'My kids are not guinea pigs': Los Angeles parent supports remote learning

Los Angeles, US: When Brenda Del Hierro realized her two children would be learning remotely in the fall, she was relieved. Even though she wanted them to go back to classrooms so she could resume her normal life, Brenda believes the risk of catching coronavirus is too great.

"I mean, I was excited for them to go back so I can go back to my normal life as well. But I mean, the risk outweighs everything. I can't risk my kids getting sick or possibly getting somebody else sick or their teachers or vice versa. It's not ideal to have them home, but it's what needs to happen. And I'm so thankful that that was the outcome."she said on Wednesday. Brenda was concerned they might bring the virus home to her mother in law, a breast cancer survivor who lives with the family in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles. 

After weeks of online learning in the spring, the 33-year-old homemaker is hoping for greater communication with teachers and other parents in the fall. She says one of the biggest challenges of home-schooling is keeping her 8-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter engaged.

"My daughter's easier, a little bit easier to motivate, she self-motivates herself, and for my son, it's harder to keep him just engaged. He suffers from ADHD. So, it's he's constantly losing track of what he's doing, or he gets distracted by the littlest thing or a sound from outside or whatever it may be." Del Hierro said she's bothered by the President Trump mandating for all schools in the country to open in the fall.

"I think he should really let the, let schools figure out what they need to do, and he should focus on himself and focus on running other things instead of worrying about the school districts. Everybody's need is different, and for him to really say, hey, schools, you know, teachers are irresponsible. They need to go back to school." said Del Hierro. "But my kids are not guinea pigs. I'm not going to send my kid to school to see if they're going to get COVID and to see if they're going to survive COVID. It's unfair to put that risk on our kids."

Del Hierro said she understands the social aspect of being at school physically, but prefers to have her children home until the school provides a plan for a safe return. Her 10-year-old daughter, Emma, says the school workload at home can be stressful, but thinks it will get improve in the fall.

"I feel like we get more work here than at school because it's not like something where we just go. And if we don't finish our work that time or that day, then we started out the next day," said Emma.