The pandemic’s toll on babies and their parents | Morning Newsletter
And, learning about the Underground Railroad.
The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning from The Inquirer newsroom.
It could be time for a snow meltdown in the Philly region. Temperatures are expected to begin ticking upward starting today.
First: We talked to doctors about the pandemic’s toll on babies and parents.
Then: In South Jersey, students are learning about the Underground Railroad by studying what happened in their own back yard.
And: A year after the coronavirus claimed the first American life, half a million Americans have now died of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University’s data.
— Ashley Hoffman (@_ashleyhoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
As the pandemic stretches on, social isolation is taking a gigantic toll on parents and their children, and that can include babies.
Without the typical support systems in place, parents have concerns about physical safety and the battle against food insecurity. And then there are questions about social development. Without that constant stream of extended family member faces, is the pandemic holding babies back? Doctors to whom we spoke say the little ones should be OK, but it’s the parents whose mental health might understandably suffer.
There are ways parents can bring bursts of normal life into what can be a detached time for parents and children, such as virtual play dates. But getting through this time calls for more than the usual stamina against the kind of relentless stress that’s so severe it’s called “toxic stress.”
Reporter Sarah Gantz has the whole story.
For students of Lawnside Elementary School, their “backyard” really is the place to be when it comes to a “classroom.”
Teachers are helping them to discover sites and burial grounds in a South Jersey borough that was a stop on the Underground Railroad, which sheltered runaway slaves. The idea is to give students a look at the history with an experiential process. As during Black History Month, they’ve embarked on a “Visualizing Your Past” curriculum, a fresh approach that’s full of life lessons on the surroundings.
The pupils go beyond books around town with virtual tours, apps, and maps they use to make real world connections to history and its figures. It all culminates with students creating their own project, such as a video or a newsletter.
Reporter Melanie Burney has the story on this fresh approach to learning history.
Where can you get a vaccine in the Philly area if you’re eligible? Use our lookup tool and find out.
Here are the updated coronavirus case numbers, as COVID-19 spreads in the region.
What you need to know today
Yesterday, President Joe Biden marked the U.S. crossing 500,000 lives lost from COVID-19 with a moment of silence and candle-lighting ceremony at the White House.
Pennsylvania can now count 10,000 mail ballots that arrived in the three days after Election Day in November, but had remained in legal limbo, the U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled. It’s likely that they will extend President Joe Biden’s margin of victory in the Keystone State.
A GOP donor with a history of racist language gave $500,000 to a group opposing Philly DA Larry Krasner.
Philly teachers have started to get their first COVID-19 shots.
Spotlight PA and The Inquirer are suing to unseal records in an ex-Democratic state lawmaker’s embezzlement case.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
We like the look of things from this honeyed vantage point. Thanks for sharing, @nickjmalf.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out!
That’s interesting
🥕 Land Based Jawns is a series that covers agricultural skills, food justice, nutrition, environmental health, and mental health, too. As people learn to grow food, they’ll also learn self-defense and self-forgiveness.
📸 Photos in the book The Black Civil War Soldier by North Philly native Deborah Willis remember a quest for freedom.
🍲 Eating delicious food, supporting restaurants, and joining the battle against food waste. There’s one app for all that.
Opinions
“These residents are our family members and friends. Someday, we will be in these homes. We must act on that which generations of change agents demand of our efforts at protecting society’s vulnerable and put people before profits.” — nursing homes deserve more funding to tackle pre-pandemic issues, writes David R. Hoffman, president of David Hoffman & Associates and Seelig+Cussigh CEO Jerry Seelig.
Don’t let MLK go back to being the highway that cut people off from the waterfront. The city should reimagine MLK Drive as a place for people, writes Randy LoBasso, policy director at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
Will Bunch writes that Biden’s recent town hall meeting answer misunderstands the crushing weight of student loans.
What we’re reading
This is how the same storm hit Texans in different ways, from the Texas Tribune.
Angela Duckworth recounts the lessons from legendary baseball manager Tommy Lasorda, who died last month. The Norristown native was her lifelong pen pal, mentor, and friend who inspired her to ask her students to write their own eulogies as an exercise to help them find out how they want to show up for life.