KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman was joined by a child psychologist at Wednesday's COVID-19 press briefing.
Norman invited Dr. Susan Voorhees, who specializes in the needs of children affected by trauma, to the briefing to discuss the effects of the pandemic on children as a potential first day back to school approaches.
“Everybody is very anxious and what's happening now, with the opening of schools, is the anxiety is just getting ramped up,” Voorhees said.
She pointed out that children may be anxious as school approaches, thinking about questions such as “Am I going to go to school? What's it going to be like? Will my friends be there? What's going to happen with mom and dad's job?”
Voorhees said parents may be experiencing anxiety about answering these and other questions.
Establishing an open line of communication with children is important, Voorhees said, to “give them a name for what they’re feeling.”
Voorhees said practicing new protocols children might see when they return to school, such as social distancing or mask-wearing, at home can also help ease their anxiety.
For parents, Voorhees suggested building 10 or so minutes into their daily schedule to step away from day-to-day activities for a moment of quiet, and “to actively look for and ask for help.”
Norman said he is cautiously optimistic about COVID-19 case numbers in the state.
Though Kansas on Wednesday added 10 deaths, the highest single-day increase since early May, Norman said the overall rate of growth is slowing.
“We’re nowhere near where we want to be, and where we need to be, but I think we’re seeing a little bit of a glimmer in those various metrics,” Norman said.
Last week, Norman testified in front of the Kansas State Board of Education against the August reopening of schools, saying “schools are not safe islands in an unsafe community.”
The board ultimately voted not to adopt Gov. Laura Kelly’s proposed executive order delaying school until after Labor Day.
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