Parenting School Age Kids During the Delta Variant: It’s Unsustainable

And it’s crushing us.

“Dear Ms. Corkern, your child is missing assignments.”

Okay, but we’re just now getting our footing with these 14859437 new programs and passwords, so despite his best efforts, he’s not fully caught up, especially since we had two days of troublesome internet and it took several conversations with our internet service provider to have them resolved.

“Dear Ms. Corkern, your child lost internet connection again, and one of the requirements for virtual learning is stable internet connection.”

It is a privilege to have stable internet. One not everyone is afforded. Virtual school is not an option for everyone either, even as the Delta Variant ravages the south and other parts of the nation. And everyone who is given a virtual option is not in a position to accept it. Though I was able to, it is not without financial setbacks, ones we technically cannot afford.

But what’s worse than financial setbacks? Burying your child because they were forced to go to school, unmasked and unvaccinated because there is no vaccine for kids under 12 and many political leaders, including the governor of the state I am in have chosen to put partisan politics above children’s safety.

Then I look to my former hometown of New Orleans and see that even with mask mandates in place, thousands of children and staff are already quarantined. School just started.

Tell me, anyone, how this is supposed to be sustainable? If my kids were at their old school in New Orleans, at least one of them would have to be quarantined for 14 days due to close contact exposure with someone who tested positive for COVID.

If both parents work, who will watch them? Who can afford to miss 10 days of work? Who wants to babysit a kid who has been exposed to COVID? What about single parents? Are there any job protections in place?

Parents are being faced with undue, unnecessary burdens and are having to sacrifice so much in terms of career and finances, all to protect our children because our government, at every level, is failing us.

We need federal action, and the lack of outcry for it is alarming.

I voted for Biden. I am a democrat. I believe in liberal values. I understand that states have rights. I also understand that I am a citizen of the United…