--- title: How Parents Feel About Back to School As COVID-19 Soars description: Parents had been eagerly awaiting the day their kids go back to school in person. Instead the Delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading and some governors have banned mask mandates even though children under 12 are unvaccinated. canonical: https://time.com/6091509/back-to-school-parents-covid-19/ author: Aubrey Hirsch article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-08-24T10:00:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:38:27.990Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Nightmare Parents Are Facing as Kids Head Back to School og:description: We dreamed of a smooth return to in-person education for a year and a half. Here's what happened instead og:url: https://time.com/6091509/back-to-school-parents-covid-19/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82a5f3c93dcd278f/698a1c2de76ad20b5f639267/Hirsch_Header.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Hirsch_Header og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Nightmare Parents Are Facing as Kids Head Back to School twitter:description: We dreamed of a smooth return to in-person education for a year and a half. Here's what happened instead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82a5f3c93dcd278f/698a1c2de76ad20b5f639267/Hirsch_Header.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Parents Had Dreamed of a Smooth Return to School This Fall. This Is the Nightmare We're Facing Instead > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d4642b7f-ecdc-4009-8bb8-88c3ed0cb4b7&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: She Helped New York Through the Worst of the Pandemic. Then the Nightmare Followed Her Home [Watch (HLS stream): She Helped New York Through the Worst of the Pandemic. Then the Nightmare Followed Her Home](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Bndn1sjf.m3u8) (3:09)  _Published 2021-08-04. Sixteen months ago, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, Dr. Rebecca Martin was one of thousands of out-of-state doctors and nurses who came to help the city battle what was then a new disease._ by [Aubrey Hirsch](https://time.com/author/aubrey-hirsch/) ## Aubrey Hirsch Aug 24, 2021 10:00 AM UTC  Illustration by Aubrey Hirsch for TIME by [Aubrey Hirsch](https://time.com/author/aubrey-hirsch/) ## Aubrey Hirsch Aug 24, 2021 10:00 AM UTC Across the U.S. children are heading [back to school](https://time.com/6085883/school-delta-covid/), despite spiking COVID-19 cases. The emergence of the more contagious [Delta variant](https://time.com/6090218/fourth-wave-surpassed-third-in-some-states/) as the most prominent virus strain in the country is causing concern for parents. Not only are they worried about the health and safety of their kids, they have been dealing with a [childcare crisis](https://time.com/5886491/covid-childcare-daycare/) for the past year and a half and now that seems unlikely to end anytime soon. This will be the third school year affected by the pandemic, but despite the fact that [children under 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination](https://time.com/6090900/covid-19-protecting-kids/), many schools are not putting mitigation efforts into effect and several governors have banned [mask mandates](https://time.com/6090484/austin-texas-schools-masks-mandate/). It’s our responsibility as adults to protect our kids, but record hospitalization numbers for children suggest we are already failing in this task.          **Read more:** [Why I’m Mandating That Austin Schools Must Be Masked When Classes Start](https://time.com/6090484/austin-texas-schools-masks-mandate/) [Schools Expected to Leave Virtual Learning Behind in the Fall, but the Delta Variant Is Forcing a Change in Plans](https://time.com/6087815/covid-delta-schools-reopening/) [How Will Delta and COVID-19 Change This Back-to-School Season? Here’s What to Know](https://time.com/6085883/school-delta-covid/) [Summer Camps Across the U.S. Are Dealing With COVID-19 Outbreaks. So What Happens When School Starts?](https://time.com/6083367/summer-camp-covid-schools/) [These Mothers Wanted to Care for Their Kids and Keep Their Jobs. Now They’re Suing After Being Fired](https://time.com/5942117/mothers-fired-lawsuit-covid-19/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6091509/back-to-school-parents-covid-19/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6091509/back-to-school-parents-covid-19/"},"headline":"Parents Had Dreamed of a Smooth Return to School This Fall. This Is the Nightmare We're Facing Instead","datePublished":"2021-08-24T10:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:38:27.990Z","description":"Parents had been eagerly awaiting the day their kids go back to school in person. 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