(WPDE) — The Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act, also known as School Choice, was signed into law in May 2025, nearly a year ago, allowing students to move around much more freely and frequently.
The law allows parents to use public dollars (an ESA) to send their kids to private school.
With these new laws in place, it raises the question about the impact of repeated reshuffling of children’s friend groups and social settings on their mental health.
ABC15 spoke with an expert at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) and Horry County’s Directors of Counseling Service to see what parents should consider and what safeguards should be put in place when navigating the era of School Choice.
“It can be a traumatic experience for some students,” HCS Director of Counseling Services, Tonya Pickett, said.
A recent survey conducted by the group Navigate School Choice found that 75% of parents in the United States considered searching for or enrolling a child in a new school in the past year.
“It can absolutely be difficult. When we think about the amount of time that students spend in school, oftentimes they spend more time at school than they do at home. And so, having that environment change on them and having close friends go away and trusted adults go away can definitely be difficult for students,” Pickett added.
Dr. Andrew Terranova, an associate professor of psychology at CCU, explained how issues can pile up exponentially when students continuously change environments.
“There are cumulative effects. So, the more schools that a child transitions through in the shorter periods of time, the effects can build and the negative effects on adjustment, friendships, in academics can compound, and that’s where you tend to see more negative effects on your children,” Dr. Terranova said.
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Dr. Terranova noted that School Choice is not all bad, saying most children are more than capable of switching classrooms once or twice.
“It’s important to realize that the effects of these things are relatively small. On average. Now you’ve got some who thrive at the new schools, some who struggle more, and that sort of balances out. So the overall average effects are relatively small.” Dr. Terranova said.
One of the most important things before deciding on School Choice is communication.
“Realize that this is a transition for your child and prepare them for the transition and talk to them about how their first day went and how the transition is going, if they’re having any problems. Work with them in the schools to help. Help with that transition,” Dr. Terranova said.
Pickett said that working with schools is extremely important when navigating the process, and thankfully, HCS has tons of programs in place to help.
“If you’re thinking about transferring your student in and they’re going to be new, moving early and try to communicate openly both with the school that you’re leaving. In the school that you’re going to try to coordinate campus tours. Familiarity really helps kids kind of resolve some of those jitters. And lots of our schools, we try to pair students with buddies, people that they may have something in common with, that they may share a love for a specific sport or a specific interest. And then we have counseling services all the time,” Pickett said. Comment with Bubbles
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Dr. Terranova and Pickett both emphasized that parents should do what’s in the best interest of their child, not just what may be most convenient.