Pop and Comm Health Final Paper - J
Pop and Comm Health Final Paper - J
Pop and Comm Health Final Paper - J
Students in Quarantine
Jessica Elliott
Dr. Heacock
For a school nurse, their job is more than fixing “booboo’s”, giving out Tylenol, and
sending sick children home. Many school nurses tend to see the same children over and over.
Whether the issue is behavioral or medical, school nurses tend to pick up on these patterns
quickly and notice any changes. More often than not, these patterns can stem from issues at
home. Typically, school nurses become aware of these situations and are able to seek the proper
help, monitor, or report the situation when appropriate. However, due to COVID-19, schools are
now closed across the country, and even globally. In addition, all non-essential businesses are
closed. This means that most children are home with their parents every day. For some children,
Assessment
Most adults that are home due to COVID-19 are not receiving a paycheck from their
employer. In addition, many adults have struggled to come in contact with someone at the
unemployment office. This means that there is little to no income but, the bills are still due.
levels among parents is often a major predictor of physical abuse and neglect of children.” In
addition, many resources that parents rely on such as after school programs, churches, extended
family members, and other community resources are currently unavailable in most areas. With
stay at home orders in place, many government agencies are not able to conduct in home visits
unless an emergent situation occurs. These two factors can lead to both an increase in child abuse
and a decrease in child abuse reporting. (Abramson, 2020) In addition to parental stress, children
are also under increased amounts of stress. These children can no longer follow their normal
routines or even see their friends. In addition, most states are requiring schools to switch to
online learning platforms. This is added stress to both students and parents. Stressed parents may
STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE 3
respond to their children’s stress or anxious behaviors with aggressiveness or abusive behaviors.
(Abramson, 2020) On the other side of this situation, parents may not be able to take off work
due to “essential” jobs. Some of these jobs include healthcare workers, law enforcement, grocery
store workers, and countless others. Parents that work in these fields may be home less than
normal due to the pandemic. In this case, children may experience neglect due to unintentional
According to the Children’s Law Center at the University of South Carolina’s School of
Law, in conjunction with the state of South Carolina’s Department of Social Services, children
are currently at an increased risk for emotional maltreatment, psychological distress, separation,
and social exclusion. The mandatory quarantine measures can create fear and panic in children,
especially if they are not educated in what is happening. Additionally, children may be separated
from their parent or parents. Many essential workers do not feel comfortable with possibly
exposing their children to COVID-19. Because of this, many children are either living with
another parent (if parents are divorced) or staying with relatives. Between being apart from
family and being physically isolated from friends, children are at an increased risk for emotional
separation and other issues in relation to COVID-19. (“Abuse and Neglect,” 2020)
Interventions
In order to make sure children’s needs are met during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents,
family members, community members, and community leaders all need to have responsibilities.
While parents already have the responsibility of caring for their children, it makes an impact on
children based on how they are cared for. Parents can only take care of their children if they take
care of themselves as well. Parental selfcare can include limiting exposure to the media, going
for a walk/ jog, or communicating with friends and family. Ultimately, anything that effectively
STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE 4
reduces stress, reduces the risk for child neglect and/ or abuse. (Abramson, 2020) In addition,
family and community members that children are used to interacting with, should keep up
communication via text message, phone call, or video chat- as appropriate. Not only can this give
children part of their “normal” back, but it also gives children an outlet for reporting any abuse
or neglect. In addition, high risk children should be followed up by either the department of
social services or a school nurse. Typically, children are comfortable with these workers as long
as they are familiar with the person. These services could decrease child abuse/ neglect and also
decrease the risk for new mental health issues in school age children. Children that received
home visits prior to COVID-19 should not have them stopped since they are now at an even
Goals
In order for any of these interventions to become a reality, a plan with achievable goals is
necessary. For goals to be considered realistic, they must be specific, measurable, achievable,
realistic, and timely. For example: Middle and high school students will effectively communicate
with a trusted adult by texting, calling, or video chatting at least once a week until September of
2020. This goal address all five parts of a realistic goal. While the “time” may be further out than
most goals, it is set to be until students (hopefully) return to school in the fall. This goal allows
students to interact with trusted adults and share anything that they would not be comfortable
sharing with their parents. A second goal would be: Parents will effectively manage stress by
taking at least one, thirty-minute walk per day for the next four weeks. By the end of the four
weeks, more businesses would reopen and parents would be back to work. This goal is realistic
as well. It is a measurable goal over a specific period of time. By achieving this goal, stress
levels would be reduced, therefore decreasing the risk for child abuse or neglect. A third goal
STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE 5
would be: School nurses will follow up with “at risk” students that have chronic medical
conditions at least once per week via phone call, video chat, or an in person social distanced visit
until June 16th, 2020. This goal may be slightly more difficult than the first two, however, it is
still a realistic goal. Many students that visit the nurse’s office for existing medical conditions
also have home issues. This goal would allow school nurses to continue to work and to ensure
“at risk” student safety. Per the Delmar School District’s website, the last day of classes for the
year would have been June 16th, 2020. Therefore, the time length on this goal would ensure
Evaluation of Goals
In order to determine the effectiveness of the three goals, an evaluation of the goals
would need to be completed. Since these goals are not actually in place, they cannot truly be
Goal one: Middle and high school students will effectively communicate with a trusted
adult by texting, calling, or video chatting at least once a week until September of 2020. This
goal would be highly possible to achieve and would make others aware of the student’s situation.
Not only would this occur, but these students would also strengthen their relationships with their
chosen individual.
Goal two: Parents will effectively manage stress by taking at least one, thirty-minute
walk per day for the next four weeks. This is another goal that would be highly possible to
achieve and could actually decrease the risk for child abuse and neglect. While not every parent
would be willing to do this, those that do would see both emotional and physical benefits.
STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE 6
Goal three: School nurses will follow up with “at risk” students that have chronic medical
conditions at least once per week via phone call, video chat, or an in person social distanced visit
until June 16th, 2020. While goal three is realistic, it would be slightly harder to implement than
goals one and two. If implemented, the outcome would be positive for the students involved. Not
only would allow a trusted member of the community to assess the children, but it would also
Conclusion
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools worldwide are closed. Because of these
“safety” measures, children are at an increased risk for child abuse and neglect. Additionally,
these children are also at an increased risk for mental health disorders. However, when goals are
implemented and trusted family and community members are involved, these children can be
kept safe.
STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE 7
References
Abramson, A. (2020, April 8). How COVID-19 may increase domestic violence and child abuse.
19/domestic-violence-child-abuse
Human Rights Watch. (2020, April 9). COVID-19 and children’s rights. Retrieved from: https://
www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/09/covid-19-and-childrens-rights-0#_Toc37256529
Children’s Law Center, University of South Carolina School of Law and South Carolina
Department of Social Services. (2020, April). COVID-19: Heightened Risk of Abuse and