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Health
Education

Tell Us About Your Back-to-School Experiences

Parents, teachers and students faced tough decisions on returning to class today. How did you deal with them?

andrea bennett and Paul Willcocks 10 Jan 2022TheTyee.ca

andrea bennett and Paul Willcocks are editors with The Tyee.
KidGuardianHoldingHand.jpg
For many working parents, keeping children home is simply not an option. We'd like to hear from you.

The province’s decision to return to classroom learning today in the face of the Omicron variant created tough choices for parents and teachers.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry maintains COVID-19 transmission is not a high risk in schools, and in-person learning is critical for students’ development. And for many working parents keeping children home is simply not an option. But the most recent wave of the virus has seen a rising number of hospitalizations for infants, children and teens.

How did you decide on whether to send children back to class? What reassured — or worried you — about the province’s approach?

And now that schools are reopened, how have your experiences been? Not just as parents, but as teachers, school staff and students. Do you feel safe, and supported? What more could be done?

We’d like to hear from you, and will publish a selection of your responses later this week. By enabling this exchange here on The Tyee, we hope we can all learn and draw support and insights from each other.

Share your experiences

Email us at editor (at) thetyee.ca and write in the subject line "Back to School."

Please include your name and the community or region where you live. And let us know if you would prefer that your full name not be used.

Tell us a bit about yourself, how you’ve approached the return to school, why you made tough decisions and how it’s gone so far. Share your concerns, or suggestions for making things better for students and teachers. Be as specific as you can — that will help other readers understand your situation. And try to keep responses to 300 words so we can include many people’s perspectives. (Responses will be edited for length and clarity.)

These are challenging times, and it can help us all to learn from each other’s stories, concerns and solutions. [Tyee]

Read more: Health, Education

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