Shut the door, lock and latch it

 Shut the door, lock and latch it!

 

Quickly- lock the doors to the schools, here comes COVID with a brand new hachet.  Keep all the kids out!  Keep the teachers home!  Damn the lack of learning, damn the mental health issues, damn the social/emotional damage.  The virus is coming, the virus is coming AGAIN

The news is full of worry about the positivity rate of the newest variant of the Covid 19 virus.  Yes it is bad, and could be better if everyone would get vaccinated but they won’t and some kids can’t.  So the solution of some schools and school systems seems to be to go back to virtual learning- which could be the world’s greatest oxymoron since “common sense”. The Maryland State Board of Education is STRONGLY opposing whole school systems moving to virtual learning. In spite of that,  Prince George’s County schools made the decision to make the move to total virtual learning  before the winter break until mid-January.  The Maryland State Superintendent of Schools reminded school systems of the huge loss to kids when they are not in school. Maryland state-wide tests scores absolutely crashed this past fall in spite of local superintendents telling us how wonderful kids were doing on virtual learning.  The Baltimore County superintendent told staff and students to take home portable devices “just in case” the county schools go to virtual learning after the winter break.  Baltimore City schools have delayed coming back from the break for two days to give them a chance to test all students and staff.

So why shouldn’t we be safe and send the kids home again.  Well I guess that depends on how you define safe.

Let’s start with the most obvious.  Safe from illness.  With teachers being vaccinated or required to be tested negative before being in school, their chances of serious illness are low.  Every winter schools are hit with a bad batch of flu cases and life goes on.  What about the students who aren’t vaccinated?  First of all, if they are over five, they should be.  Let’s do clinics in schools and get the kids vaccinated.  Oh wait I forgot, that is government overreach?  Are the kids vaccinated against smallpox, measles, mumps, polio and other childhood diseases?  Yep they are but that was when we protected kids with science not politics.  If kids and staff stay in school, some will get sick.  And if kids and staff stay out of school, some will get sick because they will not be locked in their homes.

What about the other definitions of safe?   Is it safe for kids to lose another partial or whole year of learning?  How long will it take them to catch up with that?  Is it safe for more high school kids to drop out lured by the hot $15 an hour jobs currently available for people with or without a high school diploma?  What will happen to those kids next year or the year after that?

And then there is mental health.  We already know from last year’s “virtual learning”, that students suffered serious mental health depression ranging from anger to suicidal thoughts.   Schools are struggling to manage this new found aggression that is showing up not only in schools but on airplanes when people are asked to mask up.   People, including children, are feeling impotent and angry.  Another virtual school situation will not make that better.

The winter flu has been with us for multiple years.   Might just happen that some variation on the theme of flu/COVID virus might be around for a long time as well.  We can run but we can’t hide, and it will be a lot better for kids if we stop doing both