NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The recent Vanderbilt Child Heath Poll has found education and school quality top the list of concerns by parents in the state. This comes after students faced all sorts of hurdles and challenges during the pandemic.
Across the state, when asked to select their foremost worries for kids, parents consistently listed education and school quality among the top five.
Bullying and cyberbullying came in as the next concerns on the list, and those were followed by child mental health concerns and concerns around COVID-19.
Researchers noted there were differences in parents' priorities based on their race and location.
For example, the poll found that one in three Black parents are worried about racial inequality and gun violence, which topped the list in West Tennessee.
In Middle Tennessee, almost all of the concerns were directly about COVID in schools or how the virus has impacted education over the past couple of years.
In East Tennessee, drug and alcohol abuse made the top five.
The data is to be shared not only with the public, but also with policy makers, to let them know of the issues on parents' minds and how they vary across the state.
