Anonymous wrote:It seems that some people have an outsized notion of the importance of beer drinking revelry amongst children. These kids are fortunate: they get to have a college education. They have these years to do nothing but study and maybe have a job if they really need one.

What exactly are they missing by staying 6 feet apart with masks on for a year while getting an education? In many ways, there are better off without the premarital sex and drunken debauchery. Imagine the value of learning the art of keeping your distance and having conversations, and basking in the anticipation of a long awaited first kiss in the sweetness of a post-Covid Spring. Ah, youth!

Why can't you drink beer 6 feet apart?

Yikes, ND stopped updating their dashboard. WTF!

It seems that some people have an outsized notion of the importance of beer drinking revelry amongst children. These kids are fortunate: they get to have a college education. They have these years to do nothing but study and maybe have a job if they really need one.

What exactly are they missing by staying 6 feet apart with masks on for a year while getting an education? In many ways, there are better off without the premarital sex and drunken debauchery. Imagine the value of learning the art of keeping your distance and having conversations, and basking in the anticipation of a long awaited first kiss in the sweetness of a post-Covid Spring. Ah, youth!

PP here. Didn't mean to end on a note of incoherence. Just think we're all kidding ourselves that being asked for an outsize sacrifice is somehow unfair. It's life and our kids are stronger than we know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is proof we have raised a generation of selfish partiers who care nothing for others if it means delaying any gratification for themselves.

Possibly a tangent, but the collective sacrifice the younger generation is currently making for a much older generation is massive and rarely acknowledged.

+1000
They experience the cost of social distancing harder (they are at an age when they are trying to form lifelong bonds with people they've never met before) and the cost of not social distancing weaker (they rarely get seriously ill). All that can motivate them is an interest in the collective well-being of society and their elders. And they've been given inconsistent information about what to do, what works etc. They will be bearing the economic costs of this through taxes in their futures. I've been impressed.

I disagree. Unless you want to start looking at collective sacrifices that other generations made before this one -- in WW II, for example. Or the collective sacrifices medical professionals are making to treat overwhelming volumes of sick people in a pandemic. To sacrifice is part of being human, or a least a good human as Christ demonstrated (and this is a Catholic school, btw). I know as parents we want to protect our kids and I'm not discounting the horrible impact this is having on college-age kids. I've got two college kids myself. But anyone who doesn't think this generation has been pampered, and as unfortunate as the timing may be, could benefit from a wake up call that sometimes things just happen and you have to adapt -- as opposed to getting your parents to buy your way out of the problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is proof we have raised a generation of selfish partiers who care nothing for others if it means delaying any gratification for themselves.

Possibly a tangent, but the collective sacrifice the younger generation is currently making for a much older generation is massive and rarely acknowledged.

+1000
They experience the cost of social distancing harder (they are at an age when they are trying to form lifelong bonds with people they've never met before) and the cost of not social distancing weaker (they rarely get seriously ill). All that can motivate them is an interest in the collective well-being of society and their elders. And they've been given inconsistent information about what to do, what works etc. They will be bearing the economic costs of this through taxes in their futures. I've been impressed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is proof we have raised a generation of selfish partiers who care nothing for others if it means delaying any gratification for themselves.

Possibly a tangent, but the collective sacrifice the younger generation is currently making for a much older generation is massive and rarely acknowledged.

Amen!!!

Anonymous wrote:This is from the ND student paper and has a lot more details about the new restrictions.

Honestly it sounds miserable for the kids. There is no good answer, but I think most of the students would be happier at home with their families. This has to be especially hard for the freshmen who don't even know one another yet.

https://ndsmcobserver.com/2020/08/nd-classes-to-switch-online-for-next-two-weeks-to-halt-the-spread-of-virus/

Most kids would not be "happier" at home. My daughter's college was already 100% online learning and her and all of her rich friends still all moved into campus.

This is from the ND student paper and has a lot more details about the new restrictions.

Honestly it sounds miserable for the kids. There is no good answer, but I think most of the students would be happier at home with their families. This has to be especially hard for the freshmen who don't even know one another yet.

https://ndsmcobserver.com/2020/08/nd-classes-to-switch-online-for-next-two-weeks-to-halt-the-spread-of-virus/

Notre Dame reopened with faulty assumptions and inadequate preparation and was destined to fail.

This op ed really hits many points about ALL schools that are planning to reopen.

https://ndsmcobserver.com/2020/08/send-the-students-home/

I would not want to be flying for a bit because of this. Parents are going to be putting sick kids on planes to get them home. The discussion on the parents of class of xxxx page for my kid's school was a bit harrowing. There was a bit of a discussion about by the parents re the necissity of lies so kids don't get sent home. Plenty of parents think the kids who get it will be barely affected and don't want their kids sent home. If the schools shut down and their are sick kids or kids who should be in quarantine, they will get on planes or buses to get home and wont be hanging around their universities.

Anonymous wrote:I do have a child at Notre Dame. If the school screwed up it is because they thought 18+ year olds could follow basic rules of disease prevention. They could not. Who do we fault...the students....yes, they held, and attended off campus parties, without following safe practices, and let down their guard on campus as well....the school, yes,.. they should have anticipated this. Lax protocols are the result when many people are inherently selfish, but do remember, this is an institution based on faith and discipline..and now, after a come to Jesus moment, strict adherence to these principles on campus may now turn things around. Let us watch and see.

This is a shambles and it’s going to get worse. Get a quarantine space set up and get your kid home as fast as possible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is proof we have raised a generation of selfish partiers who care nothing for others if it means delaying any gratification for themselves.

No, it's just a numbers game. In close quarters 95% can follow the rules and 5% can spread enough to create the problems. Every generation has at least 5% of folks who lack empathy and impulse control.

Truth!

That’s for sure. Disappointing that I also hear very little discussed amount the mental health impact at a particularly vulnerable age for it.

Anonymous wrote:All of this is proof we have raised a generation of selfish partiers who care nothing for others if it means delaying any gratification for themselves.

Possibly a tangent, but the collective sacrifice the younger generation is currently making for a much older generation is massive and rarely acknowledged.