Megyn Kelly Advocates for Children Returning to Schools, Bashes Remote Learning

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC News anchor, believes there is no replacement for in-person learning and advocated for children to go back to the classroom, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Kelly has three children, who have all recently resumed in-person classes, and told PEOPLE she "strongly" believes all schools across the country should be open. She believes the "remote kindergarten" her 7-year-old son Thatcher did at the end of the previous school year "defeats the point of kindergarten."

Kelly's sons Thatcher and Edward, 11, went back to school in September and her daughter Yardley, 9, went back earlier this week. "And it's glorious. I'm so thankful," she said. "I feel really strongly that the schools need to be back opened. Not just mine — mine are open now, so I don't need to advocate for my kids. But what is healthy for the children is for them to be in school."

The Megyn Kelly Show podcast host said: "enough schools" have reopened in New York and elsewhere and "have done it saintly, where they're keeping the teachers and the students well. There have been a couple cases here and there, but they're in pods." Kelly, who is not a teacher herself, said she "admires" how school administrators have been planning during the pandemic. She believes the negatives of online learning at home outweigh the positives. "I think given the incredible dangers of keeping the schools closed when it comes to abuse, nourishment, socioeconomic status, and the lack of actually getting on the Zoom or getting to the learning, the balance has completely shifted," she told PEOPLE.

Kelly called Thatcher's experience with remote kindergarten a "bummer." "You send them to kindergarten so they can go and be with their little buddies and learn the first buds of socialization, and how to handle conflict and how to share," Kelly said. "You're not really sending them there to learn that red is red, and this is black. You can teach them that in an afternoon."

New York City is three weeks into in-person learning and has seen a surprisingly small number of positive coronavirus cases, The New York Times reports. During the first week of classes, 16,348 staff members and students were randomly rested by the school system. There were only 20 positive cases among staff members and eight among students. There were only four positive cases among the 3,300 tests conducted since the last week of September. However, there have been localized spikes in Queens and Brooklyn, with over 120 schools closed as a precaution.