Children lose a lot when the disaster occurs. He did a lot Family family members to Forest fires that broke out across Los Angeles In recent days. They lost their homes. They have lost a sense of security and the ability to predict many children. It is more important that many of them lost their schools.
At least nine schools In the Los Angeles area, it was destroyed or severely damaged by fires. The video published by the director From the southern campus of the Odyssey Charter School in our Altadina, the flames are still burning in the buildings while smoke rises from the stadium, which blocks the sky. Marquis Charter Elementary School in Pacific Palssadis “Live in Dust”, one of the parents said He said the storyteller. Meanwhile, thousands of other schools were closed last week, as societies faced evacuation warnings and power outages The air filled with smokeWhich led to leaving more than 600,000 students outside schools.
Unfortunately, these disorders are part of the new normal situation for children with the increasing recurrence of climate disasters. Last year, the Americans witnessed 27 catastrophes related to weather At a cost of one billion dollars or more of the damage, it is the second highest number ever – and at the same time, the number of days when American schools are closed due to the intense heat It has multiplied in recent years.
Often, there is nothing that officials can do to avoid closing, especially if schools are damaged or electricity are cut off. But “when schools are closed, children do not learn.” Melinda MorelProfessor of Economics at North Carolina State University who studied the impact of closure.
Search for closing schools yet Hurricane Matthew and Florence In North Carolina is realistic. He said, especially in the first grades, “The students did not recover.” Cassandra R. DavisProfessor of Public Policy at North Carolina University Chaplin Hill, who studied closure. In some cases, the academic influence continued for a period More than a year.
Far from academics, Millions of students Dependence on their schools to obtain mental health support or services such as speech therapy; Other millions You need the free food cafeterias or at a reduced price. Schools are also a decisive source of stability in the lives of many children, as it is the place where they go five days a week to see their friends, teachers, favorite books and artworks on the walls and animal stuffed in the quiet corner. Loss of all of this can be a major emotional blow.
The students of the Odysse Cartter School are currently meeting at a local club for boys and girls, where teachers and employees visit them and the principal of the school Bonnie Primkomb He told me. She said that some children who used to have big and vital characters “not talking, and only sit.” Others “hug you so hard and do not leave you.”
Experts, teachers and families have just started understanding what helps students recover after storms or fires destroyed their schools. But there is one thing they agree on, which is that provinces and policy makers need to start preparing schools and students for the next catastrophe – today. “This will continue to happen again and again,” said Susanna Joy Smith, a mother of two children in Atefil, North Carolina, whose children remained out of school for a month last year after Hurricane Helen. “We need to learn from these experiences and we have to adapt.”
School loss hurts children academically and emotionally
In the unified Los Angeles school area, or Lausd, all schools closed their doors for at least two days last week with fires. Many of them were reopened on Monday, but until Monday evening, about 10 of them remained closed, some of which were because they were in the evacuation areas and three because they were severely damaged or destroyed, according to the office of the deputy supervisor of business and operations services in Los Angeles. Pedro Salsido He told me. Students will be transferred from Marquis and another devastating primary school to Two nearby schools For the rest of the school year. All 23 schools in the unified educational area of Pasadina, which include Altadina and other areas destroyed by the hurricane Etone fire,, It remains closed this week.
Unfortunately, it is an increasing number of children and families across the country. In 2018, the Camp Fire fire destroyed 8 out of 9 schools In Paradise, California. In the same year, Hurricane Florence invaded North CarolinaForcing some schools to close for a long time 26 days. Then, last year, Helen Hurricane Beating the western part of the state Destruction of at least one school Leaving others closed for weeks due to the damage of floods and lack of electricity or water.
The closure of schools after Hurricane Florence was associated with a significant decrease in students in the mathematics and reading test. Morel was foundWith the noticeable impact across demographic groups and among high -performance students. “All students have been affected,” said Morel.
For Smith’s eldest son, “absenteeism for a month from the second row is a huge matter,” especially since Early grades are very important To build reading skills.
Many educational areas turn into distance education for some weather closures, such as at least Snow days. But the remote study was difficult for many students during the closing operations due to the Corona virus, the time when the children witnessed this A major educational loss. Not every child can access a laptop or internet connection Neuroscientists Or, those who have learning differences may have special difficulty in virtual learning.
Primkumb told me that students in Odysse are afraid of returning to the virtual virtual learning days. “There are a lot of shocks from their experiences in Zoom.”
The effect of lost days can also be exacerbated when the disaster strikes the same children over and over again. Davis said that in places like North Carolina, where “we are usually exposed to a tropical storm every two years,” students can find a break in their education over and over, which leads them to underdevelopment. “It is like a constant catch.”
Meanwhile, students may suffer emotionally for a long time after the disaster ends. Davis said that after a hurricane of Matthew, teachers were forced to stop the study during rainy storms to help students who were afraid of the “cliff”.
In the aftermath of Helen, the 4 -year -old Smith, the 4 -year -old, is fully aware of the fact that “the lights can be extinguished overnight and may not last for weeks,” as she told me. “It is a trauma, but it is also the reality in which these children arise.”
Children face a complex recovery
Experts say adults can still help children overcome this reality. This means learning how to amend the curricula Calculating lost time Davis, in addition to providing mental health support for both students and teachers.
Smith said that children also need to identify climate change and preparedness in school. “It’s just life skills for children today.” VOX provides tips about Preparing children to face climate disasters; Last he has Resource menu To talk to children about fires, specifically.
Experts say that making school buildings more able to adapt to the climate is also important, which is important for educational areas throughout the country It is already working on. Morel said that when the disaster falls, the areas need to know how to return children to school as quickly as possible and arrange time to compensate for the days they missed. She told me that it is not enough to hold “semesters on the weekend for the lowest 10% of the population.” “Everyone will face some harm.”
In Odyssey, the first priority is to find space for classrooms that children can return to – school leaders communicate with local churches and rented spaces, and get them Gofundme launched To help costs. They hope they will return personally next week.
“When they are together in a new place,” we will not start learning. “We will start with society. We will start with emotional social lessons. We will start with joy. “
