It is making the rounds all over Nextdoor also. |
I'm glad your friend is happy this is an option. My son has Down Syndrome with fairly significant ID. I need him to have in-person school. He can't distance learn. Virtual speech therapy is not working for him. |
If his math were right, then the rest of his points wouldn't matter one way or the other. In-person school would simply be too dangerous. But his math isn't right. |
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A Response to the Most Ridiculous Post I've Seen in a Month on DL/Hybrid Choice:
This is it, 2 days in school vs. 100% virtual. Let's talk it out, but without inaccuracies, miscalculations, outright lies, and without the normal course of fear mongering. Let's turn off mainstream media for a second, and just think rationally, like we somewhat used to do prior to Covid-19. I understand the truth is not our friend right now. The groupthink mob mentality that has taken over our society is simply not worth trying to overcome. People don't care about the truth right now. They care about somebody validating their misinformed opinions so they can sleep soundly at night telling themselves, "I am right," If someone challenges them, they surely must not love kids, or humans, or life. There was recently a "302" post written by an FCPS parent, and current or former NEA employee (his linked in profile is just as difficult to follow as his logic around opening schools). For those of you who don't know, the NEA is the teachers' union. Their job is to fight for the wishes of their due payers for whom they work for...oftentimes, at any cost. When people have asked recently, why are cops allowed back on the street with 17 complaints, the answer is, somewhere there is a union official doing a very good job for the people that pay their salaries. That's a different argument for a different day, but my opinions and arguments would look much different if I'm coming simply as a "parent" vs. "person who literally earns my livelihood from teachers paying my salary". I better make sure I keep them happy. With that out of the way, let's get started. Since I'm not paid to write this, I hope to get this done significantly quicker than the 7 hours he allegedly spent writing his post, and can report far less deaths that happened in the time I wrote it, since my goal isn't to fear monger. 1) My kids want to go back to school. This was one of the first victims of Covid-19. We started to treat our kids as these little china dolls that we have to hang on the top of a dresser covered in bubble wrap to protect them from everything. The amount of parents that I see blaming others for their kids irrational fear of Covid-19 (and probably everything else in life) is absolutely stultifying. How can you blame everyone else for your child's fear when they are being quarantined? Is your 7-year-old watching CNN when you're asleep? Are they reading your Facebook feed with everyone who disagrees with you? Or are they listening and sensing the way you've turned into a lunatic about trying to control EVERYONE'S life during the pandemic through fear and irrational thinking? So, the argument was made, "My child doesn't really want school, they want normalcy...and yesterday isn't on the menu". I disagree. I think my child knows the difference between normalcy and this year's school. And I think to treat our children as something so simple and so unable to think on their own, even as an elementary school age child, is just bad parenting. I think if you've been a parent even just a little bit, your kids know yesterday isn't on the menu, but to just assume they're too ignorant or stupid to understand the difference between normalcy and school in a new environment is again, just another excuse to do what YOU want to do, and feel good about YOUR decision, without considering the wants or needs of your child. 2) I want my child in school so they can socialize. This is an age-old discussion that has really nothing to do with Covid-19. This was a primary conversation my family had when we discussed a homeschool option before our child began kindergarten. There are certainly ways to get the socialization. There are a lot of neighborhood kids who will be in the same position, and as time goes on, parents, like children, will naturally continue to throttle down that 6 feet to 5, 4, 3..you get it. It's probably already happening in your own yard. I do believe there is a different degree of socialization that occurs in a school setting than a neighborhood setting, and some of that will be a lost cause this year, but to simply disregard it is a bit presumptuous as well. 3) My kid is going to be left behind. This is probably the weakest and dumbest argument I read in this post. Left behind whom, you ask? The author seems to think the curriculum is a "fictional goal post" based on standardized tests. I will concur that there have been policy changes over the years that standardized learning to the point that it probably made bad teachers more controllable, and handcuffed the great teachers. However, to say that "it's cool because all the kids are going to be a couple of grade levels behind" is a terrible argument. First, they won't be. Some schools across the country are opening. Around the world - even more. (I guess the argument that we're losing our educational status around the world argument is another casualty of Covid-19). In addition, many parents here will hire private tutors or send their children to private schools, and these children will continue to move forward with their learning, leaving your child in the dust. (Don't act surprised when it happens). Second, it terrifies me that you think it's ok that the next generation of engineers developing our bridges or doctors treating patients will be a couple years behind - because "well, everyone else is doing it". Third, how do you know this will be a "this year" thing? The average amount of time to create a vaccine is 10.7 years. With HIV, it's been 35 years, and we're still a decade away. The general counter argument for HIV is there are treatments. There are with Covid as well, and there will be better ones over time. But let's be real, it might reduce the death rate in FCPS from 3 to 2 (yes, he was absent on the day they learned division in school). Will that be enough for you? See, this argument isn't just stupid, it's dangerous. 4) The rest of the points are basically the same, coming from different angles. Is it safe, and will my kid die, and why do we hate teachers and want them to die? This is where fear mongering is great. He starts with throwing out a number of 302. He fictionally describes a world where every FCPS student gets covid, and says that .0016% kids will die. If we accept that number, which is an estimate, we need to remind him that he innocently (I'm sure) forgot the %. Therefore, you need to move that decimal point back 2 places. That number becomes 3. He acknowledges that, but refuses to change it, because, come on, 302 sounds way worse than 3, and come on, it's our children, and even 3 lives are too many, so you understand the point. If the truth doesn't scare you, add a couple of zeros. So let's make the numbers falsely bigger to make a point, because the path to Hell isn't paved with good intentions or anything. Why don't we just really scare people? "All 189,000 FCPS students will die (someday), and it might be from Covid." Let's also remember that the parents of children with known health issues are most likely choosing distance learning, so the risk goes even lower with so many of them removed from the school buildings. One of his arguments is that you only worry about other people's kids get sick, and "shame on you". NO, SHAME ON YOU SIR! What YOU meant to say is all the other ways that kids will die this year from not being in school (suicide, physical abuse, sexual abuse, un-diagnosed health conditions from lack of screenings, lack of food, lack of sanitary conditions, accidents from being at home alone because both parents are working non-remotely) won't impact you with your good salary from the NEA. So why not fear monger? Your kids' biggest risk might be Covid-19 and wrecking a sports car, so who cares about other kids, as long as my bubble is protected? Let's then talk about the severe issues we have in our country right now outside of Covid-19. I'll focus in on two - black lives matter and equality for women. Both of these issues are in serious jeopardy right now, and many people don't REALLY seem to care (other than probably posting a cool meme or encouraging those in a high risk group to go protest), because it probably doesn't impact you directly. If Black Lives really mattered to you, we would be ensuring these kids are given the best possible odds of having a successful life. That starts with education. Many of the most high risk students don't have internet at home or a laptop, or some privileged parent who can work virtually to encourage/mandate their education is advanced properly. You may not worry about that because it doesn't impact you, but you should if you care about society and specifically, Black Lives. Second, we've worked decades to build women's equality - equal pay. What about the less privileged families that can't work virtually...and can't find child care? The families may make the tough decision to become a one income household. Who stays home? The parent making the least, right? You can see where I'm going here, but the end result is an undoing of all the good work we've tried to do over the past 50 years. But at least your child won't be one of the 3. Society might be damned, but your kids will be fine from Covid-19. Mazel Tov! So, if you're not spewing fire out of your breath because I've disrupted your nice, cushy faux world of everyone but me should stay home forever and just Netflix and chill, now what? First of all, we have to protect the most "at risk." After all, 42% of all Covid-19 related deaths occurred in nursing home facilities. Nursing home residents account for 0.6% of all of the US population. To say that is a disproportionate number is an understatement. To say that Covid-19 attacks and kills people at random is just plain false. Sure, there are outliers, as there are with the flu every year. Every year, I see articles about a healthy, teenage athlete in perfect health succumbing to the flu. It's a tragedy, but it doesn't cause me to think even for a second that maybe I should keep my kid home indefinitely. To some extent, even if you do everything right, sometimes when your time is up, it's up. All of a sudden, Covid-19 seems to send us on a mission to eradicate all death. WHAT? See, this disease isn't really all that random. I can count 20-30 stories of people who seemed to have no underlying condition dying from Covid-19 (even then, I'm often skeptical when I consider the sources). But roughly 60,000 of people were in nursing homes! 60,000 vs. 20-30...yeah, basically the same thing...completely random. I've seen some statistics showing that 99% of the people who died from Covid-19 have at least one comorbidity. But yeah, random! It all comes down to risk management, folks. See, you CAN die on the way to school in a car accident. You seem to be terrified that 3 people in FCPS might die of Covid-19, but conveniently gloss over that 36,000 people die in car accidents as a non-event. You're so lucky your biggest risk to you is whether or not your daughter should get a sports car, but for many families, that's not even in the top 50. Once we get past of if we can open, the next step is "how". I hear a lot of reasons why we can't. The proverbial "gotcha." What if someone gets it? Oops, we'll have to close down for 2 weeks. Gotcha. What if we can't get enough subs? Gotcha. How about we completely destroy the old way of thinking, and figure out a way to get our kids back in school today, and not be sitting here in 10 years from now, feeling like a patron sitting at a restaurant for 2 hours, feeling like, "Well, we've waited this long, maybe it's coming soon." Maybe we need a virtual only option for those who are the highest health risk. Oh wait, we have that. Maybe we don't need as many teachers. After all, classes have been getting bigger for years. The only reason they aren't bigger than they are is space. Virtual options eliminate that. Why do they have to go to Braddock or Langley? Online can cater to the whole county. Less teachers means more money to make adjustments to protect those who are in the classroom. Gasp! Wait, do you mean layoffs, furloughs, or sabbaticals? Yes, Mr. Union Man, or as corporate America calls it...reduction in force. Find a cool buzzword. You opened the door by comparing this to corporate America. The reality of not needing as many people on site in corporate America is an overall recognition of more efficiency, and needing less people. If we do virtual options, we may need less teachers, at least for this year. But the more we're learning about this virus, the more we have to realize we could be dealing with this for many years to come. Getting uncomfortable not having your cake and eating it too? Yeah, welcome to the club. There are probably close to 100,000 FCPS students that are already there, and will welcome you with open arms. You absolutely should make the best decision for YOU and YOUR FAMILY. But I'll be damned if you're going to guilt me, or fear monger to tell me what's best for MY family. And you're ignorant or just plain stupid (based on your math and science skills, I have my own opinions, but I digress), if you think you know what's best for all 189,000 FCPS kids, but the reality is you don't, and I don't either. However, the reality to me is you seem to be playing a game of checkers in your mind, while I'm doing my best to to play chess. That's fine, they are both great games. However, you're looking at Covid-19 being the only issue you need to worry about...let's get through this, and life will get back to normal. I'm looking 5 steps down the road, and my brain is wired to know that it's not that simple. The impacts are not as over-simplified as you're making them. EVERY action has a REACTION. Your scenario means possibly 3 children perish, and that's a tragedy (again, assuming the WORST CASE scenario, not factoring in that I would remove those most likely to die if they contracted Covid), but it also can mean a massive disruption to society that will have a decades long impact. In your land of good thoughts and tough decisions about buying sports cars, this reality hasn't hit home yet. I hope it doesn't. But don't try to shame those of us who ACTUALLY care about the long term advancement and prosperity for society and all of it's members, unlike those of you who really care about YOURSELVES and YOUR family, but have this burning need to feel good about yourself and your mission to help others, so your contribution to society is shaming others. |
This is great. Did you post this on Facebook as well? Also like that you didn’t start each paragraph with (deep breath) or rather his (whine) melodrama. Guy is a clown that got called out and now just makes excuses. Probably a false premise that he ever had any intention of going hybrid. His poor kids... |
But why does it matter? Is it because you think it will turn the tide and take away the hybrid option? People have been spewing bad science and stats about this virus from the beginning, including, that it doesn’t effect children. People also believe this is a hoax—does that make it reality, no. |
| where can i get the link to that response? |
This is just as stupid as his post. Why are so many people so focused on policing what other people chose for their children? If you feel this way, you can chose hybrid. If you don’t, chose DL. My God you people have too much time on your hands. |
+1,000 Pick what is best for your family and move on. No one cares why you are choosing it. |
He admitted in a follow on post that he was wrong, but because it’s social media and not news, it doesn’t matter. He even created a graphic around his mistake/now lie. Given his affiliation, it’s just wrong, and he should be called out loudly. |
So go call him out. There have been 6 threads about this that have been shut down. |
Wow, he really got under your skin, didn't he? Anyway, I stopped reading your rant at "mainstream media." I don't care for extremists. |
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It matters when someone uses LIES to create FEAR in others to influence their choices.
Similar to when Russian bots created millions of facebook posts in 2016 designed to scare people into thinking the other side was out to get them, etc. That is called "propaganda" and it is dangerous. I make no judgment about anyone choosing DL vs. hybrid. I, like many, wonder if I'm choosing the right version for my kids, and I go back and forth on it daily. For this guy to take advantage of the uncertainty around the two systems, and use pure lies and shock to get attention for his agenda.... that is wrong. And we know he has an agenda and isn't just thinking things through out loud b/c he works for an association that represents teachers' interests and he purposely concealed that, and he also titled his piece with a large death number (that was completely wrong). He refuses to retract it. FEAR is a very powerful motivator (just ask FoxNews). It is not acceptable to throw gasoline on this issue and then light a match. |
The Fairfax County Covid site says currently there is 1,251 cases for age 0 - 17 years. Zero deaths. https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/covid19/case-information |
+1 |