If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is that we never know what will happen next. Thankfully, we have had a year to glean what might work to keep children physically and mentally healthy in this new, new normal. After a summer that felt like a break from pandemic living, it may be time to recommit to strategies that keep children healthy and keep schools open. The following are five recommendations for children under 12.

First, continue to do what we already know works鈥攙accinate family members who are eligible, wear masks in indoor spaces and when in close proximity to others, maintain physical distance, practice regular handwashing, and stay home when sick. Find a mask or two that fits your child well and purchase backups so that they can switch throughout the school day (see guidance and ). Keep in mind, the mask that is most effective is the mask your child will wear.

Help children to recognize when they may need a mask break (i.e., playing with their mask, repeatedly pulling it down) and teach them to ask their teacher for one just as they might ask to go to the bathroom.

If you do not already, model mask wearing, hand hygiene, and distancing for children and talk about them in a way that does not imply that they are annoying or ineffective. Make these things fun by playing games, singing songs, or making up to remember them and to avoid making them stressful or anxiety-provoking. Similarly, share positive messages with your children about how taking these steps helps them and others in their community, especially those who are more vulnerable.

Second, take the time to familiarize yourself with your school鈥檚 procedures for health screening, testing, quarantining, and case reporting. Make the completion of the health screener part of your daily routine. At-home temperature checks can also be an effective means of early detection. Reacquaint yourself with the of COVID-19 and call your family鈥檚 pediatrician if your children are experiencing any of them.

Third, in the context of optimizing immune support for your children and family, it is important to examine your child鈥檚 diet to make sure they are getting the right nutrients. Recent studies have explored a possible link between vitamin D deficiency and risk for COVID-19, however, it is important to know there is no research suggesting that taking extra vitamin D would be helpful to those with sufficient levels. Most kids can get the right amount of vitamin D from 10-15 minutes of sun exposure a few times per week. During the winter months, or when children do not spend much time outdoors, vitamin D needs to come from food sources (e.g., whole milk, eggs, yogurt, fish, fortified cereal, mushrooms) or supplements. Different amounts of vitamin D are recommended based on a child鈥檚 age, therefore, if you are concerned that your child is not receiving enough vitamin D, ask your pediatrician if a supplement is recommended.

Fourth, have a plan for testing in case your child is a close contact of another individual with COVID-19 or she/he begins to exhibit symptoms consistent with the virus. Understand local quarantine recommendations and know what your local school, day care, or workplace requires with respect to the type of test (i.e.,  in order to return to work and school. Become familiar with your local testing options and how long it takes to get results in the event that you need proof of a negative test.

Fifth, think twice about where you take your children until the Delta surge has subsided. Avoid unnecessary trips to crowded indoor places whenever possible and shift activities outside as much as you can.

Unfortunately, even with extensive planning and preparation, there is still the possibility that even vaccinated family members can contract COVID-19. Have a plan ready for where each family member might be able to isolate if they can do so safely. When this happens, talk to your doctor and reach out to your support network for help with food and supplies.

Finally, be conscious of how you talk to children about the virus. Empower them to keep themselves and others safe without overwhelming them. Be calm and reassuring. Allow children to share their fears and acknowledge that those feelings are normal. Let them know that the more precautions we take, the safer we will be.

It was only Feb. 27, 2020 鈥� a mere 17 months ago 鈥� that the first school in the United States due to COVID-19.

Somehow it seems longer in pandemic time.

For students, like everyone else, that temporal elasticity could be chalked up to a host of things, from the monotony of quarantine to isolation from family and friends to the mostly invisible barriers between the spaces where we worked, played and dreamed.

In March 2020, 蜜桃影视 launched 鈥�Pandemic Notebook,鈥� an intimate series designed to capture, in their own words, how students are living through this strange period.

Few understood how long it would last. Initially, it just seemed like Spring Break was taking . But then the goalposts for a return to normalcy kept shifting: the end of the school year, the fall, the conclusion of Biden鈥檚 鈥淔irst 100 Days.鈥�

It still hasn鈥檛 happened.

For students in a once-unthinkable year two of pandemic school, the stories deepened as quarantine wore on. Some grappled with young love in a time of virtual connection; others, locked inside their homes, experienced the deep trauma of parental abuse. They faced issues that are perennial: privilege, college and equity, making new friends. They also tried new things. A fifth-grader in Michigan took advantage of learning from home to care for a neighbor’s ducks and chickens. A high school junior in Chicago recommitted to education and his love of physics after a 3 a.m. epiphany watching Neil deGrasse Tyson videos on YouTube. And a New York City senior who scoured her apartment building for a decent Wi-Fi signal discovered something better: her neighbors.

Here are their stories.

鈥楻eturning鈥� to school

WELCOME TO PANDEMIC SCHOOL, YEAR TWO: For students starting a new school year, there are advantages to going virtual. An extra 45 minutes of sleep, for one. Not having to pack a lunch. Avoiding the disgusting bathrooms that are seemingly impossible to avoid in any building occupied by so many adolescents. But as Sadie Bograd writes, much is lost: 鈥淕oing back to school simply didn鈥檛 feel like much of a meaningful shift after a similarly Zoom-filled and homebound summer.鈥� Her school in Lexington, Kentucky, started the semester entirely online. But as she started school, moving from class to class, or link to link, she found several small reasons to be hopeful. Some teachers adorned their Canvas pages with virtual Bitmoji classrooms, their avatars guiding students to important links. Others went on fascinating tangents and rambling digressions. 鈥淚n short,鈥� Bograd writes, “my teachers鈥� personalities managed to come through the small box they occupied on my laptop, reassuring me that even without the possibility of face-to-face interaction, I鈥檒l still be able to make meaningful connections.鈥�

Read Sadie鈥檚 story here.

Pain and loss

A GRANDFATHER鈥橲 DEATH & A MEDITATION ON COVID鈥橲 MENTAL HEALTH TOLL: 鈥淭he day I found out my grandfather died, I cried so hard I threw up,鈥� Cindy Chen writes. 鈥淭wo days later, I went back to school.鈥� When Chen’s parents, both Chinese nationals, tried to start a new life for their family in New York City, her grandparents raised her in China, where she lived until she was 5. It was her grandparents who 鈥渢ook me to the park, cooked my favorite meals and tucked me in at night.鈥� She remembers mischievously hiding her grandfather鈥檚 cigarettes and how he鈥檇 chuckle and call her a 鈥渂ed egg.鈥� His death, a world away and during the pandemic, was devastating. 鈥淚 walked through the front doors holding back tears,鈥� the New Jersey high school junior writes. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 that I felt uncomfortable crying in public. I just wanted to avoid combining a mask with a runny nose.鈥� In this piece, she reflects on the pandemic鈥檚 mental health toll and how the effects have fallen harder on young people, like her, who suffered from loneliness and depression even before COVID-19.

Read Cindy鈥檚 story here.

DOMESTIC ABUSE DURING QUARANTINE: 鈥淔or as long as I can remember, I was a bird trapped in a golden cage. On the outside, my world was a glittering array of debate trophies, academic titles, college scholarships and a picture-perfect family. But no one knew the fractured portrait that was my abusive household.鈥� So begins one student鈥檚 story of coping with toxic parents as COVID-19 took away the safe haven of school. As of 2020, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 children reported being victims of domestic abuse, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 鈥� and the pressures of quarantine are likely to worsen those grim statistics. The author, who wrote anonymously out of concerns for her safety, said that like many teens who have been victims of abuse, being forced to stay at home was a prescription for danger: 鈥淚n essence, my home life was a ticking time bomb.鈥�

Read the full account here.

Trying something new

HOW NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON SAVED MY YEAR: Shortly after the pandemic began, Chicago high school senior Jimmy Rodgers 鈥渇ully expected everything to just continue going downhill as the world made less and less sense.鈥� The idea of being locked in the same room made him unimaginably depressed. The only time he got to leave the house was to bury his grandmother. But everything changed one day at 3 a.m., when he watched a video of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on YouTube. 鈥淚 came to a startling conclusion,鈥� he writes. 鈥淚 was the person needed to solve the mysteries of the universe.鈥� Tyson鈥檚 optimism and passion were infectious, Rodgers said, pushing him to do better in physics and commit himself to a career teaching and helping others in the Black community. 鈥淭o my surprise,鈥� he writes, 鈥渆ducation gave me something to be happy about, rather than numb, at a time when all my days felt the same.鈥�

Read Jimmy鈥檚 story here.

FOR THIS FIFTH-GRADER, SCHOOL WAS FOWL: For Zora Borcila-Miller, a fifth-grader in East Lansing, Michigan, the pandemic has sometimes been lonely. Once, she got so bored she made a twin out of her clothes, a pillow and some broomsticks. She鈥檚 been learning remotely since the pandemic began, but when she and her dad moved to a new house in downtown Lansing, six blocks from the Capitol, she met her neighbor鈥檚 ducks and chickens. Zora describes the 鈥渉ands-on and interactive鈥� education she got while school was virtual. 鈥淲hen I’m at school, I’m usually on the couch with my computer,” she writes. 鈥淚 have never talked to my teacher in person, only on Zoom. And it’s OK. But, in school, we never got to meet a duckling born the day before.鈥�

Read Zora鈥檚 story here.

Equity and privilege

COVID-19 RAISES STAKES FOR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: Bridgette Adu-Wadier always knew she would enroll in college 鈥� the more prestigious, the better. But as the daughter of Ghanian immigrants, she didn鈥檛 always know how. For her family, education was the Way Out, she writes. 鈥淚t was also a way to set a precedent for my younger siblings, lift my family up from poverty and potentially change their economic trajectory for generations.鈥� The pandemic placed fresh obstacles in the way of that pursuit. Because of her parents鈥� work schedules, she had to homeschool her younger siblings. That, in addition to her rigorous academic routine, caused her to lose sleep. 鈥淚 discovered a glaring similarity between college admissions and the pandemic,鈥� she writes. 鈥淏oth are difficult for everyone, but harder for some students than others.鈥�

Read Bridgette鈥檚 story here.

MASK CONFUSION, AND A LESSON ON PRIVILEGE: In May, high school senior Ianne Salvosa crossed the graduation stage at Liberty High School, outside St. Louis, and accepted her diploma. But the lessons she鈥檒l be taking with her to college will go far beyond academics. The past year of fighting over mask requirements has left her with some uncomfortable feelings about her classmates. Students, many of whom openly doubted the efficacy of vaccines, fought with teachers over wearing masks. Long before vaccinations were commonplace, administrators frequently walked the halls with masks down. 鈥淟ike all seniors who have lived through the past year, I understand burnout,鈥� she writes. 鈥淏ut it appears our academic fatigue has seeped into our response to the pandemic.鈥� The cavalier attitude toward masks, she said, 鈥渇eels like some sort of show we put on so that the rest of the world can believe we did our part. It鈥檚 an ugly feeling I鈥檒l take with me into college and beyond the current crisis.鈥�

Read Ianne鈥檚 story here.

Making connections, finding love

SEARCHING FOR WI-FI, STUDENT DISCOVERED HER NEIGHBORS: When New York City鈥檚 schools went remote in March 2020, Ilana Drake was stuck. Knowing the strongest Wi-Fi signal in her family鈥檚 small apartment emanated from the front closet, she set up base camp in a common hallway outside, across from the elevator. Then a strange thing happened: She began to listen. 鈥淵ou can hear everything in the hallway,鈥� she writes. 鈥淚 heard snippets of conversation from nearby apartments: marital arguments, frustrated parents, stock trades, kids engaging in homeschooling and, of course, a symphony of barking dogs.鈥� She also got to know her neighbors and the building鈥檚 staff. Drake has a learning disability and recently graduated from the city鈥檚 High School for Math, Science and Engineering. But in the hallway, she learned that everyone had some sort of 鈥渁cademic backstory,鈥� including the neighbor who dreaded standardized tests and the service technician who had been an engineer in the Dominican Republic and helped her with calculus. 鈥淲orking in the hallway,” she wrote, “provided me with a passport to conversations that went beyond 鈥榟ello鈥� and 鈥榟ave a good day.鈥欌��

Read Ilana鈥檚 story here.

YOUNG LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: Ila Kumar remembers her pre-pandemic dating life with a whiff of nostalgia: the 鈥渃harming absurdity of pretending you are older than you are, wearing itchy sweaters in bad restaurants, knowing the 15-year-old across from you is going to insist he pays for your slice of pizza.鈥� Now, Kumar writes of the difficulties of navigating the tricky waters of teenage romance at a time of swiftly changing guidelines regarding masks and social distancing. 鈥淢aybe I forgot what it means to get to know someone 鈥� to uncover their secret talent for impressions, learn the way their hands move when they dance to music in the car and remember how they smell,鈥� she writes. 鈥淓very corner of a relationship requires work, and the specter of something as small as unanswered messages, wanting eye contact and being left without it, and midnight arguments requires the singular power of trust.”

Read Ila鈥檚 story here.

But new findings suggest that among many families, demand for remote or hybrid learning may not be so great.

More than eight in 10 parents surveyed (84 percent) now say they plan to send at least one of their children back for in-person schooling this fall, with another 12 percent unsure of their plans. Just five percent plan to keep their children home for the upcoming school year.

But the findings, released Thursday by researchers at the RAND Corp., come with stark differences between white parents and parents of color, among others.

Black and Hispanic parents 鈥渁re the ones who are least sure they’re going to send their kids back to school in person,鈥� said RAND researcher Heather Schwartz. While just 10 percent of white parents said they鈥檙e 鈥渘ot sure鈥� of their plans or that they plan to keep their kids home, 28 percent of Black parents and 27 percent of Hispanic parents said the same.

If they do send their children back, she noted, most want mask mandates. That鈥檚 true of 86 percent of black parents, 78 percent of Hispanic parents, and 89 percent of Asian parents. By contrast, just 53 percent of white parents feel the same way.

Parents of color also want regular COVID testing 鈥� the split between black and white parents, for instance, is nearly 40 percentage points (74 vs. 36 percent).

In many districts, researchers have noted, Black families have been reluctant to let their children return to in-person school, often citing distrust in schools鈥� or discipline policies. In Chicago earlier this year, average in-person attendance for white students was 73 percent, the reported. For Black students, it was less than 50 percent.

Even the that parents of color are 鈥渕ore concerned about some aspects of school reopening, such as compliance with mitigation measures, safety, and their child contracting or bringing home COVID-19,鈥� than were white parents.

In a New York Times op-ed this week, RiShawn Biddle, a fellow with the non-partisan think tank , said recent announcements by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to end remote instruction in the fall are 鈥渂ad news for a majority of the country鈥檚 Black, Latino and Asian students and their parents who wish to keep virtual learning as an option.鈥� The move, Biddle said, 鈥渆xacerbates already-existing educational and health care inequities.鈥�

Despite the differences, however, Schwartz said one finding seems fairly consistent: 鈥淎cross the board, parents want ventilation,鈥� she said.

Classroom ventilation is the top measure parents say schools must put in place for them to feel safe sending their children back to school in person 鈥� it鈥檚 more important than masks, social distancing and even teacher vaccinations, the data show.

Schwartz said the survey suggests that schools could allay parents鈥� fears by 鈥渃ommunicating very clearly about what specific safety measures they are putting in place.鈥�

Overall, two-thirds of parents want schools to keep COVID-19 safety measures, though rural and white parents are much more likely to prefer that schools 鈥渞educe or discontinue鈥� their pandemic-related safety precautions. Black, Hispanic, Asian, and urban parents are much more likely to prefer that schools keep them, according to the survey, which was administered to 2,015 parents from April 30 to May 11.

Among parents who don鈥檛 plan to send their children to school this fall, the top reasons are safety-related. Nearly one in three (31 percent) said, 鈥淢y child(ren) feel safer in remote school,鈥� while nearly as many said they鈥檙e concerned about their child transmitting or contracting COVID-19.

Twenty-two percent said they鈥檙e staying home because their children 鈥渓ike remote school better.鈥�

And just five percent said they prefer homeschooling their children, while only two percent said their children either have a job they鈥檇 have to quit or that they must care for younger siblings.

For Maritza Guridy, a mother of four in Philadelphia, safety is a big concern. She plans to send her children back to in-person schooling in the fall 鈥� Guridy is a secretary at the school that three of them will attend. But she understands that nervous parents want choices, especially those in multi-generational homes or with immunocompromised family members.

鈥淭he fact that some states are deciding not to even give parents a choice is very unfair,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are a lot of parents that are still very scared and very worried because they’re still not even sure with certainty as to whether or not other children or even adults in the building have been vaccinated or are COVID-free.鈥�

At her school, Guridy said, adults have been tested weekly since April. 鈥淣ot every school district, not every school across the country, has had that possibility,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd there are still adults that for their own personal reasons have chosen not to vaccinate themselves.鈥�

The new survey results also suggest that children鈥檚 vaccinations, while a game-changer for many families, aren鈥檛 finding universal acceptance among parents. Just 52 percent said they planned to vaccinate their children, while another 17 percent were 鈥渦nsure.鈥�

The Biden administration has pushed to get 70 percent of eligible Americans vaccinated by July 4, last month announcing a partnership with the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber to provide free rides to vaccination sites. Biden also said the nation鈥檚 largest community colleges will host vaccination clinics through the end of June. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund 鈥渙n-the-ground efforts鈥� to promote vaccination, such as phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, and pop-up vaccination sites in workplaces and churches.

The new findings stand in stark contrast to this spring. One, from NPR, found that 29 percent of parents were 鈥渓ikely to stick with remote learning indefinitely.鈥�

A by the National Parents Union found similar results to NPR in most regions: in the Midwest, 21 percent of parents said they preferred hybrid instruction to in-person instruction.

RAND鈥檚 Schwartz noted that her data have a large, 12 percent 鈥渦ndecided鈥� group to consider. She also said a portion of the difference in findings could be due to how the survey questions are worded. Unlike others, hers didn鈥檛 ask parents about preferences 鈥� it asked about actual plans. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little more cut-and-dried,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not 鈥榃hat would you like? Would you like an option?鈥� When you think about it, who doesn’t like an option?鈥�

Brooklyn, N.Y., parent Amanda Zinoman said she鈥檚 ready for in-person schooling to resume. 鈥淚’m very excited for my son to go back to school full-time,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I understand that if you don鈥檛 want to send your kid to school, there should be an alternative.鈥�

Zinoman, whose 11-year-old, Jonah, has attended his small public middle school from home all year, said she has all but written off 2020-2021, which she said 鈥渇eels like a bit of a lost year鈥� for him.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a tough situation all around,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut my feeling is that kids need to be in school. I think that kids who thrive at home are a small minority 鈥� especially at my son鈥檚 age, adolescence. They need the social [interaction], they need the attention, and they need to be with people other than their parents.鈥�

Eating in class is typically allowed in my school. However, due to the pandemic, some teachers have limited snacking to the cafeteria so students can remain masked in the classroom.

The student refused to stop eating. The cycle of chewing, pleading and refusal repeated about five times.

In Missouri, I鈥檝e had to swim upstream when it comes to masks in school. Denial of the virus鈥檚 validity isn鈥檛 uncommon, and doubts about the efficacy of masks often follows. The term 鈥渕ask up鈥� has become a clich茅 at this point, and students have become tired of the piece of cloth standing in the way of a typical school year. I can鈥檛 say I鈥檓 surprised by this defiance in a red state, but the ignorance and selfishness on display behind school doors goes beyond politics.

Through my peers鈥� TikToks and GroupMe texts, they have found platforms to air their disbelief of COVID-19鈥檚 harm. The frequently proclaimed of those infected has warped into a shield that makes young people feel invincible. However, that 1 percent should still strike fear into students. If everyone in my school of about 1,516 students got infected, a 99 percent survival rate would mean about 15 students would die.

I keep hearing the same misconstrued data point in the hallways. But as I witnessed the argument between the substitute teacher and my classmate, I realized that data was not a sufficient motivation to mask up 鈥� nor was empathy. The substitute explained that if the boy tested positive, she would be quarantined and unable to work for two weeks. His refusal persisted.

I’m reminded of this incident because in a matter of days, I鈥檒l be walking across the graduation stage with my fellow seniors. As June 6 approaches, I鈥檝e seen more and more students in the halls with no masks. Like all seniors who have lived through the past year, I understand burnout. But it appears our academic fatigue has seeped into our response to the pandemic. Our cavalier adherence to wearing masks feels like some sort of show we put on so that the rest of the world can believe we did our part. It鈥檚 an ugly feeling I鈥檒l take with me into college and beyond the current crisis.

I get it. Mask guidance can be confusing. But by the Centers for Disease Control found infection rates were 37 percent lower in schools where teachers and staff were required to wear masks. The CDC has said that universal masking should continue at schools, at least through the end of the current school year. As for the fall, it may be too early to tell what schools can do before all students are vaccinated.

My school district only requires masks when social distancing is not feasible. But not only is enforcement of this rule nonexistent, we lack decent role models. When I walked to my next class after the sandwich incident, I saw my principal lowering his mask to speak to another administrator. This was in early March, long before most adults were fully vaccinated. One day, after I was exposed to a girl who was COVID-positive at my lunch table, I left through the main office and got signed out by a secretary who had no mask at all. Just a thin piece of glass separated her from various students and visitors who came and went (I was quarantined for 10 days until I tested negative for COVID-19).

My school district has released a of masks suitable for school and deemed safe by the CDC and the St. Charles County Department of Public Health. But the list is just a set of recommendations, still permitting the use of improper masks while school is in session.

the CDC recommendation 鈥渢o prioritize universal and correct use of masks鈥� by prohibiting mask mandates. Under pressure from legislators and parents, have already lifted mask requirements.

With teenagers starting to be vaccinated in large numbers, we see that an end is potentially near, a time when masks and other precautionary measures . I鈥檓 still waiting for this time. I don鈥檛 trust my peers to get vaccinated, having heard their doubts about its efficacy loudly expressed in the hallways and on social media.

As typical end-of-the-year celebrations like prom or graduation approached, my fellow seniors yearned for those events to be 鈥渘ormal.鈥� However, each time that word got thrown around to describe the senior year we imagined, I was left wondering why we should be the exception to countless sacrifices people around the world have made during the pandemic. At the end of the day, my affluent public high school in the St. Louis area is still privileged enough to enjoy daily aspects of a regular school year, while other districts have not. We prioritized in-person instruction, which we have received for a majority of the year, but lower income school districts nearby have only had in-person instruction since March.

I won鈥檛 be attending college in Missouri, but I know that other places around the U.S. have experienced mask resistance. As I make this transition, I look back at my creative writing class and wonder if I should have stepped in. Would it have made a difference? Would the student have pulled his mask up if his classmates stood with the substitute teacher? Accountability has become very important to me. I feel responsible for my environment, for who could be with me during the next sandwich vs. mask debacle. I believe wearing a mask in school is a sign of respect, a way to show that I care about my peers鈥� safety and they care about mine.

When COVID-19 becomes a piece of history, I will not forget who was among those who failed to realize their 鈥渘ormal senior year鈥� came at the expense of their classmates鈥� safety. I鈥檓 not one to burn bridges, but I know which of my peers to keep at arm鈥檚 length. As I prepare for college, I鈥檓 cautious about meeting my new classmates. I wonder if they were like the students at my school, masks down and privilege high. I want to surround myself with those who chose safety and respect.

Ianne Salvosa will be graduating from Liberty High School in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, on June 6. In the fall, she plans to attend George Washington University.

鈥淧andemic Notebook鈥� is an ongoing collection of first-person, student-written articles about what it is like to live through the coronavirus pandemic. Have an idea? Please contact Executive Editor Andrew Brownstein at Andrew@The74million.org.