Back to School, But Not Back to Normal

This Fall many public primary schools in the U.S. switched back to in-person learning. But that can mean very different things for students, teachers, and parents — depending on their school system, local political environment, family resources, or language needs.

We started getting word from listeners about their back-to-school experiences in July, and checked in with them as these first few months of the school year unfolded. Cathy and our team found out how a Chinese American mother of three navigated the anti-mask and anti-CRT activity surrounding school reopenings in Arizona; learned about the hidden harms of this transition from immigrant mental health advocates in New York City; and heard how having an immunocompromised family member affected an Indian American family in Minneapolis.

While these conversations are by no means comprehensive, a recurring theme in these conversations was a sense of loss, which many students haven’t had the space to properly heal from.

Credits

• Produced by Julia Shu and James Boo
• Edited by Julia Shu
• Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly
• Fact checking by Harsha Nahata
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound
• Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love
• Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda

Resources and Reading

• WATCH: “Towards An Inclusive Reopening: The Mental Health Needs of Asian Children” discussion panel by the Asian American Federation, Sapna NYC, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Hamilton-Madison House, and the Arab American Association of New York
• READ: “Anti-mask school law isn't justice, safety for our kids” by Yvonne So for the Arizona Daily Star
• READ: “Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?” by Amelia Noor-Osho for The Conversation
• READ: “New York’s Once-Thriving Asian Businesses Struggle to Recover From 4,000% Unemployment Spike” by Amy Yee, Adre Tartar, and Christopher Cannon for Bloomberg
• READ: “Digital Literacy in New York’s Asian American Community” by Juo-Hsi (Sylvia) Peng for Advancing Justice | AAJC
• READ: “Teens in America: How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Shaping the Next Generation” by Maria Abenes for Psychiatric Times