Iowa children need face-to-face learning

State Sen. Rob Hogg's letter of March 6 ('Thiessen's Reynolds column doesn't tell the whole story”) criticizing our state's handling of public education in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic is inaccurate and reflects a lack of understanding.

I am a pediatrician with 40 years of experience and come from a family of educators. Hogg asserts that it is not safe for our children to go back to school. Clearly, he is wrong.

Recently, only 4 percent of positive Iowa tests were in children younger than 18. As anyone in primary care can tell you, masks work. There has never been a year with less respiratory illness since the advent of public schooling. Influenza and RSV? No appearance thus far.

Those illnesses in the past have resulted in far more hospitalizations in the pediatric age group than COVID-19 and represent greater dangers to our children. ER visits, urgent care visits and primary care visits are all dramatically fewer over the past year. It has been my impression that the majority of cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in our clinic originated with an infected parent and not a classmate.

And what about the danger to teachers? Is it any different from child care workers or other essential personnel who have returned to work? No. As an illustration, our clinic has had over 20,000 visits in the past year seeing children, many too young to wear masks, and I know of no employee who has contracted disease from in-office exposure. Simply, Iowa schools, which have virtually all taken measures to limit spread, are not the cause nor source of this pandemic. While the deaths of teachers are tragic, Hogg presents no contact tracing information to document the source of those infections.

Hogg ignores the effects virtual education have had on our children and families. Certainly some children do well and progress academically at a rate commensurate to the past, but many do not as is now being confirmed in emerging research.

School districts in Iowa City and Des Moines have forced virtual education on all children, abandoning families where parents cannot work virtually. Supervision of virtual education is vital for its success, and for many families that simply is not possible. Older children may sign on only to turn off their screen and sleep or FaceTime with peers. Academic progress lags. Exuberant weight gain in bored and inactive children is rampant. More importantly, the incidence of mental health issues with anxiety and depression is exploding in the face of a lack of normal school social interaction.

It is irresponsible for school districts, elected officials and teachers unions to ignore these facts and fail to acknowledge their impact on our children.

The children of Iowa will receive a better education with face-to-face learning and will be physically and mentally healthier. With current control measures in place, a return to school is appropriate and is best for the majority of families and students in our state.

Dr. Scott Nau is a pediatrician who practices in Cedar Rapids.