The past few days for many children and young adults was back-to-school week. Across the country I watched friends and family posting their pictures for the first day of school and had a sick feeling in my stomach. I watched and agreed with my former teachers — it was too early for kids to be returning to the classroom.

Many young children have been kept home since the shutdowns began in March. These children are just now being allowed out of their homes and are being allowed to see friends and teachers for the first time in months.

Many teachers have been protesting, and even threatening to sue Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds if they have to return to school this fall.

Iowa City Community Schools and the Iowa State Education Association filed a lawsuit against the governor, demanding that they shouldn’t have to have 50 percent of students in-person or teaching in the classroom. While this seems to me as a bit out there and different, it is unknown what will come from this.

What is known though is teachers’ hesitation to return to in-person instruction. According to NPR, two out of every three teachers want to start the school year online — and with good reason.

While children and young adults may have a lower mortality rate than older individuals, they still can carry the virus asymptomatically like anyone else. They may even be capable of shedding the virus for weeks after contracting it, according to a new study done by the Children’s National Hospital.

Young children going back is a huge risk now after having returned to campus. All around campus, I see my classmates not wearing masks or following protocols, and still partying as if there isn’t a pandemic.

It’s no isolated incident either — other universities are swapping to online instruction due to the uptick in cases caused, in part, by parties.

When we see a spike in cases, it’s mostly from college towns. The reported cases for Iowa City are around 200 and the University of Alabama is at over 1,000 presently.

If we are already seeing increased cases from upper learning, why on earth would we think it is safe to open up K-12 schools? Kids are less capable of understanding personal safety and precautions than adults.

While many schools are going to require face masks and reduce sizes of classes as a preventative measure, how many children need to get sick before they close again?

COVID-19 responses can no longer just be reactive if we are going to get out of this any time soon. Instead of setting a threshold of acceptable losses before doing anything, we should be doing our utmost to prevent anything from nearing that threshold at all.

So please, wear a mask, stay six feet apart, wash your hands, and make sure everyone understands the risks of getting infected. This is more than just a lost summer; this is a real threat. This pandemic affects all of us, and we all have a responsibility to keep ourselves and others safe.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.