Children lose many things when disasters occur. too many people have lost family to Wildfires rage across Los Angeles Recently. they lost their home. They have lost the sense of security and predictability that many children depend on. And to add insult to injury, many of them lost their schools.
at least 9 schools Buildings in the Los Angeles area were destroyed or severely damaged by fire. Video posted by the principal At Odyssey Charter School’s south campus in Altadena, photos showed flames still smoldering inside the building as smoke billowed from the school grounds and obscured the sky. One parent says Pacific Palisades’ Marquez Charter Elementary School is ‘dust’ told The Cut. Meanwhile, local communities are receiving evacuation orders, power outages, air filled with smokemore than 600,000 students are out of school.
Unfortunately, as climate disasters become more frequent, these disruptions are part of the new normal for children. Last year, Americans experienced 27 weather disasters The damage was more than $1 billion, the second-highest figure in history, but the number of days schools in the United States were closed due to the heat wave increased. doubled in recent years.
Especially when schools are damaged or lose power, authorities often cannot do anything to avoid closures. But “when schools close, kids don’t learn,” he said. Melinda MorrillHe is an economics professor at North Carolina State University and studies the effects of shutdowns.
Survey after school closure Hurricanes Matthew and Florence It’s solemn in North Carolina. “Students just didn’t bounce back,” he said, especially in the lower grades. Cassandra R. Davisa professor of public policy at UNC-Chapel Hill, has studied closures. In some cases, the academic impact lasted for a long time. More than 1 year.
Beyond academics, millions of students Relying on schools for services such as mental health support and speech therapy. millions more Requires free or reduced-price meals provided by the school cafeteria. For many children, school is also an important source of stability in their lives, coming five days a week to see their friends and teachers, their favorite books, the art on the walls, and that special stuffed animal in a quiet corner. It’s a place I go to. Losing everything can be a huge emotional blow.
For now, students at Odyssey Charter School are meeting at local Boys and Girls Clubs, where teachers and staff are visiting them, the principal said. Bonnie Brimecombe he said to me. Some children who previously had big, active personalities “don’t talk at all, they just sit there,” she said. Others “just held you tight and wouldn’t let go.”
Climate change threatens the mental health of young people. Here’s how to help them cope.
Experts, educators, and families are just beginning to understand what helps students recover after storms and fires devastating schools. But one thing they agree on is that school districts and policymakers need to start preparing their schools and students for the next disaster today. “We’re going to see this happen over and over again,” said Susannah Joy Smith, a mother of two in Asheville, North Carolina. Her children missed a month of school last year because of Hurricane Helen. “We need to learn from these experiences and adapt.”
Losing school hurts children academically and emotionally.
All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) were closed for at least two days last week as fires raged through the area. Many reopened Monday, but about 10 remained closed as of Monday night, several because they were in evacuation zones and three because they were severely damaged or destroyed, LAUSD Business Service said.・The Office of the Deputy Superintendent of Operations stated. Pedro Salcido he said to me. Marquez and students from another destroyed elementary school will be relocated to: 2 schools nearby for the remainder of the school year. All 23 schools in the Pasadena Unified School District eaton fire, keep closed this week.
Sadly, this is a disruption that is familiar to a growing number of children and families across the country. Burnt down in a campfire in 2018 8 out of 9 schools In Paradise, California. same year, Hurricane Florence batters North Carolinasome schools have been forced to close for extended periods 26th. Then last year, hurricane helen attacked the western part of the state, destroy at least one school Some locations have remained closed for weeks due to flood damage, power outages, and water outages.
School closures after Hurricane Florence were associated with significant declines in student math and reading test scores. found morrillthe effects are seen across demographic groups and among both top- and bottom-achieving students. “All students are affected,” Morrill said.
For Smith’s oldest son, “missing a month of his sophomore year is a really big deal.” Early results are very important To develop reading comprehension.
Many school districts are moving to remote learning for at least some weather-related closures. snow day. However, remote schooling during the coronavirus lockdown has been difficult for many students, and children have experienced significant learning loss. Not all children have access to a laptop or internet connection. neurodivergent student Alternatively, people with learning differences may have a particularly hard time with virtual learning.
Odyssey students fear returning to the era of pandemic virtual learning, Brimcombe said. “Their Zoom experience has been extremely traumatic.”
The impact of missed days can also be even greater if disasters strike the same children multiple times. In places like North Carolina, where “we typically get tropical storms every other year,” students have had their education interrupted multiple times and are falling further behind, Davis said. “It’s like a constant game of catch-up.”
The heat wave is making schools even hotter and making learning more difficult.
Meanwhile, students may continue to suffer emotionally long after the disaster is over. In the months after Hurricane Matthew, Davis said, teachers had to suspend classes during the storm to help students who feared being “swept away.”
She said that in the wake of Helen’s incident, Ms Smith’s younger son, 4, is well aware of the fact that “the lights can go out overnight or they can’t come on for weeks”. “It’s heartbreaking, but it’s also the reality that kids are growing up in.”
Children also face a complicated recovery
Experts say adults can help children cope with this reality. That means learning how to adjust your curriculum. take responsibility for lost time As well as providing mental health support for both students and teachers, Davis said.
Children also need to learn about climate change and disaster preparedness in school, Smith said. “They’re just life skills for kids today.” Vox’s Allie Volpe offers these tips Preparing children for climate disasters; LAist is list of resources Especially when talking to kids about fires.
Making school buildings more climate-resilient is also important, and something school districts across the country are working on, experts say. already working on it. And when a disaster occurs, Morrill said school districts need to figure out how to get kids back to school as quickly as possible and provide make-up time for missed days. It’s not enough to have “weekend classes for the bottom 10 percent,” she told me. “Everyone is going to experience some damage.”
At Odyssey, finding classroom space for children to return to is a top priority. School leaders are reaching out to local churches and rental spaces. Launched a GoFundMe To help with costs. They hope to meet in person again next week.
When we’re together in a new space, “we’re not going to start learning,” Brimcombe said. “We’re going to start with community. We’re going to start with social-emotional lessons. We’re going to start with joy.”
