The ethical issue at hand was whether children returning to the classroom was the right thing for them due to Covid-19. The two sides were: 1) Children need to be in the physical classroom or else their learning experience would be diluted and 2) Children should continue home-schooling due to safety reasons.

I was arguing for the side that was for children going back to the classroom. Although I am personally on the fence about the issue, I felt that my side had some very valid arguments. The first argument was that at-home or hybrid learning takes away a child’s full learning experience. It takes away their ability to develop interpersonal and social skills. This type of learning is also detrimental because it takes away the ability for the teachers to give individual attention to the children with developmental disabilities, learning disorders, or those who simply need a little extra help. Another concern was that children in lower income families would suffer due to having to learn from home. Some families lack the financial means to provide their children with up-to-date computers and viable internet. Furthermore, many parents depend on school breakfast and lunch to feed their children because they do not possess the financial means. In addition to that, my side was also concerned about the working parents.  Many children come from single parent households or households where both parents work. Many of these households cannot afford babysitters, so there is nobody there to watch the child. Even parents who work from home are too occupied with their work to be able to properly tend to their children. All these arguments are very compelling. If not for the obvious issue of safety, I feel that all these arguments make up a good case for returning children to the classroom.