“My Anxiety Has Been Heightened”: Black Mothers’ Concerns Regarding Children’s Return to In-person Learning Following COVID-19-Related Remote Learning

Black mothers experienced heightened concern about their children returning to in-person learning following COVID-19 related remote learning. Guided by critical race theory and racial protectionism, we sought to deepen our understanding of Black mothers’ concerns and experiences related to their preschoolers’ return to in-person learning during the 2021 to 2022 academic school year. We conducted five focus groups. Eighteen Black mothers (mean age = 32.90 years) of children enrolled in prekindergarten in the recently ended school year participated in a focus group with an average of 4 participants per focus group. Using reflexive thematic analysis, researchers generated the following themes: children contracting COVID-19, classroom closures and instructional concerns, bullying from other students, and school shootings. Study findings provide insight into Black mothers’ protectionism and concerns about educational systems, emphasizing the need to address health and physical safety concerns in early childhood settings to reduce educational disparities. Plain language summary The concerns that Black mothers had about their children returning to school in person during the pandemic We talked with Black mothers about concerns they had during the 2021-2022 academic school year when their children returned to school in person. Mothers shared that they were concerned about their children getting COVID-19, their children’s classroom being closed repeatedly due to someone getting COVID-19, their children being bullied by other students, and the thought that a school shooting could occur.