‘Back to school’ has new dangers for students this year

September is back-to-school month for millions of students everywhere in the world. In the United States, routine anxiety and nervousness about returning to classrooms is compounded by a new list of worries: heat, school violence and, alas, even COVID-19.

I teach at a university outside Boston. Learning is challenging enough, but add external factors beyond our control and it can become overwhelming.

GUNS

Almost daily, there is a story of violence at school.

In the first week at the University of North Carolina, a professor was shot and killed. The assailant was taken into custody at a science building after students experienced a lockdown and then the presence of armed police on campus.

In February, a gunman opened fire at Michigan State University, killing three people and injuring five before taking his own life.

Remember the University of Idaho, where four students living off-campus lost their lives in a brutal murder while sleeping.

In Washington, D.C., we remember the three football players from the University of Virginia who were shot on a bus while visiting the nation’s capital. The man accused of the crime is now facing murder charges.

Violence on college campuses seems to be growing. There have been nine mass shootings “in or around college or universities since 1966,” according to The Violence Project, defining a mass shooting as “one in which four or more people are murdered in public in a single incident.”

When you look below the college level, many elementary, middle and high schools have experienced high levels of violence, including the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and the horrific gun violence that took the lives of 21 people at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last year.

And, of course, there was Sandy Hook in 2012, in Newtown, Conn., where 26 people (20 children and 6 adults) lost their lives.

There is one encouraging bit of news in the experimentation with artificial intelligence (AI), which might help with prevention by detecting guns and better monitoring of violence.

HEAT

Weather woes due in part to climate change are impacting education across the country. Not all schools have air-conditioning, forcing closure for many. Outdoor activates have been restricted in parts of the country where record-breaking temperatures have made it dangerous to be outside for long periods of time.

In Pennsylvania, early dismissal last week means learning interruptions in 86 districts, putting an added strain on parents, especially working parents.

Experts have been warning for years to better outfit schools to prepare for rising temperatures. But not all schools have the resources to install, operate and upgrade systems both for hot summers, cold winters and to provide good ventilation.

In 2021, the Center for Climate Integrity partnered with an engineering firm, Resilient Analytics, to estimate the price for public schools to improve readiness for climate change. The findings showed that billions of dollars will be needed in the years ahead. Ten states — California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania — “will face more than $1 billion each in new cooling equipment costs by 2025.”

COVID-19

Although most experts do not expect the current surge in COVID-19 cases to create conditions like 2020, the virus is already having an impact on education. High schools in states like California are having to suspend football practice and other contact sports to avoid infections spreading.

Monitoring COVID levels is harder these days as well, as most schools no longer report cases.

In addition to COVID, there are concerns about RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) along with the flu, all three of which are very contagious. These public health challenges affect students, teachers and families. Vaccines are available but not every public and private school follows the same requirements, creating a complex maze of rules.

Back-to-school weeks should be ones of excitement and anticipation — buying supplies, reading, sports and community-building. Let’s hope that classrooms remain safe havens and that we can enjoy the ability to be in-person and safe in our education spaces.

Tara D. Sonenshine is the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Public Diplomacy at the Fletcher Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.