Corona Virus

[DMT]

Unilateral decisions from the federal government to open everything everywhere with little to no planning or safety measures is absurd. Doing whatever must be done to get as many kids, at least elementary school kids, in-person as much as possible isn't absurd. If there are locations with little to no cases, whenever that happens, with proper testing and safety procedures in place, every day that a young kid can be educated and socialized, the better. Shutting down everything and putting millions of 5-10 year olds all online for years would be a disaster not only to our economy but to their development. These elementary aged kids need some interaction and socialization, at the very least. If that means just a couple of day a week in classes half their original size, or less, it is still worth the effort.

Whatever must be done meaning what exactly? And please show anywhere that is actually happening. Schools are not prepared and putting kids back in schools in the middle of a raging pandemic is absurd. Trump has completely fucked us and we shouldn't compound his sociopathy by pretending we can re-open schools safely when no evidence backs that up.

[DMT]

And all of the risk would be lower if we as a society acted more like Hong Kong outside of schools. They all wear masks. They are all careful. You don't see COVID parties there and people acting like idiots every single day.

But that's not reality here. Pretending otherwise doesn't make it so.

[revo]

I truly feel sorry for anyone forced to play Russian roulette with their children in the next month.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/israel...lockdown-gains

If they didn't test the kids, then there would have been no outbreak! Problem solved.

[heyelander]

I remember watching a documentary on the building of the St Louis Arch. They were talking about getting insurance for the project and how many people they estimated would die during its construction. That boggled my mind. I imagine the same calculations are being done right now for reopening kindergarten.

[Sour Masher]

Whatever must be done meaning what exactly? And please show anywhere that is actually happening. Schools are not prepared and putting kids back in schools in the middle of a raging pandemic is absurd. Trump has completely fucked us and we shouldn't compound his sociopathy by pretending we can re-open schools safely when no evidence backs that up.

For one, not prioritizing bars, clubs, and restaurants over reopening schools. Not being lax with enforcement and fines of idiots spreading this thing everywhere they go, because the reason we are having this conversation is in part because of the spike in numbers that are happening completely independent of schools and kids. That would be leadership. And also allocating whatever resources and funds it takes to ensure schools are as safe as possible. It might mean having HS all online and using those schools to split up ES and MS class sizes. It might mean paying to train substitute teachers to prepare them to carry some of the load. It might mean investing in PPE that I am not seeing in my area. It would mean investing in testing and tracking. And even with all that, it would still mean assessing the situation locally on a daily basis and making nimble decisions to ensure safety. But again, all of that is worth the effort to get young kids in classrooms when we can where we can. We have green lit risky social interactions that are far less important than the socialization and education of our young. I get to a degree arguing shutting it all down. But to allow all of these other interactions and keep schools closed shows an extreme lack of proper priorities.

[Sour Masher]

It would also be great, since online education will still be a thing for all kids for the foreseeable future if resources were devoted to making that experience better. My wife works with superintendents in our area. That have no plan yet. None. They have heard nothing at all from state officials. They have not lifted one finger to help prepare for a safer return to in-person education OR provide any training to teachers to teach online, or any new tech or resources to make that better. We are in the middle of July and it seems everyone is still just sitting and waiting to see what is dictated to them from on high. The complete lack of prep and the unmitigated disaster that was online "teaching" here was excusable in the Spring. It is not excusable to continue the way things were for the new school year, that that is where we are headed.

[Sour Masher]

There has been a complete lack of uniformity and consistency in online education in our area. And this has lead and will continue to lead to great inequities in the quality of education provided. There were schools that I know of and teachers that I know of that actually interacted with their kids and had Zoom meetings and did interactive learning online. My son's class did not do those things, outside of a half an hour school "field trip" to watch zoo cameras once a month.

Without standards and practices being taught and implemented universally, there is going to be tremendous differences in the quality of education kids will get, and those differences will absolutely play out along racial and economic lines. My wife and I should be able to keep our boys' heads above water, because we are both invested and are educators. Many kids will be left to fall way, way behind. Those kids will most often be poor and be minorities.

[GwynnInTheHall]

And as we all know, even the best plans can be scuttled by people/parents who just don't give a shit--how many times have kids been dropped off at school completely sick, sneezing, coughing with snot running down their faces. Covid is licking it's chops.

[The Feral Slasher]

For one, not prioritizing bars, clubs, and restaurants over reopening schools. Not being lax with enforcement and fines of idiots spreading this thing everywhere they go, because the reason we are having this conversation is in part because of the spike in numbers that are happening completely independent of schools and kids. That would be leadership. And also allocating whatever resources and funds it takes to ensure schools are as safe as possible. It might mean having HS all online and using those schools to split up ES and MS class sizes. It might mean paying to train substitute teachers to prepare them to carry some of the load. It might mean investing in PPE that I am not seeing in my area. It would mean investing in testing and tracking. And even with all that, it would still mean assessing the situation locally on a daily basis and making nimble decisions to ensure safety. But again, all of that is worth the effort to get young kids in classrooms when we can where we can. We have green lit risky social interactions that are far less important than the socialization and education of our young. I get to a degree arguing shutting it all down. But to allow all of these other interactions and keep schools closed shows an extreme lack of proper priorities.

Sure...but just because we unwisely opened up other activities doesn't mean it is a good idea to open schools.

[The Feral Slasher]

Sure...but just because we unwisely opened up other activities doesn't mean it is a good idea to open schools.

In fact, it is partially because we opened all those other activities that it will now not be a good idea to open schools

[DMT]

For one, not prioritizing bars, clubs, and restaurants over reopening schools. Not being lax with enforcement and fines of idiots spreading this thing everywhere they go, because the reason we are having this conversation is in part because of the spike in numbers that are happening completely independent of schools and kids. That would be leadership. And also allocating whatever resources and funds it takes to ensure schools are as safe as possible. It might mean having HS all online and using those schools to split up ES and MS class sizes. It might mean paying to train substitute teachers to prepare them to carry some of the load. It might mean investing in PPE that I am not seeing in my area. It would mean investing in testing and tracking. And even with all that, it would still mean assessing the situation locally on a daily basis and making nimble decisions to ensure safety. But again, all of that is worth the effort to get young kids in classrooms when we can where we can. We have green lit risky social interactions that are far less important than the socialization and education of our young. I get to a degree arguing shutting it all down. But to allow all of these other interactions and keep schools closed shows an extreme lack of proper priorities.

I understand your argument from a morals/principles perspective, but it's simply not realistic given the state of our country at the current moment. It's terribly unfortunate for the children whose parents can't (or won't) do all they can to assist in their childrens' educations, but in the hierarchy of needs, life and health come before education.

[Sour Masher]

I understand your argument from a morals/principles perspective, but it's simply not realistic given the state of our country at the current moment. It's terribly unfortunate for the children whose parents can't (or won't) do all they can to assist in their childrens' educations, but in the hierarchy of needs, life and health come before education.

Well, this is an age-old moral debate, and there are no comfortable answers in the hypothetical weighing of things, although I suspect I know that some here would way even one life, no matter the age, as being heavier than the development of millions of kids. My counter to that would be that a lack of education and socialization, down the road, could cost lives as well. But I really do not know how to do the math on that or know if math is the right way to make such tough decisions. I do know I am frustrated by how my 5 year old was "taught" last year, by the lack of planning being done now, and by the carelessness I see daily in our society that has COVID spreading like wild fire, to the extent that we may force our kids to suffer, because adults can't be careful and sacrifice to contain this thing.

[chancellor]

And as we all know, even the best plans can be scuttled by people/parents who just don't give a shit--how many times have kids been dropped off at school completely sick, sneezing, coughing with snot running down their faces. Covid is licking it's chops.

This.

[fuhrdog]

So now Hospital data on virus patients will be sent to the WH first instead of going to the CDC...solid move if you want to suppress data from being public...amirite

[Moonlight J]

The previous image is the view that makes it easier to see the patterns in deaths. But below is the view that freaks me out, when you scale the deaths at 4% of cases (which they have been in the past) as opposed 1% of cases like I did above. What is to come? This is another reason why I think the lag is more like 5-6 weeks, and why that concerns me so much.

The South Shall Rise Again!!!