Name: Opinion | We're Talking About Human Life Here. Unsafely Reopening Schools Is No Solution at All
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Opinion | We're Talking About Human Life Here. Unsafely Reopening Schools Is No Solution at All

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Sign up for our newsletter.Quality journalism. Progressive values. Direct to your inbox.Follow us: Common Dreams will never be locked behind a paywall because we believe our journalism should remain freely available to everyone ― not just those who can afford to pay. By becoming a sustaining monthly donor today, you can help make sure our work remains free for those who aren't able to chip in. Donate Now ×To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our Schoolchildren wearing protective mouth masks and face shields attend a course in a classroom at Claude Debussy college in Angers, western France, on May 18, 2020 after the country eased Covid-19 lockdown measures. (Photo: Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty Images) We need to make it possible for parents to stay home with their children. Now. Opening schools unsafely will not solve any of our problems.In every case, it will make them worse.Students don’t learn a lot when their teachers are in quarantine.Children generally receive less socialization when their parents are hospitalized.Kids with special needs will receive few accommodations on a respirator.Childcare is the least of your worries when planning a funeral for a family member.No matter what need schools usually meet, Coronavirus makes the situation worse.Every. Time.People propose having in-person classes or that mix in-person classes with online instruction.But it makes more sense to keep the buildings closed and provide what we can on-line.Unless perhaps you live in some secluded county that has had extremely low infection rates for a prolonged period of time.Otherwise, – academic, economic, political, whatever.After all, academics don’t mean much when you’re seriously ill. The economy doesn’t matter a lot when you’re dead. And If we reopen schools, we invite COVID-19 into the classroom just as well as students.So far as we know, the virus doesn’t care what your motivations are. It only infects as many people as it can leaving us to deal with the consequences.Consider what the virus does to the human body. (CDC), exposure to the virus can result in mild symptoms to severe illness up to two weeks later. These include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nausea or vomiting and/or diarrhea.People who are sick should stay home, monitor their symptoms and separate themselves from other members of the household. if you experience trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion, inability to stay awake and/or bluish lips or face.Severe illness often requires hospitalization that attempts to relieve the most common complications. These are things like pneumonia, hypoxemic respiratory failure/ARDS, sepsis and septic shock, cardiomyopathy and arrhythmia, and acute kidney injury.However, you also have to beware additional complications from prolonged hospitalization. These can include secondary bacterial infections, thromboembolism, gastrointestinal bleeding, and critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy. is a particular concern. This can be done in less severe cases with simple nasal cannula or oxygen rebreather masks. However, in more extreme cases, you may need continuous airway pressure provided through a machine or even invasive mechanical ventilation.The chances of this happening to you or a loved one because your neighborhood school building was reopened and children were exposed to potentially sick classmates and staff is .In the US, more than 150,000 people have died from COVID-19. To put that in context, Over this last week, the average daily deaths in Italy were 6, France 10 and Spain 2.In the US it was 1,204.And make no mistake. – . . While a few countries have opened schools, 143 countries have closed them nationwide.This isn’t just because of the chance of death.There are for survivors, too.These include inflammation of the heart, cardiovascular disease and strokes; lung inflammation including persistent shortness of breath; and neurological issues such as headaches, dizziness, trouble concentrating or recalling things and even hallucinations.This will not solve any of our current problems.It will only make them worse.However, I don’t wish to be dismissive..Teachers and classrooms provide necessary services way beyond simple education.I’m talking about food, nutrition, healthcare, childcare, counseling, tutoring, socialization, self esteem, meeting special needs, protection from abuse and a whole lot more. and go to distance learning as we did in March, many of these services will continue to be disrupted or completely severed.While reopening school buildings is NOT a viable solution, there are other things we can do. and healthcare can all be met while conducting distance learning. In fact, most schools provided these services from March through June as classrooms across the country were closed.Likewise, counseling, tutoring, socialization, and self esteem can be provided on-line. In most cases they won’t be as effective as they would be in a physical setting. However, given the precautions necessary to meet in-person – face masks, social distancing, etc. – .Which brings me to the most difficult considerations – meeting special needs, protection from abuse, and childcare.Not all students are neurotypical. Many require accommodations that are Special arrangements could be made for these students to come into the physical classroom on a part-time or full-time basis. This isn’t as safe as complete on-line learning, but if the numbers of students are small enough, precautions such a temperature screenings and social distancing were in place and exposure mitigated, this could be a viable option.The same goes for protection from abuse. Some students live in unsafe home environments. It is that reduce the likelihood these children will be mistreated and provide a solution when abuse is reported. However, noticing the telltale signs of such mistreatment or even communicating with a teacher privately outside of the hearing of an adult in the home is more difficult on-line.Special arrangements could be made for students who have already been identified as at risk. They could meet with counselors and psychologists in the school every week or so. Safety precautions would be necessary but the risk could be reduced enough to make it worth taking.The biggest problem is probably the most widespread – .Having children at home to do their schoolwork on-line puts additional pressure on parents.. Parents have to ensure their kids are awake and ready to do their lessons. They have to monitor their children and help ensure the work gets doneThis is less difficult for parents with higher socioeconomic status who have jobs that allow them to work from home. But In short, the economy requires some kind of daycare for these children.Many European countries that have best managed the Coronavirus have paid workers to stay home. This allows them to take care of their own children and reduce their own exposure to the virus.Frankly, However, our government has almost completely abrogated its responsibilities to working class people.Parents with similar age children can create childcare networks where the same families take turns watching each others’ children. This reduces exposure to some degree.Childcare centers also have been kept open in many communities to meet this need. However, at that would only be worsened if we rely on them more. Any sane country would close them just as it closed schools.Until our lawmakers get off their butts and do their jobs, we will have no good solution to this problem.Reopening school buildings to serve as childcare centers certainly won’t solve anything except put a premium on respirators, coffins and graveyard plots.And for those who respond that only a certain percentage of children and adults will die, Whose lives are you willing to bet and do you really have the authority to play God?That point cannot be made too often.We’re talking about human life here.Reopening schools is seen as a silver bullet to so many of our problems during the pandemic.It isn’t.It is shooting ourselves in the foot.If we really want to solve our issues, we need to .We need to keep schools closed and .We need to make it possible for parents to stay home with their children.And we need to do it now.Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely. 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Sign up for our newsletter.Quality journalism. Progressive values. Direct to your inbox.Follow us: Common Dreams will never be locked behind a paywall because we believe our journalism should remain freely available to everyone ― not just those who can afford to pay. By becoming a sustaining monthly donor today, you can help make sure our work remains free for those who aren't able to chip in. Donate Now ×To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our Schoolchildren wearing protective mouth masks and face shields attend a course in a classroom at Claude Debussy college in Angers,...

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Opinion | We're Talking About Human Life Here. Unsafely Reopening Schools Is No Solution at All

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