Lockdowns didn’t just flatten the curve: They crushed a generation

Today marks the sixth anniversary of what I could argue was the worst decision in our state’s history — the lockdown and closure of schools.

Six years ago today on another Friday the 13th, Governor Tom Wolf ordered schools to close for two weeks to “flatten the curve.” Two weeks turned into more than a year for many jurisdictions with Philadelphia schools shuttered for eighteen months.

I was suspicious of the lockdowns early on. None of it made sense to me and by early April 2020, I began advocating to reopen schools and businesses. Of course, it accomplished very little locally, living in deep blue West Chester. 

My advocacy began in earnest when I wrote to Governor Wolf on April 11, 2020, imploring him to reconsider his decisions. The letter was prompted by his announcement to close schools for the remainder of the school year. 

Each year on March 13, I reread that letter to remind myself of the damage wrought by such myopic, egotistical, and politically motivated decisions. Let us not forget the nonsensical social distancing rules, masking while walking to a restaurant table but taking it off once seated at the “magical, safe zone” of a table. How about deciding which businesses could open and those forced to remain closed? 

Meanwhile, schools remained closed the longest. Those with the least risk — children and younger healthy people — suffered the greatest consequences. There was no rhyme nor reason, and certainly no “science” behind these ludicrous decisions.

Looking back, I realize the letter is naive, but in 2020 I still had faith in my Democratic elected officials. By that summer, my naivety was gone, replaced with a deep cynicism of our local and state government. 

When I wrote the letter, I foolishly believed Democrats cared about minorities and low-income communities. However, those elected officials — all of whom I voted for — turned their backs on those who needed them the most and subsequently called me a racist for wanting to help them. 

In that moment, I knew I would never view politics through the same lens again. And true to my word in that first letter, I have not voted for a single Democrat since 2019 and will not likely do so ever again.

Six years later, every prediction I made in that letter has come true, and in most instances the consequences are much direr. Our children, particularly our most vulnerable, have experienced academic decline, increased child abuse and domestic violence, chronic school absenteeism, and a mental health crisis the likes of which we have never seen before.

This is why it is imperative to remind ourselves of the harm done to our children and communities based on the direction of the Democratic party and its proxies, groups like the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and local school superintendents and board directors who were not honest or transparent with their constituents.

While AFT, the country’s largest teachers’ union, and other groups now deny that they worked diligently to keep schools closed, the record shows otherwise. Despite their attempts to rewrite history, the majority of Democrats were in lockstep with the unions and either actively supported the extended school closures or remained silent while children fell further behind and suffered the gravest consequences.

In Pennsylvania, here is what we have to show for the “two weeks to flatten the curve” mantra.

• The majority of students are not proficient in reading, writing, or math
• Chronic absenteeism is significantly higher
• Our adolescents are in the midst of a mental health crisis

Based on last year’s Pennsylvania state testing results, only 41.7 percent of students are proficient in math, and only 48.5 percent are proficient in English Language Arts. The chart below shows small gains between 2015 and 2019 in English Language Arts; yet following the shutdown of schools, the scores demonstrate a significant decline. Current proficiency levels and nowhere near the results pre-lockdowns.

Math scores, while not quite as dramatic as reading and writing, show a similar trend with current levels still below pre-shutdown results. Additionally, the math proficiency rates were already incredibly low prior to the shutdowns.

Even more striking is the impact on low income and some minority students. Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged students’ scores are consequential — all are significantly below the statewide average, which it and of itself, is already quite low. Our most vulnerable children suffered the most as a result of the school closures, and it almost seems insurmountable to get them caught up.

Not quite sixteen percent of black students are proficient in math and just over 24 percent are proficient in reading and writing. These numbers are staggering, and while the lockdowns are not fully to blame, there is a strong connection.

In addition to decreased proficiency, more students are now chronically absent than prior to the extended school closures. The state defines chronically absent as students who miss more than ten percent of enrolled school days across the academic year, totaling eighteen days or more in a 180-day school year. Before the governor shuttered schools, only fifteen percent of students statewide were considered chronically absent, and now that number is 21 percent, despite a minimal increase from the 2021-2022 school year.

In addition to the declining proficiency and increased absenteeism, students are struggling with complex mental health issues. The most recent Pennsylvania Youth Survey from 2023 indicates that 37.3 percent of sixth to twelfth graders felt sad or depressed most days in the past twelve months, and 16.1 percent seriously considered suicide.

Our children spend hours “doom scrolling” on their phones, less time interacting in-person with their friends, and minimal time playing outside. Much of this behavior is related to the extended school closures when children and adolescents were locked away alone in their rooms to navigate the most disruptive, frightening experience of their short lives.

Then we forced them to wear masks to school where they could not see their friends’ or teachers’ faces, further stunting their social and cognitive development. We shamed them into wearing those non-scientific muzzles, telling them they might kill their grandma if they didn’t.

This is why I read my letter to Governor Wolf every year on the anniversary of the worst decision in Commonwealth history. We must never forget the impact of that decision and those elected and non-elected officials who supported it. We owe it to our children.

Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at [email protected].