Unintended Consequences of Covic-19 for K-12 & College Students

“Unintended Consequences" defined

“Unintended Consequences” often cited but rarely defined, “is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.” Economists and other social scientists have heeded its power for centuries; for just as long, politicians and popular opinion have largely ignored it. This is spot on for the state of affairs, “2020 Covic-19 and students (K-12/College students) are returning to class.” So for the sake of our conversation, let’s put aside political commentary and social media cacophony.

Parents, educators, medical professionals and other non-political groups are impacting the life of students, they need to discuss the emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing of their students and create policies for bringing students back to the classroom. What are the long term effects of Covic-19 on school closures?

It’s important to understand the “Unintended Consequences” of the public health response. Because of school and child care closures, children have been spending dramatically more time at home since the middle of March; approximately 45 million U.S. youth will be out of school until at least the fall.

Stay-at-home orders come with a host of “Unintended Consequences” that we have not yet even begun to measure or understand. The costs of the government responses to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic have been severe. Only time will uncover the data and negative outcome of closed schools.

Across the country, students are isolated at home, resulting in more limited contact with peers and teachers who normally provide social support. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. The plan stresses the fundamental role of schools in providing academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, nutrition, physical activity, and mental health therapy.” AAP suggest “children learn best when they are in school.” https://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/06/26/schoolreopening062620

https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools/

Many children are losing access to important nutritional support through free and reduced-cost breakfast and lunch programs. “Meals and snacks from schools or child care centers fulfill up to two thirds of children’s daily nutritional needs and are generally healthier than those brought from home. The short-term health effects of missed meals include fatigue and reduced immune response, which increase the risk of contracting communicable diseases. Even brief periods of food insecurity can cause long-term developmental, psychological, physical, and emotional harms. Children from low-income households, who are already at higher risk for poorer health and academic performance than children from high-income households, may be further disadvantaged by nutrition shortfalls.” https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2005638

COVID-19 has disrupted general pediatric healthcare; reference “Unintended Consequences” of COVID-19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7207102/

"This is likely to be important at times of lock down and social isolation when people are more vulnerable to depression and when choices of activities appear restricted," Dr. Taquet said in an Oxford news release. One in 5 people will develop major depression in their lifetime, and pandemic lockdown measures could result in even more cases of depression, according to the researchers.

Reports that doctors at John Muir Medical Center have seen more deaths by suicide than COVID-19 during the quarantine; “the numbers are unprecedented,” said Dr. Michael deBoisblanc, referring to the spike in suicides. "We've never seen numbers like this, in such a short period of time," deBoisblanc added. "I mean we've seen a year's worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks."

“To date, there is little evidence that lock downs have reduced the spread of COVID-19. But even if there were compelling evidence that lock downs were saving lives, it would be a mistake to ignore the manifold “Unintended Consequences” of stay-at-home orders.” https://fee.org/articles/a-years-worth-of-suicide-attempts-in-four-weeks-the-unintended-consequences-of-covid-19-lockdowns/

Suicide ranks as the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death for children, adolescents, and young adults (15–24 years old) and 2020 data indicate 1.1 million estimated suicides worldwide according to Worldometers.

"When smartphones and social media became ubiquitous for students, cyber bullying rates went up. This makes sense, of course, because there was now an almost limitless number of potential targets and aggressors," said Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University.

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-unintended-consequence-covid-cyberbullying.html

“The physical separations are intended to protect our physical health. However, Baylor University colleagues in mental health think the “Unintended Emotional and Relational Consequences” of all of this “social distancing” will be much deeper and wider unless we recognize the risk and take action. It appears that the social, emotional, and spiritual toll this is taking on individuals and communities is largely unseen by the mainstream media and in many cases by public health professionals alike.”

“Increase “talk time.” Human touch is vital and the human voice comes next in importance for our well-being. Relying on texting and social media is convenient because it is asynchronous. However, these media do not include the important hormonal responses we get from hearing a voice. Want to test this theory? Hearing another’s voice can be healing balm. In addition to talk time, we can include reading out loud time, singing time, and recitation time. A beloved granddaughter’s voice singing a favorite hymn can be balm for the soul and listening to a young person read a favorite book can be better than blood pressure medicine.”

https://www.baylor.edu/communityconnection/news.php?action=story&story=218091

“Existing mental illness among adolescents may be exacerbated by the pandemic, and with school closures, they will not have the same access to key mental health services. From 2016-2018, over three million (12%) adolescents ages 12 to 17, or more than one in ten, had depression and/or anxiety.”

https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/

COVID-19 pandemic seems to have launched us into the great unknown. It’s hard to predict what will change in the world outside the safety of our homes. While news outlets are operating a constant stream of pandemic-related updates, there are other changes going on that don’t make as many headlines. Even in normal times, every policy change leads to “Unintended Consequences” of the change that are not in line with policy goals. Stay-home orders have certainly slowed the spread of COVID-19, but what else have those orders done for our students and returning to their classrooms?

Please check out video from Dr. Kelly Victory "Breaking down Covid-19"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFD5sQjIyGg&feature=youtu.be