Hi, my name is Bergen Nelson. I'm a general pediatrician at
the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
I am a pediatrician, a mom to two school-age boys and before medical school was a teacher,
so I am so excited for this year's back-to-school after a very unusual year and a half we've had.
Believe it or not, many kids are already back in school!
I am so excited for my own kids and my patients to be back, mostly in-person,
but I have a few tips for you today about how to have a healthy and happy back-to-school.
My first tip is to consider your family's unique situation and needs. While being back
in school in-person is ideal for most children academically and emotionally,
your family situation may differ because of family's health
situations, your child's ability to follow infection control measures and
other considerations. So whatever you decide for your family, is the right decision for you.
My next tip is to get acclimated or re-acclimated to the school.
If you can, before the first day, go by the school to meet the teacher,
visit the classroom, play on the playground, get familiar with the school - even if you
can't go inside, drive by or walk by, just to increase that sense of familiarity.
Next, don't forget to keep up with infection control measures! If you had asked me a few
months ago, I would have said I hope that this school year would look more like normal,
but unfortunately this delta variant of the COVID-19 virus has thrown us another curve,
like so many other things in the pandemic,
and so for this year, at least to start, we need to be wearing masks, keeping up with
washing hands, keeping our distance when possible and doing daily health checks.
When in school and other public buildings, please wear a mask.
The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend that everyone in school buildings
wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. It's important to know that
even when you're vaccinated, it's possible to contract and spread the COVID-19 virus. Mask
guidelines help protect those who can't be vaccinated yet, including children under 12,
and so it's really important that we all wear masks inside the school.
Perform health checks every day! It's really important that no one goes into
school feeling sick, so any symptoms including a fever of 100.4 or higher,
sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, body aches, any signs of illness
of any virus, it's important to stay home and contact your provider.
Number six is practice sharing your feelings openly. This has been an anxiety-provoking year
for all of us and kids, even when they're excited to go back to school, might be a little anxious
and it's okay for them to talk to you about that, I just encourage you to listen and validate what
they say. You can practice this around the dinner table by sharing the highs and lows of every day.
Teachers, counselors, coaches are great people with unique perspectives on how
your child is handling that transition back to school.
If you have any questions, check in. Also check in with your kiddos
if they have any questions or concerns. Make sure they know they can come to you for help.
It's a really good idea to make sure you get back into a routine and have plenty of time
for plenty of sleep, nutritious meals, exercise and all the things you need to
do to have a healthy and happy school year. We know that children thrive on routines
and knowing what to expect, so getting into that healthy routine now is really important.
Number nine: stay on top of vaccines!
The vaccine against COVID-19 has been scientifically proven to be safe and
effective and it's available now for anyone 12 years old and over. We are hoping that COVID-19
vaccine will be available for children under 12 soon, but until then it's important to make sure
that we are up-to-date on all of our vaccines, including our flu shot which is coming soon.
Kids pick up on emotions of everyone around them, especially adults, so if you can stay
positive about going back to school and all the things we need to do to stay safe, kids are more
likely to have an optimistic attitude too. There's no doubt we're in for another unique school year,
but if we all do our part hopefully it will be a safe, fun and successful one!