Bravender, will also participate in the discussion.
The chat will be livestreamed on both the @MottChildren and @MichiganMedicine Facebook pages as well as the @UMichMedicine and @MottChildren Twitter accounts and Michigan Medicine YouTube channel.
Event attendees may ask questions in real-time or share their questions on the event’s Facebook page for consideration.
Topics to be addressed include:
- What research says about transmission and COVID-19 health risks in kids
- Contact with at-risk family members like grandparents
- How to know if your child should stay home from school
- Helping kids adjust to the new school normal
- Supporting children and teens’ emotional, social and mental health
- Managing behavioral challenges during the transition
- Continuing to manage virtual or hybrid learning
- Advice for families of children with special learning needs
- Starting sports again
- Re-engaging children who may have been disengaged during remote learning
- How to respond (and how not to respond) to disappointed teens who continue to miss milestones