We call upon people to stay informed and trust the students’ resilience now that they’re going back to school

We invoke people to avoid growing the gender breach against mothers who will have to go back to taking care of their children, as well as a pedagogic rupture

We offer students, mothers, fathers and teachers the emotional aid service of the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat 55 5533 5533.

According to the Citizen Council for Safety and Justice in Mexico City, the reasons why it’s very important to go back to school in a voluntary, gradual, systematic and growing way are: impeding the growth of the gender breach against mothers who will not be able to go back to their professional activities because they have to be with their children if they’re not going back to school; containing and controlling the convergence between emotional and economic stress; contributing to decreasing the types of violence within the home that worsened with the pandemic, and enabling a full reactivation of the education process of a generation that was deeply impacted by the pandemic during this global pedagogic rupture.

With support from available and disseminated international studies, the safety protocols determined by federal and local education authorities, surveillance and accompaniment of the civil society, as well as institutional availability of spaces and the collaborative and vigilant attention of parents, it’s possible to prepare for the gradual return to classes all families need.

“During this return to classes it’s necessary that mothers and parents in general are duly informed and that they trust the children’s and teenagers’ capabilities to adapt to different interaction circumstances: they have shown us their resilience and flexibility during the pandemic,” Salvador Guerrero Chiprés, president of the Citizen Council, stated.

The exposure to information and opinions, some of them polarized, caused uncertainty and fear from one part of the school community regarding the process of going back to school. Before this, the Citizen Council has free emotional containment tools that it offers citizens, including the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat 55 5533 5533.

The organism considered that reactivating in-person classes is something positive because it favors the psycho-emotional development of children and it allows confronting social and economic differences that were radicalized by on-line classes, as well as the probable deterioration of formal learning during the use of this method. It reminded the school community, mainly mothers and fathers, that the Citizen Council offers counseling and emotional containment that may help them overcome uncertainty and make the best decisions for their children.

“It’s normal to feel insecurity, anxiety or worry before the changes in routine; we lived that at the beginning of the confinement and now it’s perceptible because we’re going back to in-person teaching. Our free nationwide, with hundreds of psychologists available 24/7 is there to listen and help parents and students, regardless of their decision,” Guerrero Chiprés added.

The Citizen Council highlighted that citizens, organizations and authorities have carried out an important work to strengthen everyone’s safety health and emotional care throughout the different stages of the pandemic due to COVID-19 and now it’s time to continue acting with responsibility and trust.

In Mexico City, sanitary measures prioritize open spaces to favor safe distancing, cancelling ceremonies or meetings that concentrate the school community and immediately reporting to the corresponding authorities if there’s any suspicion or confirmation of a case related with COVID-19.

The school community may call the Safety Line or write to the Trustworthy Chat, both at 55 5533 5533, where they’ll receive free attention 24/7, anywhere in the country.