COVID education blame game should include more than parents

In March 2020, schools across Indiana were thrust into the COVID pandemic. There was no play book for how to handle this situation. Everyone deferred to those above them in the chain of command and the advice given by medical professionals.

Gov. Eric Holcomb and then-Indiana Superintendent of Public Education Jennifer McCormick led the state’s efforts to send all kids home with technology and internet access as fast as possible during the mandated school closure and quarantine period. The governor released an executive order, the Indiana State Board of Education released guidance to schools and the Indiana Department of Education released more than $13.2 billion to schools in CARES Act funding and another $150 million in grants for community organizations to support schools meeting the new learning challenges due to the COVID pandemic.

As schools rushed to get a laptop, with a camera, and full internet access in the hands and home of every student, an estimated $35.8 billion was poured into the EdTech industry. While every level of educational professional focused on getting kids online as quickly as possible, two groups of people were completely left out of the decision-making process, students and families.

Access without training

During the COVID pandemic my children were 8 and 2. With the best of intentions and no training for my 8-year-old or myself, a laptop fully loaded with apps, chat features, and a camera were sent to my home from the school. The expectation was that she would log on to an online meeting app that utilized the camera and chat to allow her to see her teacher and her classmates every day for online learning. Logging on with the camera on was required for her to receive credit for attendance. As a former professor that had previously taught online classes I felt really prepared to support her experience. 

Every morning we had her space prepared with her supplies, her laptop was charged up, and our high speed internet was ready to go. I would make sure she got through all the necessary login information and once her teacher could see and hear her, I would make sure she had a quiet place to work while class was in session.

These steps were the easy part; the hard part was trying to keep her focused and on topic for multiple hours a day while also being available to answer all of her questions. She didn’t know how the apps worked, she didn’t know her username or password, and she didn’t know basic etiquette like the difference between mute and cameras off. 

One morning, after getting her going with online learning, I went to take a shower. About 10 minutes into the shower I hear her say, “Hey mom, what’s this word?” I turn around and realize she had brought her laptop into the bathroom and was holding it up in the shower to show me the word on the screen. In complete horror I could see that she was online with her class. Her entire third grade class was in my shower. I let out a scream and told her to get out of the bathroom with the laptop, to which she responded, “Gosh mom what’s your problem? It’s on mute.”

 Free cigarettes everywhere

Parents did not get to choose if technology, the internet, apps, chat features or cameras connected to the internet were brought into their homes; it was required by law and backed by billions of dollars during a global pandemic.

As a mom, I was not given a choice as to whether my 8-year-old was given a laptop with apps and a camera. Neither of us received any training about what was on the laptop, the security features, or any other aspects of required and untethered online access.

It happened to us, not with us.

When I hear debates about who’s to blame about the social media crisis with teenagers, I always hear two arguments: addictive Algorithms lack of parental oversight. I often hear the analogy to smoking and that social media is as addictive as smoking and if parents would just parent their children we wouldn’t have this problem. 

This analogy would be accurate if we had handed out cigarettes in schools, required children to smoke them, made them readily available outside of school, and they were free everywhere. If we continue to only blame algorithms and parents, and forget the accessibility piece, we will miss any real opportunity to learn from this crisis.