Bar Mitzvah next weekend - would you still let your teen go (with rise in delta)?

[Anonymous]

Unless it were outdoors, no way in hell would my kid attend.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

If my teen was vaccinated, masked, I probably would. Teens are low-risk, breakthrough cases with vaccine are relatively rare, and if happen are rarely serious. The car ride there is likely more personally risky for your teen by the numbers. If I was worried about someone we lived with who was older/immunocompromised, the calculus might shift slightly, though I think I would keep them apart until we could get a reliable negative test post-party rather than forbid the party. We don't know how long we'll be living with this--we have to look at data reasonably not just with blithe reassurance but not with constant anxiety either.

[Anonymous]

Is it indoor? Outdoor? how many?
If it's 10 kids outside, ok. If it's over 10 inside, forget it.
What activities are included?

I've met people who said they had no idea how they got covid after vaccination. You have to really go into details on how interactions are being done? Do they just say hi and talk at a distance? Is there hugging and kissing involve-i avoid this even if the person says I'm a hugger and kisser.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Absolutely. My daughters bat mitzvah was September 2020 when no one was vaccinated. We were allowed 35 people in a room that holds 800. Everybody else was on zoom. We all had masks. However, we did not have a party. We had an outdoor luncheon with the 35 people we invited in our backyard. We had tables all over the backyard so people are enough apart and took turns coming up to get food. I don’t know anyone who’s doing a party with a DJ and dancing now because it’s still simply isn’t OK. So yes I would allow because most parties are going to be some short little thing outdoors, some music that’s not danceable most likely and food (and maybe some lawn games).

Plus, Montgomery County (well as other surrounding counties ) has an indoor mask mandate now, so everyone must remain masked - Vaccinated or not. Kids are not going to remove their masks (Believe me there will be too many adults telling them to put it back on ). Also if it’s not an Orthodox bar mitzvah the kids will be over 12 so hopefully most will be vaccinated anyway.

[Anonymous]

Nope.

[Anonymous]

Only if it’s outdoor.

[Anonymous]

No way. Not with Delta.

[Anonymous]

The problem is the family can try to follow proper precautions, but you may still discover a bunch of instagram photos where your child is hugging her BFFs without mask inside or taking photos in the bathroom or you find out her best friend made out with some boy in some hidden area and you wonder if she is talking about herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. YOUR teen is vaccinated but you don't know if the other teens are vaccinated and there's a decent likelihood that many of them are not. What kind of people are having a big gathering right now anyway? Very very selfish.

People who have probably been planning this for months or even years and possibly had to postpone it at least once. And back in April or May when they were paying deposits, it looked like Covid was improving, so they went ahead with it. I guarantee that they have been thinking and rethinking every scenario for the last several months to keep this safe but to also make it a memorable celebration for their child. And now suddenly, Covid gets bad. Should they completely cancel everything? Lose deposits? Have family cancel flights/hotels, etc.? Or should they go ahead and make the best of it and let their guests decide whether they come or not?

No, they are not being very, very selfish. They are not forcing anyone to come. They are being very, very human and probably doing the best they can.

Signed,
Someone who held a Bar Mitzvah in June (by sheer luck when Covid cases were very light) after having rescheduled the date twice, and who also went through dozens of iterations of what the party would look like as well as many sleepless nights and lots of anxiety over the whole affair.

NP. I totally agree with you, PP.

[Anonymous]

No, not even if vaccainted. It's irresponsible to still have it.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 vaccinated teens and 2 kids who are too young to be vaccinated. When faced with a risk we ask ourselves is it essential? If it is not, we don't do it. This idea that you should send your kid because you are also sending them to school soon is ridiculous. School is essential, a party is not. I would not be able to live with myself if one of my kids got sick from a party. If they got sick from school, I'd be upset but not feel guilty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 vaccinated teens and 2 kids who are too young to be vaccinated. When faced with a risk we ask ourselves is it essential? If it is not, we don't do it. This idea that you should send your kid because you are also sending them to school soon is ridiculous. School is essential, a party is not. I would not be able to live with myself if one of my kids got sick from a party. If they got sick from school, I'd be upset but not feel guilty.

You put into words our how we feel right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. YOUR teen is vaccinated but you don't know if the other teens are vaccinated and there's a decent likelihood that many of them are not. What kind of people are having a big gathering right now anyway? Very very selfish.

People who have probably been planning this for months or even years and possibly had to postpone it at least once. And back in April or May when they were paying deposits, it looked like Covid was improving, so they went ahead with it. I guarantee that they have been thinking and rethinking every scenario for the last several months to keep this safe but to also make it a memorable celebration for their child. And now suddenly, Covid gets bad. Should they completely cancel everything? Lose deposits? Have family cancel flights/hotels, etc.? Or should they go ahead and make the best of it and let their guests decide whether they come or not?

No, they are not being very, very selfish. They are not forcing anyone to come. They are being very, very human and probably doing the best they can.

Signed,
Someone who held a Bar Mitzvah in June (by sheer luck when Covid cases were very light) after having rescheduled the date twice, and who also went through dozens of iterations of what the party would look like as well as many sleepless nights and lots of anxiety over the whole affair.

How in earth would having a party be doing the best they can? I’d hate to see their worst effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indoor no. They won't keep the masks on. they will be dancing and screaming and hugging. It is irresponsible to even have it.

Ridiculous. These are kids who are old enough to be vaccinated. And OP’s child is. OP, this wouldn’t even be a tough call for me. Of course I’d let my vaccinated kid go.

Yes. I spend a fair amount of time around 12-13 year old boys in MoCo. All of the boys I know are fully vaccinated and they all take mask wearing seriously. Also, they dance very little and basically never hug. I don’t know what boys that PP is hanging out with.

The 10 year old girls I know do hug, dance and scream a lot….and none of them are vaccinated. They are also less likely to keep their masks on as they are always slipping off their little faces.

So I’d let my 12 year old boy go if I had a decent sense of the family and how large the gathering was going to be.

First of all clearly you’ve never been to a bar mitzvah. They all dance. Second what kind of dystopia do you live in where the boys are vaxxed and the girls are not?

A dystopia in which 12-year-olds can be vaxed and 10-year-olds can’t, dum-dum.