Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

from what I can tell, these parents will grasp at anything and everything to keep schools closed. Which I just don't understand, because they have the option to keep their child remote. Why are they so vocal about the "dangers" or opening schools if they already have this option?

There are some of us who can’t send our kids due to severe health concerns. Our children are already struggling and feeling isolated when hearing of other families getting together frequently, play dates, having pods, excited to go back for hybrid, etc. We are concerned about our children’s mental health as well when they have to continue to stay home, knowing their peers will be in class. They will see the teachers and assistants paying attention to the kids in class while they were being left behind on the screen. I say this to point out a different perspective. Everyone is in a really crappy position. I don’t think that mental health concerns are only for the kids who want to go back to hybrid. Some of us don’t have a choice. How are we addressing the mental health of those kids?

I feel confident that the tide will turn once teachers are vaccinated. Most folks that have been quite on the sidelines will join the "open now" chorus. I believe schools can and should open now, but I will be FURIOUS if they do not open up after being vaccinations. I am starting to see some equivocating comments about opening up after vaccinations, e.g., vaccines are just one component of a "safe restart," must have lunch outdoors, must having 6 ft spacing. Once teachers are vaccinated we need to send the elementary kids back 5 days a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

They’re not trying to get appropriate mask policies, they’re trying to keep schools closed. When you object to any mask policy try at would accommodate indoor meals, you are saying schools should not reopen at all because not matter how much schools try to do outdoor lunches, some days will have to be indoors due to weather.

Exactly. They’ve also shifted from “schools closed until all staff is vaccinated” to “schools closed until EVERYONE is vaccinated.”

You're so right. I don't understand the end game though. Keeping schools closed until 2022?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

my 3 year old and his little classmates are able to wear masks all day at daycare. I see elementary schoolers running around on the playground wearing masks. Why do we keep thinking kids are incapable of wearing masks?

Same. I think everyone is capable of wearing one, but I'm not sure preschoolers are a great example. I mean, they are great because they listen to their teachers and parents!

I just think we have to stop trying to achieve the perfect policies in order to reopen schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

They’re not trying to get appropriate mask policies, they’re trying to keep schools closed. When you object to any mask policy try at would accommodate indoor meals, you are saying schools should not reopen at all because not matter how much schools try to do outdoor lunches, some days will have to be indoors due to weather.

Exactly. They’ve also shifted from “schools closed until all staff is vaccinated” to “schools closed until EVERYONE is vaccinated.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

from what I can tell, these parents will grasp at anything and everything to keep schools closed. Which I just don't understand, because they have the option to keep their child remote. Why are they so vocal about the "dangers" or opening schools if they already have this option?

It’s interesting to see certain very prolific anti-hybrid posters studiously ignoring the mental health discussion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

my 3 year old and his little classmates are able to wear masks all day at daycare. I see elementary schoolers running around on the playground wearing masks. Why do we keep thinking kids are incapable of wearing masks?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

They’re not trying to get appropriate mask policies, they’re trying to keep schools closed. When you object to any mask policy try at would accommodate indoor meals, you are saying schools should not reopen at all because not matter how much schools try to do outdoor lunches, some days will have to be indoors due to weather.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prediction is we will look back and the end result will be we have done far more damage to our kids than any benefit received from shutting down schools. Our society has been way too short sighted in all of this.

Agreed. I take COVID very seriously and follow all precautions, but the choice not to prioritize kids and schooling is a societal failure at various levels. Just saw Las Vegas finally reopened schools after realizing students were experiencing a mental health crisis leading to an increase in child suicide. It’s heartbreaking. American Academy of Pediatrics and Dr. Fauci advocate for safe reopenings, which is possible with safety measures and mitigation in place.

Just for the record, they opened elementary schools. Have not opened high schools even though that’s where the suicides have been. Read the article. They still think COVID risks too high to open high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to see such cold and uncaring comments from a school counselor. If my child were at his school, that discussion would have destroyed any faith I might have had in their counseling services.

On the other hand, the other school counselor who joined in with is a wonderful person and counselor (based on professional interactions outside of AEM), and I was glad she joined in to offer constructive comments.

I agree. I was disgusted by the Wakefield counselor’s comments.

Also, the complete blowing off of the parents especially by the women who are posting constantly that it’s unsafe to go to school. As a parent who’s dealt with a child having suicide ideation, I couldn’t believe their callousness.

I honestly can't deal with the parents who are scrutinizing mask policies as if the perfect policy will actually prevent middle schoolers from wearing it under their noses.

The level of discourse on AEM is shocking and disappointing. I’ve learned quite a bit about the character of some people I know IRL, like it or not.

The poster who said it was a trolley dilemma got it right. Anyone who pretends it’s not is really saying the people who would get hurt don’t matter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^Okayyyy, that's not quite how it played out. Noone used expletives so let's not escalate an already unsensitive comment.

Yeah, the recap wasn't very accurate. Both the parent and the staff member were pushing it too far, but the Cliff notes writer left out that the the staff member lost a coworker to covid and is, understandably, scared to go back in and is being told, "too bad, so sad," by the parents. It all sucks. Also, one of the parents criticizing the counselor also told a nurse that her profession doesn't care about getting COVID, so that gives you an idea how far these people are willing to go online. It all makes me so sad.

That’s not what he said. The nurse said that nurses at her hospital routinely eat in break rooms together unmasked. He responded that if that’s the case, it means either that those nurses do so because they appreciate that a short interval of indoor meals with social distancing isn’t a significant risk factor, or that they don’t care about getting covid. He then went on to say that the obvious conclusion is that nurses must appreciate that this isn’t a high-risk practice, either the implication being that the idea that nurses wouldn’t care about getting covid is absurd.

You can argue about whether indoor meals are high-risk, but to say he said nurses don’t care about getting covid is a gross and willful misreading of his comments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prediction is we will look back and the end result will be we have done far more damage to our kids than any benefit received from shutting down schools. Our society has been way too short sighted in all of this.

Agreed. I take COVID very seriously and follow all precautions, but the choice not to prioritize kids and schooling is a societal failure at various levels. Just saw Las Vegas finally reopened schools after realizing students were experiencing a mental health crisis leading to an increase in child suicide. It’s heartbreaking. American Academy of Pediatrics and Dr. Fauci advocate for safe reopenings, which is possible with safety measures and mitigation in place.

yes, unfortunately the failures are so complex. The Trump administration's lack of a plan and support is simply criminal. This major failure has caused so many deep fissures throughout our society. Now we force teachers to deal with overworked parents, restaurant workers have to handle crazy anti-mask people, and healthcare workers have to heal everyone who didn't take it seriously.

Young families are just caught in an endless grind, and any attempt get out causes more friction. Any good news is twisted and manipulated into a political debate that is reduced to extreme views and no room for compromise.