San Diego County

Mom Defends Choice to Keep Son at Home for Virtual Learning

While some students head back to school for in-person learning, a Normal Heights mother chooses to keep her son home

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Many parents who could hardly wait to get back to their routine sent their students back to campus for in-person instruction this week, while others decided to keep their kids at home.

There are many reasons. Maybe they like distance learning. Maybe their children are needed at home while they work. A Normal Heights mother said she's keeping her son at home because he's lost so much already due to COVID-19.

Eight-year-old Giovanni is a second grader who continues to do distance learning at home.

“All he has in his mind is the anxiety of going back to school,” said Giovanni’s mother, Edith Carmona. “How do I expect my child to learn if he is anxious or worried?”

Carmona and her son both had COVID-19 in November.

“It was extremely intense for me and my symptoms were the worst I’ve ever experienced,” she said. Her son was a-symptomatic.

After they were both diagnosed with COVID-19, Giovanni’s great grandmother died from the disease, as did another family member.

Carmona worries. Could her son get it again? If he is a-symptomatic, could he spread it to others without knowing?

“Maybe older kids do not have symptoms, and how do we know? Taking the temperature is not enough because he (Giovanni) didn’t have a temperature. I’m just being cautious,” Carmona said.  

Giovanni is an only child and Carmona said she has a good support system at home and at work. She realizes not everyone can make the same decision.

“I can only imagine other parents having children, and wanting to go back to school, because yes, it is needed,' she said.

Since there is no vaccination for the children yet, Carmona said she does not want to take the risk.

“I would rather wait," she said.

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