Keeping Schools Closed Is Hurting Our Kids
By Peggy Ryan ~{americanthinker.com}
With all the conflicting opinions these days, it's hard for people to know if their kids are "safe" in school. Dr. Scott Atlas, Hoover Institution senior fellow and former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center, weighed in: "There is zero science to back up claims that the schools should be closed or even opened with any constraints whatsoever."
But there's a range of narratives on opening schools, so how do parents know whom to believe? Well, if children were susceptible to the coronavirus, their illnesses, hospitalizations, and sadly their deaths would be headlines every single day. Media obsessively glom onto any disturbing statistics that might further terrify Americans into isolating their children for political reasons.
If you need evidence beyond missing headlines, there are tons of articles confirming the fact that kids are resistant to the virus.
Putting politics aside, what the science so far shows is this: young kids may be less likely to get sick from COVID-19 and rarely get very ill if they do show symptoms, and they seem to be less likely to infect other people.
Okay, but couldn't a child still maybe, possibly, conceivably get the virus and be seriously affected? And even if there aren't significant deaths in children, shouldn't we take every precaution to keep every child "safe"?
Then we should never reopen swimming pools, should permanently close beaches. "Nearly 1,000 children died from drowning in the United States in 2017."
We should take away their bikes. "More than 2.2 million children were treated in U.S. emergency departments for bicycle-related injuries from 2006 to 2015."
We should never allow our kids to play sports. "More than 3.5 million children ages 14 and younger are injured annually playing sports."
If parents really want to keep their children from danger, why do they continue to expose their children to these risks? Fact is, most parents want their children to play, to splash in pools, ride their bikes, hit the ball out of the park. They want their kids to be with their friends, to gather for school, sports, proms, graduations, to experience new adventures. Parents want their children to live a rich, full life, not merely exist in a bubble.
In fact, school closures may be a form of emotional abuse.
*Kids are being denied an education, which will leave some "behind academically for years to come" and may even result in "meaningful lost income over the course of their lifetimes."
*Those who depend on schools for low-cost or free meals are deprived of food.
*All who are kept out of school are denied normal social activities. This can result in "Nightmares, Tantrums, Regressions, Grief, Violent outbursts. Exaggerated fear of strangers Even suicidal thoughts."
If kids aren't threatened by the virus, why are schools closed at all? Well, as wide-eyed snowflakes love to point out, it's a pandemic! Extraordinary measures are necessary to contain a pandemic.
Not good enough. Despite the hysteria, this is not the first pandemic in this country. The U.S. has had over a dozen pandemics in the past, many far worse than the China virus. So this is hardly an apocalyptic event.
This raises another question on school closures: who gets to make the call? At first, it was governors; now it's mayors and school boards. I'm thinking next it will be the local teacher's union rep or school crossing guard to proclaim schools closed. I call this trickle-down emergency powers, where this move to sequester millions of children is extended to anyone who wants to get in on the game. The beauty of these trickle-down powers is that no one, including the governors who first invoked them, has to provide real evidence to justify such a radical move. It's a pandemic; that's explanation enough.
Too many schools are closed for a virus to which children are effectively immune. The truth is, kids are safe from the virus in school, on a bus, at a sports event, anywhere and without a mask. These facts are not disputed; kids are not negatively affected by the virus. So tell me again: why is any school closed?
One justification is that a kid could maybe, potentially, possibly, infect a teacher, school administrator, or other adult. This nonsense ignores studies that show that children don't spread the coronavirus. In fact, there's not a single documented case worldwide where a child under ten passed the virus onto adults.
But let's say the evidence is not conclusive, that adults could catch the virus from a child. Should teachers be forced to go into schools amidst this danger? Absolutely. These are adults, so they can wear a mask and socially distance. These measures purportedly offer the only protection they need. If they feel they still can't take that chance, then they're free to find a different job. It's not the kids' job to protect the adults. It's the other way around; the adults are supposed to protect kids.
Our children can't defend themselves, can't demand an education, can't force adults to stop using them as human shields. There's no cost to those who make the decision to close schools, no personal consequences when their bad decisions take a toll on millions of children.
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." —Thomas Sowell
Surely, for the children, we can fight back; demand answers; and stop letting a bunch of thugs swollen with power deprive our kids of their childhood, their education, their future. Step up, parents, teachers, government officials, and undo this debacle.
Make them stop hurting our kids.
Replies