Hilary Duff says her son Luca, 8, can decide whether to go back to school
A lot of Coronavirus discussion right now revolves around reopening schools or not. CB wrote yesterday about teachers in Florida suing the governor over his school mandates. The soulless succubus that is our Education secretary, Betsy DeVos, flaunts her ignorance on a daily basis. (Have I mentioned how much I loathe Betsy Devos?) Parents are currently being asked by their school district to opt-in for distance learning or sign on to some version of school attendance (full or blended, which is physical attendance for half the week with half the number of students per class) in the fall. Many parents are struggling with this decision, especially since they are being asked to opt-in for either a full semester or the full school year. Hilary Duff found a unique way settle the matter, she’s leaving the choice up to her eight-year-old son, Luca. Luca starts third grade in the fall and the way things stand, Hilary said it his decision if he wants to go back in the classroom or not.
Hilary Duff trusts her son to make decisions that are in his own best interest.
In an exclusive chat with PEOPLE surrounding her partnership with Creative Roots, the actress and singer says she and her family — which includes 8-year-old son Luca Cruz, husband Matthew Koma and their daughter Banks Violet, 20 months — are staying up to date with guidelines surrounding the coronavirus pandemic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and taking decisions for Luca’s entry into third grade one step at a time.
“Luca goes to private school, and we’re just waiting to see what happens,” says Duff, 32. “For his emotional well-being, I think it would be great if he could go back to school, but also it depends on what that looks like.”
“If it’s just strictly learning and no social interaction … I guess I would let him make the choice,” she adds. “If he was going and it was super sterile and it wasn’t benefiting him [in a social way], I would be up for remote learning again.”
When I first read the headline that Hilary was letting her kid decide, I was floored. But after ruminating on it a bit, I think I understand. Luca goes to a private school. I was talking to my friend last night, one of her kids goes to public and one goes to private. The decision is night and day because privates are usually small class sizes and have the resources/space to properly social distance. Plus there’s more staff to monitor the kids and ensure they are adhering to social distancing. But truthfully, Hilary’s reasoning is not unlike my own. I’m making the final choice for my kids about school, but my decision is heavily factoring what they want. I selected blended learning because my kids did not thrive in a virtual environment. I determined this based on their happiness, which is what it sounds like Hilary is hoping to do by letting Luca choose. But both Hilary and I live in a state in which we know the governor will put the children’s safety first. So we have the luxury of deciding based on our kids’ preferences because when it becomes a safety issue, we know CA will shut the schools down again. Parents in Georgia, Florida, etc. who are suing for the right to make the safe decision for their kids, have a much tougher decision.
I disagree with Hilary over a “super sterile” environment not benefiting kids socially. I have teenagers who just want a face-to-face discourse, even if it is six feet apart. They want the back and forth of classroom discussion and teacher’s lectures. Were they eight, like Luca, and still in that very physical space of childhood, again, I can see where Hilary is coming from.
What kind of decisions is your family making about school?
Photo credit: Instagram and WENN/Avalon
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmb29jZYB4e8eio5qqqZSxtrLFmKqasaOUtaa%2Bvqymp5ecqrCiq5eYmpqmj5mypLXDnpawoJWptaa%2Bvq2mmJ%2BflK%2Bir8qYq6iXo5i1sLvLaA%3D%3D