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I don’t know what the answer is but I’m heartsick about my grandkids. They are in 7th and 9th grades in an area that has trouble with online learning. Granddaughter, formerly confident, happy and outgoing Is now isolated and depressed. The boy is doing slightly better. Sports have stopped, really nothing available to feed their thirsty minds.
People in this country are apparently too selfish to see beyond their own inconvenience to help us all move forward. I can’t even think about Trump’s abdication of leadership without feeling hopeless.
Most children will go at least a year without effective education. We’re sacrificing our youngsters so people can party and proclaim they are not “sheep”.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,726 posts, read 58,067,115 times
Reputation: 46195
Quote:
Originally Posted by CLfan1977
I don’t know what the answer is but I’m heartsick about my grandkids. They are in 7th and 9th grades in an area that has trouble with online learning. Granddaughter, formerly confident, happy and outgoing Is now isolated and depressed. The boy is doing slightly better. Sports have stopped, really nothing available to feed their thirsty minds.
...
Dairy Farm Boarding School worked for me. Plenty to do. 4:30 AM > 10 pm; 7 days / week. No TV or video games or cell phones. Animal husbandry can be very helpful therapy.
No need for boarding school (or sports), your local dairy farmer always needs (good) free help.
I don't see how kids are going to learn in-person at this stage. Young children having to wear a mask all day? Kids that normally don't speak up much, or are shy, will be even quieter. How will they understand the teacher who is wearing a mask?
Will they actually stay 6 feet apart? They can't go near their teacher or each other. And once they do that for a few weeks and someone tests positive they all go home for a few weeks and transition to remote only and then back again.
Forget about flu. What happens when kids start getting their normal fall/winter illness? I would be shocked if kids learn anything this year while in school.
I don't see how restaurants are going to be open at this stage. Adults wearing masks the entire time they're eating? Will they actually stay 6 feet apart? They can't go near the the server or each other. And once they do that for a few weeks and someone tests positive they'll close all the restaurants.
I just walked past my downtown in a place where virus spread is uncontrolled. All the outdoor tables were filled with adults. 6 men at one table. 4 men and 2 women at another. These aren't family units, they are coworkers out to eat and chat. No distancing. No masks.
Replace restaurant with "indoor shopping", nail salons, hair salons, barbershops, thrift stores, car lots, breweries, indoor workplaces, gyms, liquor stores, and other businesses we consider more essential than schools.
The virus is spreading in the USA. It's spreading to adults, children, teachers, and everyone. Our actions have not successfully contained it.
In fact, in areas where schools are closed (like here) there are thousands of unlicensed "child cares" popping up everywhere. If you have some fantasy that the majority of children are going to stay safely isolated in their family units while a SAHP tutors them, be aware that it is just that; a fantasy. 90% of the parents I know are placing, or already have, their kids into some form of group child care. Every child activity center (gym, daycare, dance studio, martial arts dojo, etc) is offering all-day day care to make up for lost revenue.
While schools would have strict social distancing and sanitation guidelines they would follow, these impromptu day-cares are barely following basic precautions--if even that. A coworker of mine with a SAHP is hosting a 6+ hour day care in his house with some tutoring. No masks. No distancing. No scheduled hand-washing or daily sanitizing. Oh, and they have an un-fenced pool. I don't think the SAHP has CPR training and I know one of them hasn't been through any kind of vetting to be allowed near children, unsupervised.
I'm sure he's not going to do anything untoward, hopefully the SAHP will be able to keep an eye on so many kids with an open water hazard around, but multiply that unlicensed at-home day-care by 1000. How many pedophile predators, pools, trampolines, biting dogs, and other health hazards are we exposing children to?
We haven't stopped the spread. All we've done is pick winners and losers. Education is the loser. Child safety is the loser. Any child who's parents don't include a SAHP or don't have the means to either pay for them to attend a small group day care with employees who care enough to try to tutor them, has been designated a loser.
We could have done things differently. Other countries have managed to reduce viral spread and safely reopen schools (and some tried and failed, true). However, our society has certain priorities, and education is not one of them, so we're not even going to try.
I do agree that where there is community spread (nearly everywhere in the USA) opening schools will spread the virus like wildfire. The best solution isn't just throwing schools open. The best solution is putting in the effort to stop the virus with the goal of reopening schools as soon as possible.
But that is as big a fantasy, in the USA, as every child staying home all year.
I don't have any children, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I'm one of the individuals who thinks that the spread of the virus could go down/flatten once school starts back in session. I believe the high cases right now are from the amount of families traveling to beaches or other summer vacations. Once school starts back, I feel most families will be in place. Travel ball tends to slow down in Fall as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if cases jumped when school resumes the Fall semester, but there's a part of me that is holding out hope. Mainly due to people traveling less, until the holiday season starts, which most schools are trying to finish around Thanksgiving to accommodate the holiday season travel.
Last edited by weezerfan84; 08-06-2020 at 10:32 AM..
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,726 posts, read 58,067,115 times
Reputation: 46195
Quote:
Originally Posted by weezerfan84
I don't have any children, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I'm one of the individuals who thinks that the spread of the virus could go down/flatten once school starts back in session. I believe the high cases right now are from the amount of families traveling to beaches or other summer vacations. Once school starts back, I feel most families will be in place. Travel ball tends to slow down in Fall as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if cases jumped when school resumes the Fall semester, but there's a part of me that is holding out hope. Mainly due to people traveling less, until the holiday season starts, which most schools are trying to finish around Thanksgiving to accommodate the holiday season travel.
If USA was:
1) Testing
2) Tracing contacts
We would KNOW where the spread is (in Feb 2020)
Then... we could implement effective measures to correct / curtail.
I don't think it is summer travel (significantly reduced from normal).
I will bet it is more likely carelessness and lack of restraint / following known protocol for reduction of spread.
We knew summer heat was NOT going to slow / curtail, as most of SE Asia is WARM and spread was QUICK, (Chinese New Year is peak travel time) so those countries responded accordingly. (equally as quick)
From the minimal tracing we have done... most active spreading activities = Caregivers. Church, Singing, B-Day parties, Bars, Beer busts (keggars), close proximity family gatherings. One asymptomatic super spreader may meet you in a store today... or be a classmate or staff of your student. We (USA) don't know. We (USA) are not making steps to determine. 1000+ deaths / day is acceptable collateral damage.
Then... we could implement effective measures to correct / curtail.
I don't think it is summer travel (significantly reduced from normal).
I will bet it is more likely carelessness and lack of restraint / following known protocol for reduction of spread.
We knew summer heat was NOT going to slow / curtail, as most of SE Asia is WARM and spread was QUICK, (Chinese New Year is peak travel time) so those countries responded accordingly. (equally as quick)
From the minimal tracing we have done... most active spreading activities = Caregivers. Church, Singing, B-Day parties, Bars, Beer busts (keggars), close proximity family gatherings. One asymptomatic super spreader may meet you in a store today... or be a classmate or staff of your student. We (USA) don't know. We (USA) are not making steps to determine. 1000+ deaths / day is acceptable collateral damage.
We have a mandatory masks ordinance in my state that went into effect July 1. However, we had a music festival in my town the weekend before last, that benefited some non-profit agencies, that didn't go over well for public perception. My county and my state have experienced a large uptick in cases since May 4th. Wearing of masks weren't enforced until a month ago.
Where I live, which is in Arkansas, there was a lot of travel to Florida for summer vacation. Also where I live, too many citizens had to be "forced" to wear a masks. Just overall lack of accountability at a local, state, and national level has us in this pickle. Hence why we are just throwing money at the problem right now.
I knew the virus was deadlier than I anticipated when the NBA shut down in March. It no longer mattered what I thought and that it was no worse than the flu. I knew then that people far smarter than myself believe this virus is deadly and we need to start taking it more seriously.
I don't see how restaurants are going to be open at this stage. Adults wearing masks the entire time they're eating? Will they actually stay 6 feet apart? They can't go near the the server or each other. And once they do that for a few weeks and someone tests positive they'll close all the restaurants.
I just walked past my downtown in a place where virus spread is uncontrolled. All the outdoor tables were filled with adults. 6 men at one table. 4 men and 2 women at another. These aren't family units, they are coworkers out to eat and chat. No distancing. No masks.
Replace restaurant with "indoor shopping", nail salons, hair salons, barbershops, thrift stores, car lots, breweries, indoor workplaces, gyms, liquor stores, and other businesses we consider more essential than schools.
The virus is spreading in the USA. It's spreading to adults, children, teachers, and everyone. Our actions have not successfully contained it.
Yep. This hits the nail on the head and is my point. If adults cannot manage themselves, and they clearly cannot (American adults at least), then it's too much to expect children to do better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weezerfan84
I don't have any children, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I'm one of the individuals who thinks that the spread of the virus could go down/flatten once school starts back in session. I believe the high cases right now are from the amount of families traveling to beaches or other summer vacations. Once school starts back, I feel most families will be in place. Travel ball tends to slow down in Fall as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if cases jumped when school resumes the Fall semester, but there's a part of me that is holding out hope. Mainly due to people traveling less, until the holiday season starts, which most schools are trying to finish around Thanksgiving to accommodate the holiday season travel.
I would not think so. My kids, my family, haven't moved at all since the start. We do have a pool now and wouldn't have gotten one if not for the pandemic.
The best available evidence from countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children
This so-called "best available evidence" right now is just an odd bunch of words that comes out of the mouth of somebody with an agenda, agenda which is not giving children the best possible chance at well being in the current circumstances.
The "best available evidence" simply isn't good enough. "Low risks" simply isn't good enough.
The US is not other countries, we have a whole lot of irresponsible adults, who can't follow simple "guidelines", responsible for the well being of children and making sure they follow "guidelines". What examples to follow!
The best available evidence clearly shows that the largest school districts, and many small ones, are going online only for the time being for the very reason that "the best available evidence" simply sucks.
I don't see how kids are going to learn in-person at this stage. Young children having to wear a mask all day? Kids that normally don't speak up much, or are shy, will be even quieter. How will they understand the teacher who is wearing a mask?
Will they actually stay 6 feet apart? They can't go near their teacher or each other. And once they do that for a few weeks and someone tests positive they all go home for a few weeks and transition to remote only and then back again.
Forget about flu. What happens when kids start getting their normal fall/winter illness? I would be shocked if kids learn anything this year while in school.
One thing that is happening in the whole of the Southern Hemisphere at the moment is that there is hardly any flu. People are, in general, healthier than usual because of the social distancing etc aimed at the virus.
In my state, where the virus is reasonably under control, schools are operating fairly normally. Children do not wear masks, nor teachers. No social distancing in schools. If there is a case in a school it normally closes for a day or two for tracing. Occasionally for longer.
However there are strong government rules which apply to all schools, both public and private. Parents are not to go into the school except in an emergency. Contact with teachers should be online or by phone. Children are to be collected at the gate if they are young. I did a school run today for my grandkids. The teacher walks the class into the playground and the child is sent over to the gate when the teacher sights us. There are no assemblies, excursions, musicals etc. Sport is allowed. No sharing of food.Some schools take temperatures daily.
There is a cluster at a senior girls high school in Sydney at the moment. The girls are 16 or 17 so more likely to catch the virus than young children. It seems that a few of them went on some type of religious retreat without the knowledge of the school. (So they say!) Our premier is jumping up and down stressing that anything of that type is not to be happening. No singing, church services with strict rules.
Every day when I do a school run and see the kids so happy with their friends I so hope that this will continue. Sadly, in our troubled state of Victoria, school has had to go back to remote learning while they are in lockdown.
The fact that the rest of the country is having almost normal school makes it even sadder for them.
This is several years old but do you really think anything's changed and isn't repeated in some form by hundreds of thousands of other parents every year?
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