By Nikhil “Sunny” Patel, MD, MPH, MS: For More Info, Go Here…

As a pediatric psychiatrist, I see how mental health issues are routinely criminalized in this pernicious cycle.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, the courts are finding increasingly novel and cruel ways to criminalize mental health issues. Earlier this month, ProPublica revealed the stunning case of a 15-year-old Black girl with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who was placed in juvenile detention for not doing her homework. The Michigan teen, who was identified in the story by her middle name, Grace, was on probation for separate assault and theft charges from late 2019. She did not have any further run-ins with the law for months, yet because she struggled to stay on track with school — during the height of the Covid-19 crisis no less — a judge ordered her to be held in detention for the last two months.

Children across the country are struggling to focus in this new Covid-19 socially distanced schooling environment, which only exacerbates existing issues of institutional racism in the schools. Grace is not a threat to her community for struggling to engage in school as the judge intimated. It makes her like so many kids who, like her, say they feel unmotivated and overwhelmed with online learning.

I work as a pediatric psychiatrist, and Grace is like so many patients I see. They’re struggling with managing the stress of Covid-19, behind on virtual schooling, and receiving mental health treatment for ADHD and learning difficulties. Online learning is a one-size-fits-all solution that does not serve the needs of so many children. In New York City, 36% of students for online summer school have not even logged on. The irony is that those who need remediation are now forced to use a largely self-guided online “instruction” to pass, which proved difficult in the first place. Despite protections from the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed 30 years ago, students in the pandemic are not able to receive many of the accommodations virtually that they would in person.

BY ALIYYA SWABY: For More Info, Go Here…

With the safe reopening of schools this fall in doubt, parents with the resources are setting up “learning pods” or seeking other options. But the do-it-yourself approach to education threatens to leave behind students of color and poorer families.

Earlier this summer, Kristina Boshernitzan and a group of neighbors stood in the driveway of her Austin home for a socially distanced meeting to figure out how to take greater control of their childrens’ educations.

With the coronavirus spreading unpredictably and plans to safely reopen schools shifting day by day, the parents grappled with the increasing prospect that it might be unsafe, or impossible, to send their children back to school in the fall.

Each faced difficult decisions. One neighbor’s husband had stage 4 cancer, and she didn’t want her children to expose him to the new coronavirus, which they might pick up in a classroom. Another mother had young twins with lung issues. Just a cold is enough to send them to the hospital, and they can take no risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

Boshernitzan, who works full-time at a nonprofit, wanted parents to pool resources and find ways to make virtual learning easier. They discussed hiring a college student or nanny to help children complete their online school district coursework, or finding a music or arts instructor who could replace enrichment courses while schools are closed for in-person learning.

To reach even more parents, she created a private Facebook group for parents in northwest Austin who want to connect and form “learning pods,” a term she said is “in the zeitgeist right now.” In less than two weeks, the group gained almost 500 members.

many parents don’t have the money to hire private instructors or the flexibility to home-school their children. Upon hearing that Frisco ISD wouldn’t open classrooms for at least three weeks after the school year begins, Chloe McGlover panicked, knowing her budget is too tight to hire a tutor or full-time teacher for her 11-year-old son, Jhonte. The single mother owns a massage therapy business and lost money shutting down earlier this year during the statewide stay-at-home order.

“I already know I can’t afford it. There’s really no point in even looking,” she said. “Whatever little savings I had is almost depleted now.”

The decisions parents are making in response to the patchwork of opening dates, remote learning and do-it-yourself education coming this fall underscore the fact that the pandemic will exacerbate education gaps between higher-income and low-income students, as well as white students and students of color.