Due to the COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent loss of schooling and opportunities for growth, many children have been severely impacted. Many if not most of our underserved children have been held back one year in school and some even two years. Where are the tutoring opportunities to help these kids regain some of their lost education? Where is the help needed to mitigate the emotional turmoil of a year or more spent with very little schooling or interaction with their friends?

I have been involved with children all my adult life, as a teacher, mother and volunteer. There has never been a situation that has alarmed me more than what is apparent now.

For the last several years I have been involved with children from the Palama area with a volunteer organization. During the lockdown I was involved with a few on a weekly basis and have continued with these same children for the last year. The deleterious effects that the COVID-19 lockdown becomes more apparent all the time. All of these children are so far behind in schoolwork it is shocking. None of the nearby nonprofit agencies that work with the Palama community have free summer programs that could be of help. There is an enrichment program that costs $375. That is certainly not an option in most large families.

Obviously, this is not the only community with children who have been so badly affected by the lockdown. Underserved children everywhere have been hurt through no fault of their own. The consequences are dire.

The situation with these children is not only educational and emotional, it is also a health issue. There were significant medical conditions that would have been dealt with if the children had been in school. As has been reported, teachers are often the first to report medical or abusive conditions in children. One of these children was obviously going blind in one eye. His mother and I made well-child check appointments, and then to a pediatric ophthalmologist. This child was fortunate: He was able to get the help he needed. All he needed were allergic medications.

As the federal American Rescue Plan said, the money was also to “offset the public health impact.” This situation would surely have qualified.

During the lockdown, private school students were enrolled throughout. After the lockdown the intense, focused, one on one tutoring that was needed was not available for these children. It was impossible for teachers to provide this kind of instruction to a roomful of children.

According to the office of U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, the state of Hawaii was to receive $412,328,764 for education, and “not less than 20%, or $82,465,752 must be addressed to address learning loss.” That money did not reach these kids.

It is still not too late to offer children in need the educational programs that will give them the boost that is so desperately needed to help them catch up to their peers, some of whom were given educational and social opportunities during those difficult COVID-19 times.

If we don’t, the future of all these children and our community will pay a high price.

What a terrible and avoidable waste.

Bobbie Slater has taught at Blanche Pope Elementary and Kamehameha Schools, been a business owner, and volunteered at places such as Palama Settlement and the Women’s Community Correctional Center.