Back to School Pandemic-Style
10 min read with Video
Back to school in 2020 is generating feelings of uncertainty and fear for moms. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking with several moms for our Navigating to a New Normal quant/qual research study. They are wrestling with some very difficult decisions. Their choices will have impact for businesses. Should they buy back to school clothes? Do they need a new backpack this year or can they use the one they have? What are the school safety measures like? What will the lunch program look like? Is socialization better for their mental health or is their physical health more important? Will kids learn enough if they opt for virtual?
Meet the Moms
Jill 41, living right outside Grand Rapids, is married with three boys ages 14, 12 and 6. She was working as a morning preschool aide, was laid off from that and was also working as a paraprofessional in the elementary building and is still waiting to hear the status on whether or not she will have a job this fall. Her kids are very active in sports and she describes herself as a soccer mom. Says she is a “fun lady” and likes to keep the mood light but has noticed she has developed a lot of anxiety since the pandemic.
Francia 50, originally from Colombia, living outside of the Twin Cities, is married with one daughter age 13. She came to the states when she was in her twenties in hopes of a better life. She works as a court secretary and is going to school full time to be an accountant. She is guided by her faith and while she has her ups and downs especially since the pandemic, is a very positive person.
Brittannie 29, living in Kansas City, lives with her fiancé and their three children ages 8, 6 and 4. She works on the assembly line at Ford. She claims the pandemic has helped to settle her down and focus more on her studies. She is working to further herself within Ford in their trades program. She describes herself as fun, family-oriented and a shopaholic. She loves to shop and turns to it as a form of therapy.
Back to School Shopping is Anxiety-Producing
The other day Jill almost had a panic attack while shopping for school supplies. “I walked through the school supply department. I was grocery shopping and I had a mild anxiety [attack] like should I buy this stuff? Do I not? I would start stocking up on this kind of stuff. If we’re not going back I don't need a new box of crayons, we have a million crayons at home but you know like if they're going back I'll send you a good box.”
Brittannie is also questioning what to do for her kids, “They haven't even had a school supply list for our district yet. So everybody's having all these like back to school sales and like we don't even know…what to buy or anything. It’s stressful like not knowing to the last minute and same with like back to school clothes…you have to get your kids clothes anyway, but I feel like you buy different stuff if you're going to send your kids to school versus they're going to be at home.”
Francia bought her daughter back to school clothes but not as many as she usually would since she is not sure if they will even stay in school that long after going back.
IMPLICATION:
To ease shopper stress, consider a new approach. Launch a 2nd back to school sale in January in time for the 2nd semester when schools may resume. Offer solutions for learning at home to help kids have their own ‘space for learning’ in the home. Message the benefit of getting dressed up for school whether its online or in person.
How many hands have touched this school lunch?
One of the biggest concerns about going back is how will lunchtime be handled. At Francia’s daughter’s school they provide food from outside restaurants but Francia thinks, “It passes through so many hands. Who is bringing it to school? Who is receiving it at school? Who is handing it out? How many hands will it have to go through until it gets to Hailey’s hands?” Francia then thinks maybe a safe way would be to have her daughter bring microwaveable items but most of them have such long heating times.
Jill pictures her 6-year-old not being able to keep his hands clean enough to eat. “Getting everyone to wash their hands before they eat, and then going right to their food and only their food and not touching a million things, Simon could wash his hands but then he still has to go get his lunch box and make it to his desk and he’s six and he could touch a locker when he's out getting this lunch or high five a friend or someone could cough, and then high five. Who knows?!”
IMPLICATION:
Help parents alleviate their concerns with pre-packaged, ready-to-go lunches that are appropriate for the school day. For parents with kids doing school at home, grab-and-go meals might offer more ease and autonomy for kids and less time for parents to be in the kitchen.
So why not just let your kids stay home?
Apart from the fact that many parents have to work and keeping their kids home isn’t feasible, there are also fears about what kind of education kids receive online. Many didn’t have a great experience in the spring. The format wasn’t clear, kids got frustrated, parents got frustrated, some struggled and many didn’t feel they learned enough.
Jill feels like, “It's a suck-y choice. Like, do we stay home because we don't like the other options…knowing that it's not educationally the best choice?” Brittannie talks about how her son was doing, “more math and reading focused and social studies and science and like actual work. So he struggled, he struggled bad and my patience struggled.”
IMPLICATION:
From what we have heard, this situation is not going away anytime soon. There is an opportunity to provide parents with the technical support to help aid their children’s online education. Providing that support through the right tools or apps could alleviate the concerns of their child getting a good education.
It all comes down to the big decision, the safety risks of going to school in-person versus the disruption of life and reduced quality of education online? All of the moms we’ve talked to are sending their kids in-person but each one of them is still worried. The uncertainty and fear is palpable and rightly so, as we are so far removed from the carefree back to school days of 2019! Supporting these consumers from the perspective of a parent will help to give them back some control during this most unusual school year.