Did the US screw its school children?

Hmmmm.  Maybe we did screw up.

The US had significant lockdowns and school closings and still has significant masking requirements.

Sweden encouraged social distancing BUT did not have significant lockdowns or masking requirements, they kept schools open and did not require students to mask.

To date Sweden has 35% less Covid deaths per million than the US.

While it is difficult and only begun to be quantified, it is clear that the US school lockdowns had a significant negative impact on children's education, social and emotional health. It is clear that these harmful affects negatively and disproportionately affected students of color  

Also in a recent study from Sweden, there were no Covid deaths of children during the first 4 months of the Covid outbreak and the incidence of Covid amoung it's teachers was significantly less than the general public.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2026670