Unintended Consequences of Covid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids have been back in school in person for two years except a select few. So, if numbers continue to rise (and last reports were saying it was down), then is covid to blame or something else?

You’re saying pulling kids out of school and significantly disrupting their lives for 18+ months isn’t likely to have long-term effects?

Liar. Kids were not “out of school” for 18 months.

MCPS didn’t resume full-time until fall 2021.

They were not out of school. They had school but it looked different. What’s going on at home that things were so bad it caused your kids mental health issues?

A lack of peers for one. Surely you get that, don’t you?

If your kids had “a lack of peers” beyond mid-2020, you failed at parenting.

You realize that schools didn't reopen fully until the fall of 2021, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids have been back in school in person for two years except a select few. So, if numbers continue to rise (and last reports were saying it was down), then is covid to blame or something else?

You’re saying pulling kids out of school and significantly disrupting their lives for 18+ months isn’t likely to have long-term effects?

Liar. Kids were not “out of school” for 18 months.

MCPS didn’t resume full-time until fall 2021.

They were not out of school. They had school but it looked different. What’s going on at home that things were so bad it caused your kids mental health issues?

A lack of peers for one. Surely you get that, don’t you?

That's probably the same PP who kept insisting (back in 2020-2021) that any kid who didn't blossom during virtual learning had crappy parents who hated having the kids around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

PP you responded to and this is such a good perspective. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

DP. Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And what does mental health funding mean? There aren’t enough care providers to support the mental health issues in this country. What are you planning to fund that will have immediate impact?

There are lots of options. Maybe not great ones but there are options. Most parents don’t want to deal with it except the rare few.

Do you speak from experience? You've had a suicidal kid that you were able to get help for - maybe not "great" help, but help. The parents who are in the trenches dealing with the fallout are like canaries in a coal mine. We know there is a huge problem and that help is not really available unless we can pay out of pocket and even then it is very difficult to access effect resources to help our children.


People who think Covid "lock downs" didn't impact a generation of youth are kidding themselves. But I guess we will have to wait 10 years for the longitudinal studies to get them to listen.

"But but but the kids are alive" (as though large numbers of children were dying). People are terrible at assessing risk. They did the "safe" thing and that's that, nothing to discuss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

DP. Well said.

I agree with this, too. We have a right to be asking these questions. I think that kool-aid drinkers on DCUM can't even consider that the religion they ascribed to could have been at all flawed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That chart makes it appear the suicide rate was rising year over year even before COVID.

Yep, from about 2012, coinciding with the rise in social media.

Agree. It’s social media.

Agree - Which was exacerbated by virtual school and masks.

Don't agree on the masks.

But time will show that social media is the real threat to kids mental health.

I agree with social media. My kids were in MS during the pandemic. I got in touch with their friends’ parents and we had a pod of friends for both kids. I couldn’t imagine being in MS and being stuck with my parents 24/7! They had to keep up with friends in person. They and their friends all did well during the pandemic.

Ok, so let's discuss that. From the beginning pandemic and continuing through the fall of 2020, there were public officials speaking out against doing what your family did. Parks were closed, sports were canceled, and pods were discouraged. Messages at the local levels, including from school boards, were that we all needed to buckle down, and avoid any indoor or maskless (even outdoors) socialization so that schools could reopen. So I would start there. If schools weren't going to reopen, all sorts of outdoor activities and small-group socialization should have been encouraged as essential for mental health. That didn't happen. The significant harm caused by isolation was absolutely dismissed, continuing to this day.

In the future, if the government is going to take away the social gathering spaces (schools, churches, etc.) where people interact, then there has to be something else to take their place. Some parents, like the PP, found ways to allow their kids to socialize in person. Others, like me, 100% embraced the message that remaining isolated a little longer would have little cost and was essential for getting kids back to school and protecting the community. In other words, we now look like fools for doing our part if our kids suffered from isolation. I have so much regret, guilt, and self-loathing for buying into the teachers' union and school boards' messaging. There's no greater good to speak of now if your COVID caution has negative consequences for your kids.

I don’t remember politicians speaking out about what we did (firming friend pods)? Who? My kids met up with their friends outside in the dead of winter when DCPS had Weds free. They needed to get outside and be with friends. They never caught Covid. One kid got Covid when we all went back to school in person and my other kid has yet to have Covid. If politicians had said this, I would have ignored because they don’t know sh*t about adolescent development! My kids seeing their friends outside in small groups was not a huge risk of spreading Covid. School would have been. I’m glad they waited to resume in person school until there was a vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

DP. Well said.

I agree with this, too. We have a right to be asking these questions. I think that kool-aid drinkers on DCUM can't even consider that the religion they ascribed to could have been at all flawed.

All the Monday Morning Quarterbacks seem to forget that this hadn’t happened in 100 years and most of the world was caught flat footed. I think most of the people in charge made rational decisions based on the information at the time. The fact that we had a leader who was incompetent and divisive is a huge part of why it all went so sideways. There was so much yelling and anger that there was no real place for rational people to come together and make rational decisions. I am in favor of understanding what worked and what didn’t and a broad cost benefit analysis. I think the rapid evolution of WFH is a net benefit to the climate and humanity but it is coming at a cost to cities. I do think the experience of digital learning will yield important information about learning and possibly open doors for more equity in education. My teen kids learned how to be alone and quiet. They learned what properly rested feels like. They learned which friends they truly needed and valued and which friends they did not. My daughter developed a new hobby, skill that has changed the trajectory of her future that she might not have found otherwise. They learned about the string making sacrifices for the weak. Did it cost them something, for sure but it isn’t a zero sum game.

[Anonymous]

American political leaders could learn much from our friends from the north

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

The unmasking came with a promise that as an immune-compromised person, I’d be able to mask in public (which doesn’t work as well, but put that aside for a moment) without people venting their spleen about the pandemic and how it was handled at me on the daily. That also happens, though.

[Anonymous]

There is a well know DC non-profit that I've been volunteering with since the mid 90's. This organization deals with homelessness, didnt shutdown during covi and from March 2020 through October 2021 I went there approximately 2 to 3 times a week. In many emails during this time to the volunteer group, I was routinely recognized as a top volunteer in terms of hours. For a number of reasons I was never vaccinated and when the mandatory vaccination was put into place, I was removed from the opportunity to volunteer, which remains to this day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a well know DC non-profit that I've been volunteering with since the mid 90's. This organization deals with homelessness, didnt shutdown during covi and from March 2020 through October 2021 I went there approximately 2 to 3 times a week. In many emails during this time to the volunteer group, I was routinely recognized as a top volunteer in terms of hours. For a number of reasons I was never vaccinated and when the mandatory vaccination was put into place, I was removed from the opportunity to volunteer, which remains to this day.

Ok. Unfortunately had the whole pandemic and vaccines not been politicized, I think this would have been a better experience for all. I blame Trump and the GOP in Congress for the completely unnecessary politicization of it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a well know DC non-profit that I've been volunteering with since the mid 90's. This organization deals with homelessness, didnt shutdown during covi and from March 2020 through October 2021 I went there approximately 2 to 3 times a week. In many emails during this time to the volunteer group, I was routinely recognized as a top volunteer in terms of hours. For a number of reasons I was never vaccinated and when the mandatory vaccination was put into place, I was removed from the opportunity to volunteer, which remains to this day.

Ok. Unfortunately had the whole pandemic and vaccines not been politicized, I think this would have been a better experience for all. I blame Trump and the GOP in Congress for the completely unnecessary politicization of it all.

I think both the left and right need to take responsibility for the politicization of something that isn’t inherently political. You can argue that the right started it or whatever, and maybe they did, but the left didn’t help. (And this is coming from someone on the left).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the rigid resistance to reflecting on how covid was managed?

It is infuriating. It stems from a refusal to acknowledge that the pandemic itself and measures to manage it had any negative consequences. There is so much more to examine than just schools. However, when it comes to schools, potential harm was completely downplayed in closure discussions, so any acknowledgment whatsoever of widespread struggles looks bad for all of those, including teachers' union officials and school board members, who said that everything would be fine.

2020: We can address problems closures create, but we can't bring the dead back to life.

2023: Be happy you and your family aren't dead. We can't be bothered to help with your problems (or acknowledge them in any way).

The closures came with a promise that we would all come together to compassionately deal with the fallout. That broken promise, not the restrictions or closures themselves, will continue to cause harm unless it is acknowledged and examined.

The unmasking came with a promise that as an immune-compromised person, I’d be able to mask in public (which doesn’t work as well, but put that aside for a moment) without people venting their spleen about the pandemic and how it was handled at me on the daily. That also happens, though.

Nobody says this to you “on the daily.” You go out of your way to find it written on the internet.