Reply to Anyone listen to this week's this American Life? It is terrifying what school closures has done

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Folks who are angry now must have forgotten what it was like the first year of the pandemic. No one knew what the virus was capable of - what it would do to adults and kids alike. Hospitals were overwhelmed. Our leadership makes decisions based on the information available. It is unfortunate kids were out of school for so long, however, it’s now up to us to come together and help our kids and not expend unnecessary energy on the blame game. If it was your son/daughter who died because schools were open, you’d sing a different tune. [/quote]

No.

This statement makes it sound like one decision was made, based on one set of facts, and while unfortunate, we have to live with the consequences. That is not what happened. At least not in DCPS.

Instead, the closure of schools for 18 months was due to a series of decisions based on many sets of facts. Or, in some cases, the refusal to make a decision.

NO ONE denies that schools needed to be closed at some point, and that the preservation of human life trumped kids going to school for some length of time. Early in the pandemic, you are correct we knew little about the virus, how it was transmitted, and what could be done to protect people.

But by February 2021, we not only had quite a bit of data on the virus and its transmission, we had the following:

- VACCINES, which were at the time incredibly effective at preventing not only serious illness but also transmission of the virus, and these vaccines were available not only to all highly vulnerable people but ALL teachers and staff in public schools

- Months of data from schools not only across the US but across the world, that showed (1) children had very low risk from the virus, and (2) that reasonable preventative measures such as masks, health screenings, and improved air quality and flow, were more than sufficient in schools all over the world to keep children and adults safe from Covid.

When I hear people saying "Oh, you just forgot what went into this decision" THAT makes me almost as angry as the fact that we let children languish at home in virtual school for months and months and months and months even while bars opened, restaurants started serving people inside, malls refilled with shoppers, people traveled domestically and internationally, concerts and festivals were held, and so on and so forth.

I didn't forget anything. I was paying attention the whole time. I have been wearing a mask for two years. I am triple vaccinated. I haven't been on a plane since December 2020. Every member of my family is tested for Covid once a week. I have paid attention to Covid rates in DC, hospitalization rates, the number of ICU beds and available respirators, the developments in new virus variants, etc., since the early days of the virus, and I haven't forgotten any of it.

And I still think it is grotesque that schools were closed for as long as they were with no good faith effort to address the mental health, academic, social, or practical needs of public school children. Private school kids in this city went to school. Public school kids did not. And now we are seeing not only learning loss but serious mental health and social ramification, as well as social consequences like the increase in juvenile crime.

I didn't "forget", thanks.[/quote]

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