PSA - your kid isn’t going back to school anytime soon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in Orange County, California. Our private school opened on time and the public schools opened last week. DS’s school has mask and distancing requirements but goes full time as the classes were already small.

But here’s what I think seems to be different in thinking from what I read here: the only thing the kids here do is school. Other than that we are still all very much in shutdown mode. No play dates, no bike riding with friends, no restaurants, no parties, no pods - nothing but school. Reopening was contingent on low numbers in the community only. And they will shutdown again if the numbers go up.

I think this is the only way to go. We have to prioritize school and let go of everything else for awhile.

Which obviously isn't going to happen because <insert excuse about my 7 year old's mental health here>. So enjoy Zoom school.

DP, but you have it backwards. Inasmuch as community transmission is part of the reason schools here are closed, those numbers are being driven by risky *adult* activities: indoor restaurants, bars, gyms. Not kids on playgrounds or riding their bikes. Moreover, if kids here could be in school, that would largely meet their needs for socialization, so parents wouldn't do pods, etc. (Yes, children do need socialization. That it's a point of debate still boggles my mind; also, again, children are not the problem, it's the adults.)

True but I would risk my kid’s socialization-deprivation for a couple weeks to get him back in school.

Who wouldn't? I think that almost everyone was willing to make sacrifices, including their kids' socialization. My kids didn't see anyone in person for more than three months. Could we have kept that up? Maybe. But then my kids would have given up more than seven months of their lives with no guarantee that schools will even reopen in person in 2021, let alone reopen this year. There's no incentive to give up kids' outdoor activities when people are eating in restaurants and drinking in bars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in Orange County, California. Our private school opened on time and the public schools opened last week. DS’s school has mask and distancing requirements but goes full time as the classes were already small.

But here’s what I think seems to be different in thinking from what I read here: the only thing the kids here do is school. Other than that we are still all very much in shutdown mode. No play dates, no bike riding with friends, no restaurants, no parties, no pods - nothing but school. Reopening was contingent on low numbers in the community only. And they will shutdown again if the numbers go up.

I think this is the only way to go. We have to prioritize school and let go of everything else for awhile.

Which obviously isn't going to happen because <insert excuse about my 7 year old's mental health here>. So enjoy Zoom school.

DP, but you have it backwards. Inasmuch as community transmission is part of the reason schools here are closed, those numbers are being driven by risky *adult* activities: indoor restaurants, bars, gyms. Not kids on playgrounds or riding their bikes. Moreover, if kids here could be in school, that would largely meet their needs for socialization, so parents wouldn't do pods, etc. (Yes, children do need socialization. That it's a point of debate still boggles my mind; also, again, children are not the problem, it's the adults.)

True but I would risk my kid’s socialization-deprivation for a couple weeks to get him back in school.

Dude, we DID that back in March through, what, June? And nothing. That's why parents are letting their kids ride their damn bikes: because we know that keeping them inside won't do a damn thing to (1) reduce COVID transmission rates or (2) get them back in school.

Risk your kids socialization for a few weeks to get them back in school? Do you honestly think that's the trade-off here? Holy cow.

[Anonymous]

Schools should have been the first to reopen and not the last. We never had leadership in this and definitely need a change in government. Just forcing schools to open now is wrong.

I’m all for the do-over concept! Complete shutdown, testing and then reopen the schools first. Mandatory masks and social distancing nationwide.

[Anonymous]

Our public school is still on a hybrid schedule and my friends with 2 or more kids are going crazy because their kids are on different schedules which creates chaos. I chose to put my two in a 4 child private home school program with a great teacher and they are thriving. This is how we are spending our vacation money and it’s worth every penny but I’d love for them to be back full time at their regular school but it won’t be until January at the earliest and maybe not until next September. Ugh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in Orange County, California. Our private school opened on time and the public schools opened last week. DS’s school has mask and distancing requirements but goes full time as the classes were already small.

But here’s what I think seems to be different in thinking from what I read here: the only thing the kids here do is school. Other than that we are still all very much in shutdown mode. No play dates, no bike riding with friends, no restaurants, no parties, no pods - nothing but school. Reopening was contingent on low numbers in the community only. And they will shutdown again if the numbers go up.

I think this is the only way to go. We have to prioritize school and let go of everything else for awhile.

Which obviously isn't going to happen because <insert excuse about my 7 year old's mental health here>. So enjoy Zoom school.

DP, but you have it backwards. Inasmuch as community transmission is part of the reason schools here are closed, those numbers are being driven by risky *adult* activities: indoor restaurants, bars, gyms. Not kids on playgrounds or riding their bikes. Moreover, if kids here could be in school, that would largely meet their needs for socialization, so parents wouldn't do pods, etc. (Yes, children do need socialization. That it's a point of debate still boggles my mind; also, again, children are not the problem, it's the adults.)

True but I would risk my kid’s socialization-deprivation for a couple weeks to get him back in school.

Who wouldn't? I think that almost everyone was willing to make sacrifices, including their kids' socialization. My kids didn't see anyone in person for more than three months. Could we have kept that up? Maybe. But then my kids would have given up more than seven months of their lives with no guarantee that schools will even reopen in person in 2021, let alone reopen this year. There's no incentive to give up kids' outdoor activities when people are eating in restaurants and drinking in bars.

That’s the point! Shutdown for a couple weeks (including going back to isolation) test, and reopen the schools first. Bars stay closed. It’s what should have been done in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for giving us our weekly dose of depression OP. Usually it hits by midweek, but you've jump started it this week.

In other words, we already know this and do not need weekly PSAs.

[Anonymous]

It was a collosal failure if the administration and it is like people did not care until schools didn't open.

Even now the president was positive and gallivanting all over the country with no mask and his chronies and sycophants with no masks.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Anonymous]

Vote your current elected officials OUT (national and local)!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s funny I just dropped mine off for the start of week 6 in person school.

same

Go back and read the first line of OP’s post. She’s not talking to you.

I don’t live in DC, but I live in “city like DC”, where public schools are 100% DL with no end in sight. I agree with you OP that they’re not going back anytime soon and I feel sick about it. For everyone saying they can’t believe public school parents are putting up with this, what exactly do you suggest we do?

Same here. It is a challenging environment to be vocal in, though. If you say that you want in-person school, people accuse you of not taking covid seriously. It doesn't matter how many suggestion you make for making school safer (hybrid, outdoor classes, etc.), you are derided as being a Trumpist, or dumb, or unrealistic.

I am hoping a change in national leadership in November may help, as I do think Dems will have some very immediate interests in getting schools open if they are in charge. But I hate that because Trump/DeVos have been vocal about school reopening (without regard for safety), so many Dems have adopted the reactionary position that schools shouldn't open at all (even with safety precautions). It's crazy we've reached a point where the banal statement "kids should be in school" is somehow very controversial.

Once people made masks political we did not have a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s funny I just dropped mine off for the start of week 6 in person school.

same

Go back and read the first line of OP’s post. She’s not talking to you.

I don’t live in DC, but I live in “city like DC”, where public schools are 100% DL with no end in sight. I agree with you OP that they’re not going back anytime soon and I feel sick about it. For everyone saying they can’t believe public school parents are putting up with this, what exactly do you suggest we do?

Write letters, have protests, find people to run for the school board who are not intimidated by teacher’s union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s funny I just dropped mine off for the start of week 6 in person school.

same

Go back and read the first line of OP’s post. She’s not talking to you.

I don’t live in DC, but I live in “city like DC”, where public schools are 100% DL with no end in sight. I agree with you OP that they’re not going back anytime soon and I feel sick about it. For everyone saying they can’t believe public school parents are putting up with this, what exactly do you suggest we do?

Write letters, have protests, find people to run for the school board who are not intimidated by teacher’s union.

The horse is out of the barn. The situation is because of failure on the part of the president's administration. If you are angry at teachers unions then you are missing everything. It is like starving dogs fighting over table scraps. No one was left with a good choice because of all the choices made by the administration.

[Anonymous]

We tolerated this buffoon and now 200k plus are dead here and people are pissed about schools? We made our bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s funny I just dropped mine off for the start of week 6 in person school.

same

Go back and read the first line of OP’s post. She’s not talking to you.

I don’t live in DC, but I live in “city like DC”, where public schools are 100% DL with no end in sight. I agree with you OP that they’re not going back anytime soon and I feel sick about it. For everyone saying they can’t believe public school parents are putting up with this, what exactly do you suggest we do?

Write letters, have protests, find people to run for the school board who are not intimidated by teacher’s union.

The horse is out of the barn. The situation is because of failure on the part of the president's administration. If you are angry at teachers unions then you are missing everything. It is like starving dogs fighting over table scraps. No one was left with a good choice because of all the choices made by the administration.

+1. The teachers union was right in demanding safe schools. The administration failed in putting schools last.

[Anonymous]

Well we can see other areas of the country with schools open so it’s not all about the federal government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well we can see other areas of the country with schools open so it’s not all about the federal government.

It is about the federal government because they should have taken the lead.