As wildfires raged across Southern California on Wednesday, thousands of young people across the region faced the risk of physical and emotional distress caused by the disasters.
Already, reports of devastation have emerged at some schools. Video posted to social media of Palisades Charter High School — the alma mater of Forest Whitaker, the actor, and Steve Kerr, the N.B.A. coach — showed sections of the campus engulfed in flames. Baseball and football fields were damaged, and officials could not immediately confirm the conditions of other buildings.
Schools in at least 18 districts across the Los Angeles area were closed for the day because of air quality concerns, downed power lines and other campus destruction. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the superintendent, Alberto M. Carvalho, said that roughly 100 of the district’s 1,000 schools were closed, and most were in the eastern side of the system. Five near the Palisades area were also shut down.
As wildfires in the West become bigger and spread faster, they have upended a growing number of children’s lives, affecting academics, physical health and mental well-being. The blazes have prompted hundreds of school closures across California this academic year alone, according to the state’s Department of Education.
Other disasters like hurricanes and extreme heat have similarly disrupted schooling more often in recent years as the climate changes.
In California, schools are asked to move recess and gym class indoors and reschedule outdoor athletic events when air quality is deemed “unhealthy,” under state guidance. But the decision to close school can be complex in part because “ventilation and filtration systems at schools may offer a higher level of protection than residential systems.”
Often, though, schools are left with no choice but to shut their doors when cities are covered in smoke and families flee under evacuation orders. The disasters can cause thousands of children to become homeless. In cases where homes have been destroyed, children have been forced to learn remotely or move schools as their families rebuild their lives.
Young people are also more vulnerable to air pollution and smoke inhalation, and can suffer lingering trauma from deaths in their communities and the destruction of homes and schools. At least two deaths related to the current fires have been reported.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network encourages parents to look out for changes in children’s behavior, limit their exposure to painful news and reassure them about efforts to contain wildfires.
“It is important to consider not only the potential physical health implications of wildfire smoke on children, but also the potential longer-term psychological implications,” guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency warns.
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