Anonymous wrote:My hope is that parents will discuss this with their college kids before they return to campus. I understand frontal lobe development well. I also know that 18-22 year olds can appreciate the impact of their actions on others. Someone in the sphere of influence needs to make it clear to them. They can do this, and parents as a a collective need to be involved. From the responses above- what country do I live in, do I know any 18-year olds, the military has punishments so it can work... I am convinced that no one wants to put responsibility on themselves to expect altruism from their kids, nor expects their own kids to make choices for the greater good. Sad.

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that parents will discuss this with their college kids before they return to campus. I understand frontal lobe development well. I also know that 18-22 year olds can appreciate the impact of their actions on others. Someone in the sphere of influence needs to make it clear to them. They can do this, and parents as a a collective need to be involved. From the responses above- what country do I live in, do I know any 18-year olds, the military has punishments so it can work... I am convinced that no one wants to put responsibility on themselves to expect altruism from their kids, nor expects their own kids to make choices for the greater good. Sad.

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Anonymous wrote:As I said before- I have high expectations. They can do this. As can the entire country.

But here’s the thing: they are not “doing it” right now. Many, many COVID outbreaks are being tied to things like beach week, bars, frat houses, etc. I’m not trying to be snarky, but can you explain why you believe 18-22 year olds are going to magically do a 180 on their behavior and activities in 6 weeks? Especially when they’re back at their colleges and everyone surrounding them is virtually their same age?

This works in the military because there is punishment. It would probably work at a military college, because of punishment. At a regular college? Nope. On the plus side, they will be creating herd immunity for the rest of us.

Don't universities have the ability to suspend/expel students who violate campus rules? I would think the risk of suspension/expulsion might dissuade some irresponsible behavior.

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Anonymous wrote:As I said before- I have high expectations. They can do this. As can the entire country.

But here’s the thing: they are not “doing it” right now. Many, many COVID outbreaks are being tied to things like beach week, bars, frat houses, etc. I’m not trying to be snarky, but can you explain why you believe 18-22 year olds are going to magically do a 180 on their behavior and activities in 6 weeks? Especially when they’re back at their colleges and everyone surrounding them is virtually their same age?

This works in the military because there is punishment. It would probably work at a military college, because of punishment. At a regular college? Nope. On the plus side, they will be creating herd immunity for the rest of us.

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Anonymous wrote:As I said before- I have high expectations. They can do this. As can the entire country.

But here’s the thing: they are not “doing it” right now. Many, many COVID outbreaks are being tied to things like beach week, bars, frat houses, etc. I’m not trying to be snarky, but can you explain why you believe 18-22 year olds are going to magically do a 180 on their behavior and activities in 6 weeks? Especially when they’re back at their colleges and everyone surrounding them is virtually their same age?

Anonymous wrote:As I said before- I have high expectations. They can do this. As can the entire country.

Anonymous wrote:As I said before- I have high expectations. They can do this. As can the entire country.

Anonymous wrote:As I said before- I have high expectations. They can do this. As can the entire country.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I was also on Active Duty in the military with 18- year olds who carried weapons in a war zone. They can wear masks.

Anonymous wrote:I am a health care worker. If students are 6 feet apart and wearing masks, the risk of transmission is negligible. Masks work.

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Anonymous wrote:If the student is asymptomatic or presymptomatic and they are wearing a mask, and everyone they come in contact with, at least in class, the spread will be minimal to none. College kids can wipe their desks down. I think we are expecting too little of them.

The dorms will certainly be a challenge, but the in- class time should be safe.

Essential workers have been in contact with asymptomatic, presymptomatic and symptomatic folks since this started. Masks work. They can do this.

But so much of a college kid’s life is outside of class. They’re only in class like 15 hours a week! Do you really see 18 year olds wearing masks to a frat party?

This. Students do more than just go to class. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing masks in class. A contact tracer is still going to identify everyone on that class as someone who was potentially exposed, and direct them to get tested and quarantine until results are back. It’s going to be a mess.

Adolescents will, overwhelmingly, be fine. The students need to keep the faculty and university staff safe. They can do that. They can also learn to wear masks. They really can.

You still are not understanding my point. Safety is one thing, but probably the bigger concern is the repeated disruptions that are inevitable when students test positive and everyone they attended class with and otherwise come into contact with has to isolate until they get tests results back. Masks are important but they are not going to prevent these scenarios because students have lives outside of class.[/quote]

NP. Those "lives outside of class" now need to be lived like they're responsible adults, then. So many times on this college board there are posters who go on and on about how "your college student is an adult now so you cannot hover" etc. Well, if that's the case, those students need to ACT like the adults so many parents here insist they are and behave as part of the larger community, for the greater good. That means partying is done. If they need "the college experience" that includes partying, they need to take a year off.

The success of this also depends greatly on each college's unique campus layout, location, the surrounding community's layout, how much the college students go out into that community socially in normal times, and the college's, for lack of a better term, culture. DC's small college is self-contained on its campus and 100 percet of students live on campus. It's going to be much easier to monitor things and deal with students who do not wear masks as required, who won't distance, or who go off-campus. Yep, they are not allowed to leave the campus next semester once they're there and part of the extensive, ongoing testing regime which will include regular testing on a schedule, not by whether you think you've been exposed or have symptoms. Will it be heaps of fun? No. Will they be with their friends, all in the same boat and expected to pull together, and expecting each other to pull together? The administration thinks so, but this can happen only because it's not a sprawling campus with a ton of off-campus students.

The things happening right now are not exactly inspiring confidence... outbreaks directly tied to teens and twentysomethings partying and going to bars. Your DC and those who go to their college do not sound much like the typical student at a larger school. There are way too many who want to live in the moment and just don't care. And most schools don't have any plans to test their students regularly because there are way too many of them coming and going from all over the local community. Small colleges where everyone lives on campus might have a chance, but large ones with lots of off campus housing and a party culture are being completely delusional.