What is point of not opening Colleges in Fall?
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Anonymous
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I have two daughters who should be going back to college in Fall. If anything them going back to college is far safer than being home virus wise. I say that as both daughters now have lost their summer jobs. Both are doing Instcart and Doordash. It seems all their friends are in gig economy. So they are in multiple supermarkets and restaurants every day. My one daughter is Mall opens will go back.
On top of that majority of older daughters friends including her are going back to college in Fall if virtual or not. My older daughter has three roomates and a lease. The school nearly all Juniors and Seniors live off campus and apartments are not refunding if no school. So exactly how does not having a Fall session in person help? My older daughter her small college town had zero cases of COVID when she left to head back to DC area with a lot of cases. I dont see point. Am I only one? |
Anonymous
That small college town that and zero cases back in the spring probably doesn’t have adequate medical facilities to deal with a massive outbreak. Thousands of college students flooding back from all over the country/world is practically guaranteed to spread it like wildfire. |
Anonymous
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I am not in favor of a quick reopening and think that a lot of the "Reopen Now" people are deluded idiots. But I think colleges should reopen based on available evidence.
Personally I think it's a money grab from the colleges, nothing more. It costs far more to have students on campus. |
Anonymous
| I would send my kid to live in a off-campus apartment with friends and do distance learning there |
Anonymous
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It depends on the college, OP. Some colleges are reacting quickly, and doing what they can to open in fall. Remember, things will not be "old normal", they will be "new normal", IF they open.
The colleges have many issues to take into account, first and foremost NOT being a breeding ground for COVID. Think about it, the classes might be hybrid (1/2 online and 1/2 in person, for example) - some may be alternating, some might be all online. In addition, students can not share rooms/apartments, which means TWICE as many dorms are needed. How will that happen? The college experience, as we knew it, will be a thing of the past, and we, as parents, have to deal with it. We will not have our homes to ourselves any more. That is our "new normal", and we, as parents, have to set the example and we have to adapt. |
Anonymous
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I have a rising freshman and definitely want him to start on campus. But I understand the concerns. Kids in dorms and dining halls and secretly getting together to party and socialize, even if off campus create great conditions for viral spread. Nobody rationale disputes that. There is a risk. Especially when kids come to school from all over the country and bring the virus from hotspots to a remote area that previously had no infections. With food service workers, janitorial staff, teachers, coming from the surrounding community, it can import the virus.
In one sense, healthy young people being astmptomatkc or mildly ill and the long quarantine period makes the issue worse. Kids can wander around infected for 10 days and not know they are exposing people. The issue is whether colleges can mitigate the risk. Testing, masks, social distancing, streaming large lectures. And that parents, students, teachers need to make informed decisions on the relative risk-reward. Which won’t the the same for every college. I would drop my kid off early August, not have him come home until Thanksgiving to get his first semester on campus. He is 18 and healthy, so I would be okay with the risk *to my kid*. But it’s not just my kid. It’s other kids, teachers, staff, the community. So I understand the caution. |
Anonymous
| All the decisions OP lists are ones that a person or family makes for themselves. You are accepting the risk. If a college opens it opens them up to the risk of having to provide a safe environment. My kid has decided not to live at school off campus if it opens knowing he will be more at risk from roommates than his parents. |
Anonymous
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OP, ina world where Memorial Day 2020 looks like this, I’m sure you are not the only one.
https://www.kmov.com/news/watch-packed-pool-party-at-lake-of-the-ozarks-shows-crowd-ignoring-social-distancing-guidelines/article_5de50ce8-9dbb-11ea-bd46-6b8e99107093.html But most people understand in person college comes with increased risk. This issue is, is the risk worth the pay off? |
Anonymous
| They should go back to college and go to class. Anyone who has health issues can do distance learning. Professors who have health issues can do distance learning. Most young people who get covid are asymptomatic. We actually need healthy young people to get infected to build herd immunity. |
Anonymous
| College students make notoriously poor choices on health and safety issues, particularly in social contexts where alcohol is involved. When I was in college there was an outbreak of meningitis on campus with multiple students hospitalized. The college sent out all kinds of safety guidelines for minimizing your risk of exposure, but that Saturday there was a huge party when one of the frats wanted to try out their new shot luge. The number of students lining up to put their mouths up against the same surface someone else had their mouth against moments before, despite all the warnings we’d been getting for days, was horrifying. |
Anonymous
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To avoid a deadly second wave all over the country. Students will mingle. Every college will become a hotspot. Then students will return home for Thanksgiving and the entire country will be in even worse shape than before. |
Anonymous
| The point is that peoole will die. It is preventable. |
Anonymous
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OP - the kids 18-21 are out and about. My daughter has a blue collar boyfriend who lives in Mass. He has been doing gig shopping since March. Made $8,000 so far. My two daughters are hitting on average 20 supermarkets a week. The pizza places ave amazon has tons of college kids delivering. College kids got zero unemployment and a zero stimulus check. They have been home since March unemployed. They are out working.
I would not be surprised if vast majority already had Covid by time school starts. If so no risk to teachers. Y daughter school said are trying to open on time. The larger class on line and smaller in person and dorms open. And yes everyone had a room mate. My Older daughter has three roommates and younger one roommate. Plus one is in nursing school so remote does not work well. I am going to get everyone antibody tested Before school starts. Some of my daughters friends had it already. Ironically one friend got it from parents after school ended and was really sick. |
Anonymous
OP - my point is it is less risk. My daughter would be limited to roommates and class. As opposed to 20 supermarkets a week and her Mall job when reopens. The kids are all working now. At school at least limited |
Anonymous
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You only get Covid once. My older daughters school has hardly any breaks. She is planning on coming home for first time at thanksgiving and school starts at end of August.
Her school is trying to offer zero days off and have a longer Xmas break starting at thanksgiving. By thanksgiving kids are gone three months and the wave is over |