In a recent poll of Californians, over 50% of respondents stated that they had serious concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students. The majority of parents of K-12 students reported that their student’s educational experiences during the pandemic were worse than before the pandemic1. Similarly, a recent report from the US Department of Education reported that the pandemic appears to have deepened the divide in educational opportunity across our nation’s classrooms and that many of the impacts are falling disproportionately on students that previously had the greatest educational need, including children of color, English learners, students with disabilities and LGBTQ+ students and those from Asian American and Pacific Islander backgrounds2.
As pediatricians, we know that research and experience should guide our practice, not polls. We also know that our clinic visits with families provide us with an extraordinary opportunity to support families during this historic time of need and guide them through the turmoil. A complete ACE screening, which includes assessing both the child’s exposure to adversity (ACEs score) and the family’s social determinants of health, as well as determining the clinical manifestations of toxic stress and family protective factors should give us the tools we need to begin to understand and support families during these difficult times.
