With Coronavirus cases on the decline in the US, and many students in the thick of online learning, there has been a recent push for schools to reopen. Simultaneously, cramped college towns have been the cause of numerous deadly outbreaks.
A look into the college town of Athens, Georgia reveals the scary reality of COVID-19 outbreaks. After nearly 40,000 students began the school year, around 2,600 students at the University tested positive for coronavirus in the following few weeks. The University of Georgia is one of the most extreme examples of campus outbreaks, although there have been many similar occurrences throughout the country. Even if to a lesser degree, such outbreaks reveal that returning to school in-person isn't the best decision considering the current situation. While college students may be more capable of online and self-guided learning, the same cannot be said about younger, elementary school students.
Calling for only remote learning, especially regarding elementary and middle schoolers, comes from a place of privilege and elitism. Prolonged online school would be yet another win for the elite. A young student, with a single, working parent will be left behind as other students, who have the help of private tutors and parents who don’t work minimum wage, 9 to 5 jobs, will have an educational head start. On top of that, the fees of daycare facilities will weigh on lower-income families. The parents at one nashville elementary school proposed that parents receive financial compensation in the form of “educational dollars,” in order to level the playing field for parents of young children. With this system, the cost of daycare or tutors would be covered for those that need it. School with a global pandemic is not a problem that can be solved with a straightforward solution. Careful consideration and creative thinking will be required to suit each individual community, family, and student.
6 comments:
Kayla Li
It concerns me that people are less worried about younger students in elementary and middle schools returning to schools when there is proof that people can be asymptomatic and still transmit the virus to adults and older people. Schools are a breeding ground for infection as we've seen in the past few weeks with high profile schools such as Notre Dame University and UNC closing down after just a few weeks because of an outbreak. The New York Times article bases much of the data on population density, transmission rates, and wealth which are obviously relevant to the status of opening schools. I definitely agree with the idea that any decision made, whether opening schools of keeping them closed, will be disproportionately harmful for lower income zip codes and families due to the access to technology, home environment, etc. Whether schools open up or not, I think it is wise to assume that the quality of education will not be close to in classroom learning and as time goes on we can only hope for the best.
Joshua Sefanov
Trying to figure out whether to send young children back to school has been a hot topic since the pandemic began. You have two sides of the argument, one being that it is too risky to send children back to school and the other being that parents simply can't afford for their kids to be at home. It has been proven that young children easily spread the virus and the younger they are the less likely hood they can be relied on to wear masks and social distance. These factors make going back to school a dangerous breeding ground for new COVID cases. However, now that kids are home, many parents are being forced to find babysitters or daycare services that some simply can't afford. Based on my research and your article, I believe the best solution is to provide some amount of money for daycare services to families that qualify.
This is a very interesting take on one of the most important issues this school year on whether they should be reopening for the fall semester. It is true that the fact is that the longer online school goes on for the more strain it will put on financially challenged families. However, it is noteworthy to keep in mind paying the hospital bills for someone who might face life or death circumstances due to COVID will be much higher than the fees for online school. I always think that it's unwise for younger children to be able to go to school first as they might not realize the importance of social distancing and wearing a mask. A counter to that argument is that it is evident that college kids and teenagers can't follow COVID restrictions as seen in the amount of COVID cases in universities like Georgia and North Carolina.
I found your commentary on elitism very thought-provoking. It actually got me thinking about the entire school system in general. As seniors writing college apps, a specific example that you might be familiar with is college counselors. Higher income students are able to pay private counselors to help with their applications, making them stronger candidates for competitive schools, whereas lower income students do not have that opportunity which puts them at a disadvantage. Clearly, the education system itself seems to be elitist and the virus only strengthens the gap between the upper and lower class.
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