Doctors provide guidelines for parents on back-to-school safety

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Parents across the country want to know if it's safe to send their kids back to school. Local doctors are offering new guidelines to help them during this difficult time. 

Medical professionals hosted a panel Thursday morning, July 23, saying they are comfortable sending their own kids to school, but say it should be a well-thought out and personal decision for parents. 

The experts said if you as a parent make the decision to send your child back to school, you should have a conversation with your kids about it without scaring them, and remind them how to wear their masks and socially distance. 

The panelists say one two to six percent of children contract COVID-19, and if they do they are usually asymptomatic and don't need to be hospitalized. 

Here's what experts say about whether or not you should allow your children to play sports including contact sports like football. 

"We have to be search that the rules are being followed. That nobody comes sick or with any symptoms at all and maybe screenings should be done before practices. There’s different ways to approach it but you can do screening. Also understanding that when they are done with what they are doing they separate, but I think we also have to understand that different levels of contact bring about different levels of risks and so every family is going to have to decide what level of risk it wants to deal with," said Dr. Mary Ann Collins said.

As for what your kids should do when they first get home after school -- experts say they should take their shoes off on the porch, wash their hands, wipe down their bags, and you could even tell them to change their clothes. 

Watch below if you'd like to see the entire panel discussion: