10 tips for keeping kids safe from COVID at school

Keeping their children safe at school is on the mind of many parents, especially with cases of COVID-19 rising in kids, a new school year is beginning and the COVID-19 vaccines are not approved for children under 12.

So Dr. Elizabeth Semkiu, a family medicine physician with Edward Medical Group in Crest Hill, offered 10 suggestions to parents to help keep kids and COVID far apart.

1) Make certain everyone in the household 12 and up is vaccinated.

“The vaccine is still the best way to prevent the spread of COVID in kids,” Semkiu said

2) Wear a mask

A mask of any kind is better than no mask, even if kids drop it and put it back on, Semkiu said.

“Maybe send your child with two as a backup,” Semkiu said. “and talk about what to do if you drop your mask and you don’t have another.”

Semkiu said rates of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were down last year, thanks to face masks.

3) Practice social distance

Schools will be set up to foster physical distance, and face masks aren’t needed on the playground when the kids are outside running around, Semkiu said.

“Hanging out with friends is fine,” Semkiu said. “Just don’t be up in their faces.”

4) Don’t share utensils and water bottles.

Make sure kids kids have their own, she said.

“Because if your kids are like my kids, they’ll say, ‘I forgot my water; can I have a sip of yours?’” Semkiu said.

5) Wash your hands often and pack hand sanitizer

And don’t worry about your kids using hand sanitizer and then eating a snack or their lunch. It won’t hurt them unless they “pour a whole bottle of Purell,” Semkiu said.

“It dries so quickly, and it’s not like it’s penetrating into them,” Semkiu said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said parents should keep hand sanitzers out of the reach of very young children.

6) Repeat, repeat

How many times did your own parents tell you to cover your mouth and wash your hands, Semkiu said. And why did they do that? Because you didn’t.

“And that’s the expected reaction,” Semkiu said. “But it’s the same message.”

So keep reinforcing the precepts, she said.

7) Be a good role model

If you never leave the house without a face mask, your child will learn to take a face mask, too, Semkiu said

8) But remember kids are kids

“There has to be some give and take in allowing for a normal childhood, overall,” Semkiu said. “Of the children who do get sick with COVID, most don’t get very ill. For the most part, when kids do get COVID, it’s nowhere near as devastating as it could be.”

9) Don’t pass your anxieties onto your children

“I think it’s reasonable to be cautious with your child,” Semkiu said. “But you don’t want to be excessively crazy with your child either. That just makes your kids anxious.”

10) Communicate

Keeping the lines of communication open is very import, Semkiu said.

“When your child comes home from school, especially in the first few weeks, ask them: ‘Are you having any trouble at school with masks?’ Are other children wearing them? Are you to wash your hands before you go to lunch?’ Those kinds of questions.”