How Public Schools in America Benefit Disadvantaged Children

Just a year ago, schools all across the United States had to shut down suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were forced to build their online learning efforts at a moment’s glance in a time which many school systems didn’t even have the resemblance of a system running. This has caused many students to suffer in terms of learning and their social life. For disadvantaged children, the consequences of remote learning have seeped further into their daily lives.

Nutrition

Around 30 million children in the United States are given breakfasts and lunches provided free by their school system. When physical learning stopped a year ago, students weren’t able to quickly pick up the food they needed to make it through their day.

Some schooling systems realized this was a big issue, so they set-up pickup sites where students can come by to grab their free meals every day. Many students took advantage of this, but many others who couldn’t come to school due to not having the transportation to get there just were forced to starve. Some pickup sites closed down altogether for those continuing to use this program due to the further spread of COVID-19.

As the pandemic continues, it’s feared that students will continue to go without meals that can help them get through their remote learning and the rest of their day.

Social Care

Students living in abusive homes can find their time at school a little bit comforting in that they don’t have to be around family members who abuse them. These students can also use their time to talk to adults in their school about what’s going on at home and to figure out the right solution to get out of those situations.

With the move to remote learning, disadvantaged children have no longer been able to get the time or resources they were getting at school. This has led students to dip down in their grades or develop significant mental health issues like depression.

It’s feared by many that these types of abusive solutions have progressed in the past year. Households have seen themselves having to stick closer together or lose jobs that provide households with food and rent money.

Overall, it’s clear that disadvantaged children won’t get the social care they need until schools open up again.