The young woman who wrote this article hasn’t been in school since the spring of 2020, so she experienced a grand total of a few months of online schooling during covid, during a time period when virtually every school everywhere was online. Other than that, she has absolutely no firsthand experience as to anything she is writing about.
Perhaps prospective students would be much better off talking to actual students who were on these campuses last year and this year, rather relying on opinion pieces in the NYPost.
The right fit, for many students, was a school that remained in person for as much as possible. An open second choice would have trumped a mostly closed first choice had my kid realized the difference. Considerations for the future, for both college and K12 students with options.
First, I doubt current high school seniors are looking to opinion pieces in the NY Post for college information. However, the information included isn’t all opinion.
Second, the fact that the author had remote school from March-May 2020 does not negate her opinion or experience. My daughter was online for that same period of time (at home) and her experience solidified her decision to take a gap year beginning Sept 2020. She didn’t have to personally experience being confined to a dorm room with zoom classes and “to go” only dining to know she wasn’t interested in it. Reading about the implementation of those protocols in the college emails was sufficient.
Third, my recommendation that students take the time to understand a school’s COVID protocols (current as well as previous) is not based solely on that article, nor is it dismissive of those students (and parents) who have enjoyed their college experiences thus far. However, one doesn’t have to look very hard on this website as well as others to find plenty of students (and parents) who have not enjoyed their experiences due to those same protocols the other group have been extremely happy about. As is often stated, fit is important and COVID protocols are now part of that assessment.
Yes, who speaks for all the kids, who continued to go to school, online, hyrbid, etc., followed all the pandemic rules of their schools, “embraced the suck” of the past 2+ years, and aren’t whining and complaining “woe is me”?
Presumably they are capable of speaking for themselves. Different strokes for different folks. Some people attend only online school forever. Just part of the determination of the right fit for each student
And whole heck of lot students spend endless hours in front of their computers entertaining themselves gaming and on social media. Screens are screens to me.
I don’t know about that. I can spend hours surfing the internet but when I have to do online training it is extremely painful. The same with reading technical information (manuals) online. I would much rather have in-person experience for training and on paper manuals to look at. I don’t care to read a book on a screen either. I personally can certainly see a difference between doing school online and other online activities. Of course, everyone is different so others will have their own opinions, experiences.
Not that I have seen yet either. Many made moves lessening restrictions prior to Friday’s CDC changes, similar to some of the states. Illinois’ indoor mask mandate (excluding some things like transportation) is due to expire tomorrow. Oberlin College is still on grab and go meals, seems ridiculous…as many have said above, I hope that students and parents are assessing covid protocols when making decisions. Whether they support more restrictions or fewer, it makes sense to know what the college’s response was.
RIt says that after spring break they are looking to loosen mask mandates if the numbers remain low. Cases per day are now ranging from 2-4. (last 14 days was 25). I know my S wll be one of the first to remove the mask if he can. He has a very hard time reading peoples social cues . Also if you read the article not just the author, but others she talked to had issues with the restrictions on colleges; I do agree that most require vaccines and boosters, moreso then the general population, so now that Omicron is winding down, lets give the students a break . It is been a lonely experience for many.
the midwest state U i work for stopped its mask mandate last week. Not sure if it was cdc related or city ending its mandate a week ago. Not necessarily masks - but the other rules relaxation is a relief regarding conferences, meetings, gatherings, etc. But I doubt you are following my college.
Butler is going face mask optional on Wednesday in a decision “further supported by the recent CDC guidance.”
Campus has been totally back to normal except for masks so this is the last change.
I have two college kids with a computer, iPad and phone. They’re always studying using their computer and iPad. Textbooks, class handouts, study guides, syllabuses, grade books, old tests, whatever is all online.
And then there’s the social media. IMO screen time is screen time. The young adults in my gym (all 20 something’s) spend an inordinate amount of time on social media while attempting to exercise. I laugh inside of course. Hours and hours looking at their IG feeds. Or whatever they’re doing.
Like I said everyone experiences things differently. My oldest finished his last couple months of hs online and had to do his first year of college online. He did not enjoy the experience. He personally much prefers the in-person experience even though he does spend time playing games, etc, online. Everyone is different.
I assume very few people actually enjoyed the lockdown experience. My point was that I’m tired of the whining and complaining. As a society, that seems to be what we do. Reading articles like the one in the NY post linked above gets a “smh” reaction from me.
Life is ALWAYS about change. As Mike Tyson once said, everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the mouth. We (my family) have to be able to adjust our plans and hopefully make the adjustments w/o the “woe is me” attitude. There are worse things in life.
Of course, we (everyone) all have the right to our opinion and have the right to whine and complain and write articles for the media.
Do you remember when we stood in line to a get a roll (or two) of toilet paper? I called it “Toilet Paper Tuesdays,” because I had to get up early in the AM on Tuesdays to get to the local CVS so I could get toilet paper for my family. We laugh about it now. It’s now, hopefully, a “fond” memory.
A CDC study mentioned in the article compared community paediatric cases in counties with school mask mandates with those without them. Mask mandates had a 50% reduction effect.
Northwestern sent an email that they will still be requiring masks indoors and will revisit on 3/19. Our state and city’s mask mandate expired yesterday.
Purdue also continues to require masks in all instructional settings.
As of today, Amherst College (one of the most conservative colleges with regards to COVID approaches since the start of the pandemic) has officially thrown in the towel with regards to controlling COVID cases. During the second week of classes, they lifted the mask mandate in dorms and shifted down testing from three times a week to two times a week. They have been experiencing a major surge over the past week and a half. Over 250 students have tested positive since the start of February, with 150 currently active student cases. After available isolation capacity dropped below 50%, they reinstalled the dorm mask mandate, shifted testing back up to three times a week, limited dining hall capacity to 50%, limited non-academic gatherings to 50% capacity, and banned dining off-campus.
Today, after available isolation capacity dropped below 25%, they dropped all requirements they reinstalled except three times a week testing. So only requirements are mask in class (and academic buildings) and three times a week testing (they restored dining hall capacity + non-academic meeting capacity to 100%), with the justification that nearly all students to get COVID have been asymptomatic and the rate of infection has somewhat slowed. They stated that if they run out of available isolation space, they will have COVID-positive students isolate in their rooms and designate a bathroom in each dorm for COVID-positive students.
They also stated they intended to lift more restrictions if the current nationwide COVID trends continue, so they might be preparing to drop the mask requirement and/or mandatory testing later in the semester.
