Slow Down
My portal of fantasy and safety was closed this morning, double padlocked with a sign that read, “Closed until they stop playing Russian roulette with our children.”
Mrs. Jones, the hopeful but confused and suspicious mother, said to her son, “Goodbye, my little Johnnie. I hope you have fun in school this year and don’t contract the virus that is spreading faster in the U.S. than anywhere on the planet.”
“And here is an apple to give to your teacher to help her get strong while she waits for the other viral shoe to fall and maybe dies,” said mother.
“Mommy,” asked a perplexed Johnnie. “Does the fish really rot from the head down?”
“I don’t know,” said mommy. “But we have to trust our leaders, including the president who by last count by the Washington Post, has made 19,127 false or misleading claims in 1,226 days and has ordered hospitals to report directly to the White House and bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
“OK, mom, see you later. Can I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I come home? said Johnnie.
Mrs. Wilson, a special education teacher, feels like she has to put a blindfold on and hold her breath if she is to return to school in the fall. Poor Mrs. Wilson. For all of her career, all she’s wanted to do, and she has done it very well, is to help children who are intellectually, emotionally or physically challenged.
Mrs. Wilson is in her 50s and not always in the best of health and she is scared to death about going back to school and maybe getting the virus.
Mrs. Wilson’s colleagues are equally frightened, as many are obese, have high blood pressure or are otherwise compromised and more likely targets for the virus. The same goes for administrators, aides, cafeteria workers and the bus drivers who would be in the front lines of the battle zone.
The debate about reopening schools often has zeroed in on two issues.
One is the belief that distance learning is a failure and it is important for kids to be with their peers in school and for parents to be able to go back to work and not have to worry about child care and have confidence that their children will be safe.
Unfortunately, many children are undernourished at home and need the balanced lunches offered at school and many are from dysfunctional families where learning is difficult and safety may be an issue.
The other point made in favor or re-opening schools is that some past studies have shown that younger children are not likely to contract the virus. But the latest findings seem to show that younger kids are not immune. If it is determined that children can get infected and can spread the virus, there would be thousands of potential virus incubators spreading the disease.
To both areas of concern, would you rather risk having a child fall behind in his studies rather than having him on a ventilator?
We are in a moment that makes surreal seem tepid as we are being engulfed in an avalanche of information that is often contradictory or proven to be flat out wrong.
How can the state expect children to return to school when the research about susceptibility among children is changing practically by the minute?
How can any parent or teacher make an informed decision about the risks of re-opening schools when they naturally turn for support to a president who can barely bring himself to wear a protective mask and who along with the education secretary are pressing for schools to re-open and are more concerned with the economy than the safety of the children.
How can people make decisions based on facts and not politics when the country’s highest ranked news outlet, Fox, gave out coronavirus misinformation 253 times in its weekday coverage from July 6–10? That was the report from Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media watchdog.
To read the full report, go to: https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-news-pushed-coronavirus-misinformation-253-times-just-five-days
So many questions and so few answers and so little time.
Schools aren’t going to mass test children because it is too expensive. They will test for high temperatures and will rely on parents to keep home children who show any symptoms. But the schools won’t know if a child has the virus because he probably will be asymptomatic, meaning that he won’t show a fever if his temperature is taken and some parents won’t realize their children may be ill and send them off to school.
If one teacher tests positive for COVID 19 and the teacher has five classes a day with 30 students in each class, will all 150 of the students be quarantined for two weeks?
Have the schools paid for engineering studies of the health of their HVAC systems because that is a perfect breeding ground for the virus to spread?
Masks will be required along with social distancing in the schools. But when desks are spaced out, kids may have to move to gyms or have outside classes and then you will need more teachers. But the real problem is how to keep kids who are naturally gregarious from getting together and slipping off their masks or pulling them below their noses?
And on the subject of masks, so far the emphasis has been on students in middle school and older. But new evidence shows that it may be necessary to mask all students, including little Johnnie who is running around like a dervish while his mask goes flying off.
And then there is money. While Trump pushes to re-open schools, he hasn’t mentioned providing more money so schools can be somewhat prepared. The federal CARES Act has provided around $13.5 billion for schools nationwide but experts say it will cost at least 10 times more to be ready. And at the same time, states are dealing with bombdiving revenues and forced budget cuts.
When in doubt, especially when lives are on the line, the best tack is to be conservative. Wait for more scientific results before re-opening the schools. The kids deserve that much.