Agreed. It amazes me how many people cannot pivot in their thought process when things change. Its linear thought and once you “pick a side” you never budge. I know that’s how politics works for a lot of people but this is real life and kids we are talking about.
Totally agree. We were quite comfortable with our unvaccinated youth kids going back to school as normal when cases were 4 per 100k. Not that they are 65 per 100k here, we feel very differently. They will be masked and if their school wasn’t masking and distancing they would be staying Home until this wave passes. Even with masks and distancing I am very apprehensive about them going back. A school down the road from us opened yesterday. They already have dozens of cases today.
School closings last year were a disaster for many kids around the country. So much increase in failure rates, to kids just not showing up for virtual at all. I think that is on the minds of many as the number one reason to get schools open.
Equally troubling is that in the pandemic, those choices ultimately affect everyone regardless of their point of view. It’s compounded when public policy decisions are made through that narrow lens.
For me, nothing to do with politics. Just weighing the risk differently than others...also, my opinion slightly adjusts when we are talking about 17 years olds, rather than the 8 year old I have.
Agreed the mask argument has gone off the rails long ago. Sides that had nothing to do with science were created - more extreme in the US perhaps but stories exist elsewhere, too.
You raise a very valid point about many kids having real difficulty with remote learning last year. It’s a very real thing. So there’s a valid reason for many to return to in-person schooling. But with the greater numbers and a raging variant it seems as if the responsible thing to do would be to continue mask mandates and social distancing wherever possible, especially in hard hit areas. And continue the remote learning option for kids who can perform under those circumstances, to reduce the overall number of kids enrolled in person. This approach which we already did last year seems like the common sense thing to do to balance education and public health concerns. Instead here in FL, we’ve thrown out the rule book almost entirely, pushing all kids back to in-person learning and taking away the options and safety measures at the worst possible time.
We're at 146/100k in our little county. 29 positive cases just today, we hadn't gone above 15 cases since March 31st. End of June through July was 0-5 cases, then August hit. You'd have to go back to January 29th to find a higher reported case rate.
Absolutely. We failed as a nation to have meaningful policy regarding mitigations and vaccines. I’m simply saying loonies are everywhere, and France had protests about vaccine passes recently, too. We take the cake, for sure, though.
Yes. It is tough to get 50 different states, which are essentially 50 different countries each with their own diverse populations and unique cultures, totaling 330 million people, on board with the same solutions for dealing with the virus...
IMO my 6th grader probably would have done better with virtual if the wasn't required to have everything done before school ended. There were times she didn't completely understand something but since it couldn't wait for me to get home or be walked through it on the phone she would turn it in half completed or put random answers. Pervious years if she had incomplete work she brought it home where I could help her understand it better.
Valid points, and even across Canada provinces have slight variance in policy. Read our friends’ posts in here between Ontario and BC. The overarching theme up there, though, is tying policy to rates. Actually creating an incentive to “rush in” and not have hollow arguments unrooted from reality if there was a tinge of holdout timidness. It caused rapid uptake because people wanted borders open, indoor dining, theaters, whatever whatever. It was all tied to varying degrees of vaccine acceptance rates and not itchiness of the public.
For the vaccine specifically, the rates here in the US perplex me. Don’t know what else to say about that.
I’m so sorry. Hopefully this wave passes soon
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