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In reply to the discussion: What the Data Says About Pandemic School Closures, Four Years Later [View all]Scrivener7
(51,059 posts)62. Two thoughts: First, on the medical side: until there was a vaccine, COVID
was often a death sentence for the sick person or for a member of their family. This phrase from the article:
Today, there is broad acknowledgment among many public health and education experts that extended school closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid
is not particularly convincing. I don't really care what "education experts" say about the spread of Covid. Why are they weighing in on whether the spread was mitigated?
And I'd like to know which public health experts say it didn't "significantly stop the spread." For that matter, what does "didn't significantly stop the spread" mean? Are they saying it didn't stop the spread? We already know that. Are they saying it didn't reduce the spread? I simply don't believe that. And early on, reducing the spread meant reducing deaths. So it was worth the cost.
So my opinion is that, yes, education suffered. But lives were saved. So until we had a vaccine, it was necessary.
Second on the education side: The COVID closures give us some valuable information. For children especially, the outcomes of home schooling are pretty bad. Parents are not qualified to be teaching children. Teachers are trained and now we have compelling data to prove they have much better outcomes. Yet home schooling is still on the rise. And parents are still allowed to dictate how teachers teach. Maybe both of those things should stop now.
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Question how many senior citizens and other aged infirmed people are still alive because kids weren't bringing home....
usaf-vet
Mar 24
#78
It seems pretty obvious: the longer kids aren't learning in school or at home, they further they fall behind.
sop
Mar 24
#6
"The shutdowns in America didn't work because there was never full compliance. Ever."
Hugin
Mar 24
#17
Esactly. The shutdowns were a joke. We should have really shut down, completely for a few weeks and ended the spread.
lindysalsagal
Mar 24
#20
This is the correct response to the article. Remote learning does not directly correlate with self-controlled isolation.
keopeli
Mar 24
#40
I serve on a School Board. COVID had huge impacts on academic success and learning skills
brooklynite
Mar 24
#11
What about the deaths of educators pressured into working during a lethal viral pandemic?
Timeflyer
Mar 24
#12
Extremely little coverage of teacher losses. Tells you how much we don't value our teachers.
lindysalsagal
Mar 24
#21
They should add to the charts the in-school students who got sick and the in-school students who died.
Liberal In Texas
Mar 24
#13
A lot of these "public health and education experts" are people like Ron Desantis and Dr. Joseph Ladapo.
sop
Mar 24
#18
These averages are misleading: There are always students who can just "do the math" with or without teachers
lindysalsagal
Mar 24
#22
You have thick skin to not to be a little freaked by exponential viral spread with overcapacity emergency rooms. nt
Shermann
Mar 24
#26
Public health measures in the pandemic tried to balance competing risks, each unknown.
hay rick
Mar 24
#53
New Zealand had a high rate of spread as well as Singapore even with Draconian mitigation measures.
Yavin4
Mar 24
#69
It seemed obvious and I advocated for just redoing the Covid two years and every educator said that would be wrong.
dutch777
Mar 24
#52
Hmm - "experts say, extended closures did little to stop the spread of Covid" isn't backed up with much
muriel_volestrangler
Mar 24
#58
And even if children were found to be less likely to become seriously ill, their parents and grandparents
Scrivener7
Mar 24
#63
Turns out "if the transmissibility of subclinical infections is low" was a big "if"
muriel_volestrangler
Mar 27
#90
I'm glad we're learning from the mistakes made during COVID so we're much better prepared when the next
beaglelover
Mar 24
#64
The educational establishment are the ones that consider themselves as the experts
MichMan
Mar 24
#82