Whether schools should be reopened after the COVID-19 lockdown has proved to be a contentious issue. These divisions are mostly informed by the fact that the transmission patterns of COVID-19 aren’t well understood. As is the case with most public discourse issues today, social media is an excellent place to determine what people are thinking. We scoured through twitter to see what the general sentiment was on this matter.
Methodology
U.S Back-to-School: Support or Against?
Tweets with sentiment detected as Positive are considered as Support back-to-school.
Tweets with sentiment detected as Negative are considered as Against back-to-school.
We do not take into consideration tweets with sentiment detected as Neutral.
When a state has more positive tweets than negative tweets, we consider it as the state support back-to-school, and vice versa.
With that in mind, we have:

The seven states that support school reopening are:
- Arizona
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Nevada
- Tennessee
Among the states against going back to school, Maryland has the highest rate (41.29%).
State | Support/Against? | % support | % against |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama | Against | 30,23% | 36,45% |
Alaska | Against | 28,90% | 37,07% |
Arizona | Support | 32,89% | 32,28% |
Arkansas | Against | 29,06% | 35,35% |
California | Against | 28,09% | 35,68% |
Colorado | Against | 19,07% | 33,06% |
Connecticut | Support | 29,58% | 28,75% |
Delaware | Support | 34,51% | 26,55% |
Florida | Against | 26,76% | 37,40% |
Georgia | Against | 26,03% | 38,63% |
Idaho | Against | 30,17% | 36,44% |
Illinois | Against | 30,50% | 35,58% |
Indiana | Against | 28,32% | 38,94% |
Iowa | Against | 30,13% | 32,86% |
Kansas | Support | 34,87% | 29,84% |
Kentucky | Against | 30,66% | 35,01% |
Louisiana | Against | 32,77% | 33,53% |
Maine | Against | 26,70% | 38,21% |
Maryland | Against | 27,27% | 41,29% |
Massachusetts | Against | 26,92% | 36,36% |
Michigan | Against | 30,93% | 32,05% |
Minnesota | Against | 28,97% | 35,71% |
Mississippi | Against | 30,23% | 34,74% |
Missouri | Support | 35,55% | 30,68% |
Montana | Against | 19,08% | 33,06% |
Nebraska | Against | 31,27% | 34,61% |
Nevada | Support | 36,26% | 29,25% |
New Hampshire | Against | 30,18% | 36,09% |
New Jersey | Against | 25,83% | 39,30% |
New Mexico | Against | 27,06% | 37,63% |
New York | Against | 26,83% | 37,50% |
North Carolina | Against | 31,81% | 32,81% |
North Dakota | Against | 26,07% | 36,30% |
Ohio | Against | 30,80% | 34,55% |
Oklahoma | Against | 31,48% | 32,39% |
Oregon | Against | 32,36% | 33,00% |
Pennsylvania | Against | 26,80% | 37,09% |
Rhode Island | Against | 27,59% | 37,93% |
South Carolina | Against | 30,50% | 34,08% |
South Dakota | Against | 26,00% | 33,20% |
Tennessee | Support | 34,26% | 32,47% |
Texas | Against | 28,88% | 37,30% |
Utah | Against | 30,95% | 35,17% |
Vermont | Against | 31,03% | 39,08% |
Virginia | Against | 28,71% | 37,58% |
Washington | Against | 28,42% | 35,34% |
West Virginia | Against | 24,32% | 40,81% |
Wisconsin | Against | 30,14% | 36,26% |
Wyoming | Against | 30,82% | 33,66% |
Hawaii | Against | 27,21% | 36,11% |
District of Columbia | Against | 24,79% | 43,06% |
How Americans Are Stressed About Reopening Schools
Each tweet was detected with a stress level. Stress levels range from -4 to +4, and can be understood as follows:
Stress level | |
---|---|
-4 | Extremely stressed |
-3 | |
-2 | |
-1 | Stressed |
Stress level | |
---|---|
4 | Extremely relaxed |
3 | |
2 | |
1 | Relaxed |
We do not take into consideration tweets with stress level detected as Zero (which can be understood as Neutral).
When a state has more “stressed” tweets than ”relaxed” tweets, we consider it as the state is stressed about back-to-school, and vice versa.
With that in mind, we have established that:

Top 5 states that are most relaxed about back-to-school:
- Nevada – 36.29%
- Missouri – 35.46%
- Delaware – 34.96%
- Kansa – 34.91%
- Tennessee – 34.26%
Top 5 states that are most stressed about back-to-school:
- New Jersey – 34.50%
- Maryland – 33.33%
- Indiana – 32.30%
- Georgia – 31.79%
- Maine – 31.39%
Detailed stress levels of each state:
State | Stressed/Relaxed? | Level -4 | Level -3 | Level -2 | Level -1 | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | Relaxed | 0.54% | 4.29% | 10.52% | 14.31% | 18.42% | 9.61% | 2.07% | 0.23% |
Alaska | Stressed | 0.50% | 4.16% | 10.68% | 14.73% | 16.51% | 9.53% | 2.80% | 0.17% |
Arizona | Relaxed | 0.38% | 3.01% | 9.57% | 12.64% | 16.04% | 12.94% | 3.92% | 0.09% |
Arkansas | Relaxed | 0.42% | 4.12% | 10.17% | 14.11% | 16.75% | 9.39% | 2.77% | 0.19% |
California | Stressed | 0.55% | 4.33% | 10.63% | 14.08% | 16.23% | 8.94% | 2.75% | 0.19% |
Colorado | Stressed | 0.10% | 2.11% | 8.71% | 17.31% | 13.59% | 4.18% | 1.26% | 0.10% |
Connecticut | Relaxed | 0.42% | 2.50% | 8.75% | 12.08% | 18.33% | 7.50% | 3.33% | 0.42% |
Delaware | Relaxed | 0.44% | 3.54% | 6.64% | 10.18% | 19.47% | 11.50% | 3.10% | 0.88% |
District of Columbia | Stressed | 0.60% | 4.76% | 12.65% | 17.18% | 15.90% | 7.09% | 1.77% | 0.12% |
Florida | Stressed | 0.45% | 4.02% | 11.44% | 14.72% | 16.26% | 8.17% | 2.33% | 0.10% |
Georgia | Stressed | 0.48% | 4.36% | 11.69% | 15.26% | 16.40% | 7.44% | 2.10% | 0.12% |
Hawaii | Stressed | 0.56% | 3.36% | 10.36% | 14.96% | 15.90% | 9.22% | 2.00% | 0.20% |
Idaho | Relaxed | 0.48% | 4.32% | 10.55% | 14.19% | 18.27% | 9.65% | 2.15% | 0.22% |
Illinois | Relaxed | 0.76% | 4.24% | 10.30% | 13.69% | 15.67% | 11.05% | 3.57% | 0.21% |
Indiana | Stressed | 0.44% | 6.19% | 11.95% | 13.72% | 12.83% | 11.95% | 3.54% | 0.00% |
Iowa | Relaxed | 0.47% | 3.50% | 8.88% | 13.73% | 15.09% | 11.32% | 3.77% | 0.05% |
Kansas | Relaxed | 0.38% | 2.45% | 8.20% | 12.55% | 17.58% | 12.89% | 4.18% | 0.25% |
Kentucky | Relaxed | 0.68% | 4.19% | 10.03% | 13.35% | 15.81% | 11.15% | 3.56% | 0.19% |
Louisiana | Relaxed | 0.57% | 4.14% | 9.70% | 13.10% | 15.96% | 12.13% | 4.42% | 0.24% |
Maine | Stressed | 0.48% | 4.15% | 11.84% | 14.92% | 16.35% | 8.11% | 2.22% | 0.09% |
Maryland | Stressed | 0.57% | 3.60% | 12.88% | 16.29% | 14.96% | 10.23% | 1.52% | 0.19% |
Massachusetts | Stressed | 0.14% | 3.62% | 10.72% | 13.85% | 15.20% | 8.52% | 2.98% | 0.28% |
Michigan | Relaxed | 0.35% | 3.54% | 8.67% | 12.55% | 16.91% | 10.70% | 3.28% | 0.13% |
Minnesota | Relaxed | 0.46% | 3.77% | 9.94% | 14.77% | 15.35% | 9.94% | 3.46% | 0.22% |
Mississippi | Relaxed | 0.35% | 4.03% | 8.93% | 14.27% | 16.13% | 10.62% | 3.64% | 0.09% |
Missouri | Relaxed | 0.43% | 3.61% | 8.45% | 12.18% | 17.45% | 13.32% | 4.47% | 0.22% |
Montana | Stressed | 0.10% | 2.02% | 8.73% | 17.42% | 13.58% | 4.19% | 1.21% | 0.10% |
Nebraska | Relaxed | 0.49% | 4.34% | 9.64% | 13.47% | 17.54% | 10.79% | 2.88% | 0.24% |
Nevada | Relaxed | 0.38% | 3.10% | 8.27% | 11.79% | 18.03% | 13.71% | 4.36% | 0.19% |
New Hampshire | Relaxed | 0.59% | 1.78% | 10.65% | 14.79% | 13.61% | 12.43% | 2.96% | 1.18% |
New Jersey | Stressed | 0.92% | 4.43% | 13.10% | 16.05% | 13.10% | 9.59% | 2.77% | 0.18% |
New Mexico | Stressed | 0.47% | 4.24% | 11.33% | 14.93% | 16.31% | 8.20% | 2.46% | 0.13% |
New York | Stressed | 0.46% | 4.10% | 11.28% | 14.89% | 16.50% | 8.06% | 2.28% | 0.11% |
North Carolina | Relaxed | 0.36% | 3.50% | 8.81% | 13.78% | 15.66% | 12.23% | 3.81% | 0.13% |
North Dakota | Stressed | 0.31% | 5.73% | 11.66% | 11.96% | 14.21% | 9.51% | 2.66% | 0.10% |
Ohio | Relaxed | 0.55% | 3.80% | 10.24% | 13.42% | 15.58% | 11.25% | 3.82% | 0.23% |
Oklahoma | Relaxed | 0.42% | 3.13% | 9.13% | 13.49% | 15.35% | 12.26% | 3.96% | 0.04% |
Oregon | Relaxed | 0.53% | 3.61% | 9.03% | 13.07% | 16.46% | 11.91% | 3.89% | 0.26% |
Pennsylvania | Stressed | 0.44% | 4.51% | 9.47% | 15.80% | 14.80% | 8.20% | 3.85% | 0.11% |
Rhode Island | Stressed | 0.57% | 1.72% | 13.22% | 14.37% | 19.54% | 6.90% | 1.15% | 0.00% |
South Carolina | Relaxed | 0.38% | 3.58% | 9.20% | 14.26% | 15.53% | 11.45% | 3.36% | 0.12% |
South Dakota | Stressed | 1.60% | 3.60% | 8.80% | 12.80% | 13.20% | 8.80% | 2.80% | 1.20% |
Tennessee | Relaxed | 0.55% | 3.87% | 9.27% | 13.01% | 16.05% | 13.08% | 4.84% | 0.30% |
Texas | Stressed | 0.53% | 4.13% | 10.83% | 14.79% | 16.60% | 9.46% | 2.75% | 0.17% |
Utah | Relaxed | 0.71% | 3.92% | 10.11% | 13.62% | 15.92% | 11.38% | 3.57% | 0.18% |
Vermont | Relaxed | 2.30% | 6.90% | 11.49% | 9.20% | 19.54% | 9.20% | 2.30% | 0.00% |
Virginia | Stressed | 0.08% | 4.19% | 12.34% | 13.15% | 16.21% | 9.84% | 2.82% | 0.24% |
Washington | Stressed | 0.49% | 4.30% | 10.45% | 13.94% | 16.29% | 9.17% | 2.83% | 0.18% |
West Virginia | Stressed | 0.27% | 4.59% | 13.24% | 12.97% |