ET TU, PARTY ANIMALS?

 

I wrote a recent blog about how I would not want to be a parent these days, facing tough decisions for my kids about going back to school, virtually or in person. That was primarily for secondary schools. But now I see that parents face the same tough choices on the college level.

 

I can't imagine kids going off to college, especially as freshmen, without they and their parents having a talk about the virus, and the importance of masks and distancing and NOT going off, right away, to mass parties. But, that is exactly what happened in far too many schools, from North Carolina to Notre Dame (yes, Notre Dame!!)

 

It used to be that some publications touted college for their reputation  as "party schools."  Much easier to do that now, just tally up the virus cases and make your list!

 

Sad, very, very sad.  Parents and students (and I guess moi) should have known better. For college officials maybe a lesser excuse. But they soon learned and cracked down, in most cases. We can not afford to lose a generation of (hopefully) the "best and brightest" to beer bashes without masks and distancing. If that is your reason for going to college, drop out, go home, get a job; go back to college when you have a little more wisdom and concern for your fellow students.

 

It isn't too much to ask of parents, and school officials..and above all, young people that they give up a party or two for the sake of LIFE.

Apparently we will not have a new version of the "Greatest Generation" this time; not at least from all the recent news reports. Sad. Very, very sad.

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A note about our President before the next blog which may look back on the two conventions:

 

Mr. Trump deserves a lot of credit for his brokering of the new peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This has the potential to be a game changer in the history of the Middle East and I pray it may work out that way.

 

At the same time, I must point out there is something very, very wrong in US foreign relations when we can work to improve relations 6,000 miles away but can't do that 60 miles away from our shores. Yes, US relations with Cuba are a disgrace and we need to restore such relations. We don't have to like the Cuban regime to do so. We don't like Russia or China or Belarus, but we maintain official  diplomatic relations, and we should do so with Cuba. In my opinion, that would work out to show more Cubans the benefits of democracy than not having such relations.

 

I'm just sayin'...

Controversial (I'm Counting On It) Thoughts On Schools And The Pandemic

One thing I am glad I am not today; a parent of a school age child.

I would be hard pressed to make good decisions about whether to send my kids to school, given all that's going on today, and which seems to change every other week.

A few figures to put all this in perspective:

The world's 3 most populous nations are: China: 1.4 Billion, India 1.3 Billion, and the US at 330 million.

The world's 3  nations with the greatest number of virus cases, per WHO: US-4, 582, 000,  India 1, 804,000, South Africa 511, 500.

Something is sadly wrong here.

The nation which claims the best health system in the world, the best doctors, hospitals, medical research, etc.etc.etc. has the highest number of virus cases. It should not be that way.

And it is affecting all our lives in so many ways; not the least of which is the next generation, getting ready now for fall schools, and their parents.

I'm afraid I would be going to school board meetings and rattling the superintendent's cage asking "what in hell are you doing?" Sending Kids back to school, maybe late, when we have no vaccine, no real understanding of what this virus does to kids, what sanitation methods work and what don't.  I mean, look at pro sports; every time they think they have an answer, they're wrong, and you want to risk our future?

Sorry educators.  Call off the next school year.  That's right, call it off!

Not all kids have the hardware for virtual learning, nor do school systems. It's unfair to educate one part of a class and not all of them. And virtual learning isn't as good as in-person learning. And we just don't know enough to avoid all the risks inherent in in-person learning right now.

Yes, I know this raises a LOT of problems, paying educators for not teaching (can't we find good, socially redeeming work for one year for these great, trained people???)  Family problems will be immense, as I said, I'm glad I'm not a school parent these days, easy for me to say and not have to "do."

But, right now, with the knowledge we have, and the way the national administration is handling the crisis, I say better we not start schools than do so and run risk after risk after risk.

OK, beat up on me.

Put this year behind us.  Just drop it out of our calendar (There's lots of research that kids do better learning when they are older, anyhow.)

I'm just sayin'...