THE UNKNOWN
And now at last, the children.
All of them – from Kindergarten to college.
All caught in the spiderweb of adult confusion and crippling indecision about Covid-19.
What is it about this disease that has caused America to go so badly off-balance? The rest of the World seems to be so much better off than we. What has happened to the sense of purpose and unity the country showed during its last disaster – 9/11.
We didn’t understand how our country which had been safe through two World Wars, could have been attacked so brazenly, so powerfully, so destructively.
But shaken and even frightened we recovered, heard the voice of government promise stability and revenge and believed it. Hardly pausing with the damage still smoking and the endless photographs of buildings crumbling down into clouds of smoke and ash, New York City held firm; Markets didn’t crash, businesses didn’t crumble, schools opened and there was an election for Mayor.
But twenty years later the attack was different. We could understand planes crashing into buildings, stunning conspiracy theories, the horror and futility of the families of innocent victims.
But we do not understand how a pandemic can continue to confuse and baffle our scientists, crush our economy, throw millions out of work, quarantine millions more in their homes, close down the World we know and then against all reason…get worse and worse as the rest of the World seems to be recovering.
The hot weather was supposed to destroy the virus but our Western States are suffering terribly and the virus is heading into the Gulf States.
Crowds without masks and social distancing were supposed to cause a dangerous spike in cases but thousands of protesters moved through New York streets every night for 20 nights and there was no spike; City Hall protesters were closely packed together for almost three weeks and there was no spike but two holiday parties held indoors with adults involved caused two significant spikes almost immediately and a crowded bar scene in Astoria, Queens earned scorn and “stupid” from the Governor of New York…along with a warning he’d close every bar in NYC if they didn’t follow the rules.
When we will know what definitely ‘works’ so that the horrific results of politicizing this disease will stop and truth will prevail.?
DISTANCE UNLEARNING
Should we or shouldn’t we…send our children and teachers back to school?
School stopped for everyone in March.
Public school authorities delivered computers to homes throughout the country. No one asked if there was connectivity…WiFi…anyone to monitor a child’s behavior and response…nothing. Just the equipment.
Teaching was supposed to be delivered remotely…long distance…but no one said whether learning was going to take place. No one asked if teachers knew how to deliver long distance learning. Such an approach is not part of a single teaching curriculum in any School of Education in the country.
And so just as no one asked if teachers could teach online, no one offered to help them learn how to do it.
And that simple fact is an indictment of the entire public school system in America.
Whatever teachers did to try to reach and teach their children, to engage and involve them, it came from each teacher’s sensibility and concern. So did the many phone calls to parents when the children didn’t respond, didn’t bother to turn on those computers. Most admit it was a lost cause. Most admit that few students even bothered to click into the class schedule that the teachers themselves had to create because they received no instructions from school authorities. No days of instruction, hours…anything.
Teachers were on their own from the moment Covid closed the schools.
Did their Union help? No, nothing from them. They were busy collecting dues.
And the Union is waiting along with teachers, parents and children for some definitive working to providing an education for our children approach which has some chance of working.
With the endless indecision and false starts and delay and delay..it is like waiting for Godot..whom you might remember never shows up.
Our trusted scientists tell us that Covid is not and may never quite go away…though it will be handled eventually. They also suggest to us here in the Northeast that it might be working its way back across the country. They also tell us that ten year old children can spread the virus to adults…while those younger will not.
So it is no surprise that many teachers fear going back into classrooms and many will quit if forced to do so.
A letter in the New York Times wondered why these frightened teachers don’t see themselves as the medical professionals, delivery men, clerks in grocery stores, those who run transit systems as essential workers…who might be afraid…but show up anyway. The letter asks why teachers don’t see themselves as essential workers.
A cynic might suggest when in America have teachers ever been thought of or treated as essential.
The fact remains that while ideas about teaching children safely are flying through the air, no such plan has been formalized and adopted with certainty anywhere.
If Covid sickness and death continues to move across the country and multiply, opening and then closing schools will again be disastrous as no decent alternative to teaching all children through distance learning has been developed and taught to teachers.
This failure remains critical but can be turned around with some real effort and commitment.
The CDC has recommended guidelines for sending children back to school as normal. Two things are true: the CDC has been politicized by the Trump Administration still primarily, perhaps singularly, concerned about winning the Presidential election; and nothing in America is normal anymore and won’t be for some time.
Forcing school attendance in late August or right after Labor Day is normal…but never written in a stone tablet from high on a mountain.
If going back to classrooms for little ones through most of elementary school is feasible with social distancing, mask wearing and washing hands all paramount…older children can be taught
in outdoor situations if enough time is given to making those preparations. That effort will free classrooms for the youngest children…the ones sorely in need of hands on teaching so that they don’t lose whatever they have learned so far…a genuine concern and very real. The need for additional teachers and aides is obvious and coming at a time of staggering unemployment.
Time is of the essence but only because distance learning is such a failure and a national commitment to changing that has not been made as months have been lost that could have been used to teach teachers the skills for teaching and tricks of engagement.
Much can be done if leadership appears throughout communities to focus, work together with teachers and overwhelmed administrators. The schools belong to us not to professionals or to politicians.
Will we act to make that known putting children first or will the reality of child care considerations sink us and worse, destroy our children’s futures?
Spiderwebs catch bugs, flies and mosquitoes. Often we destroy them because spiders make us nervous and webs give us funny feelings.
We are being bombarded by the acts of one man and his awareness of our weakness. He told us politicians care only, only about their elections. He has used that knowledge to use them for his own personal ends.
His knows America has lost faith in our government. He has used that knowledge to drive a huge wedge between us…larger than ever. And only to meet his personal needs. Otherwise he simply could care less.
Fears of anarchists and terrorists live among us though little that we see make those fears legitimate. But those fears will be strengthened in the months directly ahead and actions will be taken to enlarge them.
Those most endangered are our children who must learn to become our genuine future.
The spiderwed of indecision which has snared us needs to be broken. It can be with commitment, common sense and something we might still retain…a desire to work together for the greater good and our children’s lives.
Unless we act responsibly and unselfishly the Covid pandemic will not be what weakens America’s future.. It will be We the People.