One by one, the lockdown myths are crumbling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the year+ school closures that many public schools experienced in the DMV were a huge societal mistake, with large repercussions that will be felt probably for decades.

There is a difference between "the tradeoffs weren't worth it" and "the measures didn't work"

One is saying that in trying to mitigate one harm, we exacerbated another in ways that overall were a net bad

The other is saying that the measure didn't even achieve the result it wanted

So: You're arguing that closing schools wasn't worth it because the kids suffered more than they gained.

OP is saying that the various covid mandates didn't stop the spread of covid. Or that some right wing newspaper is saying such.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shutting schools down for an extended period was definitely harmful especially for younger kids for whom remote learning was a joke. In many states it was the teachers unions who did a real disservice. An early on shut down was understandable given the level of fear but soon it became know that the risk to children was much lower than adults. Yes, the teachers were adults but masks etc proved to be effective.

school was a super spreader site. these policies was never about protecting children from getting the disease and the notion that it was is some kind of weird revisionist history.

Also, the children are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the year+ school closures that many public schools experienced in the DMV were a huge societal mistake, with large repercussions that will be felt probably for decades.

There is a difference between "the tradeoffs weren't worth it" and "the measures didn't work"

One is saying that in trying to mitigate one harm, we exacerbated another in ways that overall were a net bad

The other is saying that the measure didn't even achieve the result it wanted

So: You're arguing that closing schools wasn't worth it because the kids suffered more than they gained.

OP is saying that the various covid mandates didn't stop the spread of covid. Or that some right wing newspaper is saying such.

OP also asked "What Covid measure do you feel was the most harmful to society, and are we doomed to repeat it next time?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shutting schools down for an extended period was definitely harmful especially for younger kids for whom remote learning was a joke. In many states it was the teachers unions who did a real disservice. An early on shut down was understandable given the level of fear but soon it became know that the risk to children was much lower than adults. Yes, the teachers were adults but masks etc proved to be effective.

school was a super spreader site. these policies was never about protecting children from getting the disease and the notion that it was is some kind of weird revisionist history.

Also, the children are fine.

Do you mean "school was NOT a super spreader site"? Because it wasn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lockdowns in the UK were completely different than the US, I have a friend who lived there. In the US, we were never told to stay in our houses and we're free to go anywhere outside that was open. The US is no where near as densely populated as the UK and Europe, so there was no need for harsh lockdowns here.

Lockdowns (closings in the US) were just meant to slow the spread and not completely overwhelm the health system, especially until we had vaccines and better masks and PPE. It was the best we could do at the time.

The response in the US wasn't uniform at all and depended on where you lived. Some places were more "locked down" than others. But curious how long schools were closed in the UK?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the year+ school closures that many public schools experienced in the DMV were a huge societal mistake, with large repercussions that will be felt probably for decades.

Oh please. It was the best thing for the health of my children. My kids were able to excel at home with online learning. The reason was that they had involved parents. Trash parents who do not like to parent wanted the school to open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shutting schools down for an extended period was definitely harmful especially for younger kids for whom remote learning was a joke. In many states it was the teachers unions who did a real disservice. An early on shut down was understandable given the level of fear but soon it became know that the risk to children was much lower than adults. Yes, the teachers were adults but masks etc proved to be effective.

school was a super spreader site. these policies was never about protecting children from getting the disease and the notion that it was is some kind of weird revisionist history.

Also, the children are fine.

Test scores and juvenile crime rates suggest that the children are not fine.

[Anonymous]

OP is so simple that she thinks the next time this happens, the next infectious disease of unknown origin and with unknown mortality rates will behave the exact same way COVID-19 did. She learned so much this time around!

[Anonymous]

Why are you so obsessed with it? It was the right thing to do as it was highly contagious and we didn't have enough medical staff, ventilators and more to keep people alive. I am the one whose parent died last fall of covid. If someone like you was more careful and didn't spread it, they'd still be alive. Guess I have you to thank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the year+ school closures that many public schools experienced in the DMV were a huge societal mistake, with large repercussions that will be felt probably for decades.

And if they hadn't closed the schools, lots of teachers and many kids probably would have died at the time, pre vaccine. I guess that would have been preferable?

One lost year of school might keep kids behind for a while, but it's not going to follow them for their whole lives any more than me graduating during a recession.

Know many impoverished kids suffered more, but I guess it wasn't worth improving the air flow in the schools or retrofitting with any sort of hepa / UV air disinfecting options.

To me, it doesn't sound like many lessons have been learned by schools and workplaces which do want to stay open during the next lethal pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the year+ school closures that many public schools experienced in the DMV were a huge societal mistake, with large repercussions that will be felt probably for decades.

Oh please. It was the best thing for the health of my children. My kids were able to excel at home with online learning. The reason was that they had involved parents. Trash parents who do not like to parent wanted the school to open.

I mean, if you need to call parents "trash"....

[Anonymous]

It's interesting to see how memories are starting to veer sharply apart on the lockdown period. I was always skeptical about the lockdowns and there is really no evidence to prove that the lockdowns slowed the spread of COVID given how lightly "locked down" we were in the US and COVID didn't behave differently in areas with more lockdown compliance and areas with no lockdown compliances. States that reopened sooner and got rid of mask mandates sooner fared no worse than states that hung on to those mandates longer.

What we definitely know is that so much of the public health policy at the time - which was not driven solely to prevent healthcare overload - was speculative and not actually grounded in "science" aka scientific data. Same with masking.

But we definitely know lockdowns and closing schools had terrible effect on children's learnings, potentially for life. Some demographics, particularly the poorer, will never catch up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is so simple that she thinks the next time this happens, the next infectious disease of unknown origin and with unknown mortality rates will behave the exact same way COVID-19 did. She learned so much this time around!

This is what amazes me! No lessons learned, apparently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the year+ school closures that many public schools experienced in the DMV were a huge societal mistake, with large repercussions that will be felt probably for decades.

And if they hadn't closed the schools, lots of teachers and many kids probably would have died at the time, pre vaccine. I guess that would have been preferable?

One lost year of school might keep kids behind for a while, but it's not going to follow them for their whole lives any more than me graduating during a recession.

Know many impoverished kids suffered more, but I guess it wasn't worth improving the air flow in the schools or retrofitting with any sort of hepa / UV air disinfecting options.

To me, it doesn't sound like many lessons have been learned by schools and workplaces which do want to stay open during the next lethal pandemic.

It is actually going to follow them for their whole lives, leading to lost income and shorter lifespans, since we don't think investing in kids is worth it as a society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shutting schools down for an extended period was definitely harmful especially for younger kids for whom remote learning was a joke. In many states it was the teachers unions who did a real disservice. An early on shut down was understandable given the level of fear but soon it became know that the risk to children was much lower than adults. Yes, the teachers were adults but masks etc proved to be effective.

school was a super spreader site. these policies was never about protecting children from getting the disease and the notion that it was is some kind of weird revisionist history.

Also, the children are fine.

Test scores and juvenile crime rates suggest that the children are not fine.

That has nothing to do with COVID-19. They were declining before covid and much of it is due to the new teaching styles, bad curriculum and lack of structure and consequences. As well as many parents checking out. It's now been several years since virtual school so you need a better excuse than blaming covid.

Kids live with adults. They will bring home covid and spread it to others in the community. How hard is that for people to understand.