Did Closing Schools Save Lives Or Cost Lives? The Debate Continues
at 4:00 am NPR
In November, I reported for NPR on a scientific paper that estimated millions of years of life could be lost due to prolonged school closures in the U.S. â far more, in fact, than might be lost by keeping schools open. The paper has since been corrected and critiqued. The central question it tried to answer remains.
The paper s author, Dimitri Christakis is a pediatrician at Seattle Children s Hospital, editor of the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics and an outspoken advocate of opening schools when possible to protect children s well-being. He told NPR recently that he wrote the paper to flesh out his argument:
Image credit: Al Bello
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In November, I reported for NPR on a scientific paper that estimated millions of years of life could be lost due to prolonged school closures in the U.S. far more, in fact, than might be lost by keeping schools open. The paper has since been corrected and critiqued. The central question it tried to answer remains.
The paper’s author, Dimitri Christakis is a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, editor of the American Medical Association journal
Al Bello / Getty Images
Originally published on January 31, 2021 9:55 pm
In November, I reported for NPR on a scientific paper that estimated millions of years of life could be lost due to prolonged school closures in the U.S. far more, in fact, than might be lost by keeping schools open. The paper has since been corrected and critiqued. The central question it tried to answer remains.
The paper s author, Dimitri Christakis is a pediatrician at Seattle Children s Hospital, editor of the American Medical Association journal
JAMA Pediatrics and an outspokenadvocate of opening schools when possible to protect children s well-being. He told NPR recently that he wrote the paper to flesh out his argument:
In November, a scientific paper estimated millions of years of life could be lost due to prolonged school closures in the U.S. The paper has since been corrected and critiqued.
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The day after New Year s, John Reichert of Boulder, Colorado, had a heated argument with his 14-year-old son, James. I ve failed you as a father, he told the boy despairingly.
During the long months of lockdowns and shuttered schools, Reichert, like many parents, overlooked the vastly increasing time that his son was spending on video games and social media. Now, James, who used to focus his free time on mountain biking and playing basketball, devotes nearly all of his leisure hours – about 40 a week – to Xbox and his phone. During their argument, he pleaded with his father not to restrict access, calling his phone his whole life .