The sudden dismissal of all students from Jeffco Schools on March 13 due to the Coronavirus, sprouted sudden stress on parents with younger children. The quick switch to remote, online learning meant that parents had to figure out how to take care of their kids while still needing to make an income. 

On a poll conducted on Instagram, 60 A-West students answered whether or not they knew of any families struggling due to the school cancelation. In total, 31 students replied yes whereas 29 replied no. From the students that answered yes, they were then asked how exactly these families were struggling. 

Senior, Erin Ochs commented, “They [parents] cannot get any work done and are struggling to bring food to the table.” 

From the other respondents, two others mentioned that they know parents struggling to get food on the table as well.

Due to the unforeseen spread of COVID-19, parents are now forced to stay home with their children, keeping them from work, which has various negative effects. From food limitations and the issue of finances, school cancelation is impacting parents with younger children. 

Although parents may be stuck wondering what to do about not working, Junior, Maddison Taylor created a COVID-19 childcare website to help families easily find volunteers to help with their children. 

Taylor decided that she would create the website as an outlet to parents or guardians because she knew that they would most likely be increasingly rattled by schools switching to promote learning. 

The website has already seen the usage of many families and Taylor hopes that the website “will continue to grow and be able to help more families as it expands. I hope I make a positive impact on the community and relieve some of the stress these families are facing.”

Those with small children are now forced to find an outlet in which to compromise their tasks at work and childcare. Sometimes this results in children being brought to work, which goes against the current advocating for social distancing. 

Parents are struggling to manage their kids and their job across America, according to The New York Times, “Sarah Fitzsimons, 39, a single mother who lives in Burien, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, has started bringing her two youngest children to the small auto body repair shop where she works as an office manager.”

Parents like Fitzsimons are forced to find a way to have their kids cared for throughout the day, which results in unideal situations like bringing her children to her workplace. Also mentioned in the article, Fitzsimons relies on her work to provide pay for her rent and to put food on the table for her children. As it may not be ideal for Fitzsimons to bring her children to work, she exemplifies all of the parents struggling to keep their job and constant income during this crisis. 

In regards to the struggle currently facing most parents, there is help, like Taylor’s website. It should be known that even with help, parents will continue to struggle as restrictions on social distancing become more enforced which forces parents to stay home with young children. All Colorado schools are set to be closed until April 17, taking away possible income for parents not able to go to work because of the school cancelation.