Think you said Boston… It’s my new favorite place to get these. My daughter just paid $28. from one of her favorite artist is Germany. She’s 23 and figures it’s here to stay for awhile so might as well have some nice masks. She did 6 months in Southeast Asia in School and everyone wore masks as a cultural courtesy to help protect each other.
@iluvnaples The most important thing you can do to protect your daughter from the seasonal flu, is to get her a flu shot. I think many colleges will be requiring that this year
D19 is deciding whether to return to her campus this fall. She attends W&M (which she loved, pre-pandemic). She is a sophomore, required to live on campus, and has a single in a 24 person dorm. Our question is, will there be any positive aspects to being on campus?
Here are the downsides:
All of her classes are 100% online.
Her campus job (leading adventure trips) will be completely virtual.
Her club sport is highly unlikely to operate.
Only the occupants of a dorm room are allowed in that room.
Only residents are allowed in a dorm.
None of D19’s friends from freshman year live in her dorm.
Gatherings in common rooms will be restricted and seating removed.
Masks are to be worn at all times indoors, with the only exceptions being bedroom and bathroom.
Take out meals.
There will be many rainy days, and also days when time out of class does not line up to meet friends outside. Even when outside, she would need to stay 6 feet away from her friends and boyfriend. No events, speakers, concerts, trips, competitions, study groups, or opportunities to meet with professors in person.
Are we missing any potential upsides to being on campus?
*I am not disputing the necessity of any of the restrictions. I am just wondering whether we are missing something. To us it seems obvious that living like this would not be worth the money for room and board, the time/expense of moving in and out, and the increased risk of exposure to the virus.
@3SailAway - Potential upside - if things go well, restrictions may be eased as the semester progresses. But that’s a big if.
Curious about the dorm - was she assigned a dorm with no opportunity to select a friend group on the hall?
Kids are clustering together without masks whether they are in school or not. (My observations at the park yesterday). So how much of this is about CYA and not blaming schools for any rise in the number of cases? The long terms effects of keeping the kids out of school are more nebulous and less likely to be blamed on the decision makers who will be out of office that far down the road.
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Outside of school most kids will hang around the majority of the time with a small close group of friends. Whereas on a school day a typical kid will be in close proximity to
100s others congregating on a playground pre bell ringing and during lunch
Their homeroom classmates
1000s at an assembly
About 5 1 hour sessions with 20 classes of mostly different kids
30 on a bus to and from school
20 in any number of school clubs and groups
Unless a kid is super social they probably won’t be in close contract with more people out of than in school.
Outside of school most kids will hang around the majority of the time with a small close group of friends. Whereas on a school day a typical kid will be in close proximity to
100s others congregating on a playground pre bell ringing and during lunch
Their homeroom classmates
1000s at an assembly
About 5 1 hour sessions with 20 classes of mostly different kids
30 on a bus to and from school
20 in any number of school clubs and groups
Unless a kid is super social they probably won’t be in close contract with more people out of than in school.
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Holy Cow! What school is doing ANY of that? 1000 kids in an assembly? 100s of kids on a playground? I don’t think either of those are being considered. 30 on a bus means they are social distanced, no? We have zero talk here about ECs after school. I did ask if they could meet outside or in the field house with the kids in masks and social distanced (for things like Science Olympiad, etc).
Again, the kids will be around other kids but they are in masks and supposed to be sitting at least three feet apart.
@SailAway24 I agree with @wisteria100 that this is the worst that school will look and might get better…but none of us can really bank on that. I think kids will eek out ways to be together and maybe the social part won’t be as dire at W&M as it seems but, yes, those get togethers will be outside. I assume they can leave campus and go for walks but there’s only so much of that someone can do. I think your D needs to really look at her day to day both at home and then what she envisions at school and be honest with herself. Can she eek out enough together time with friends to make it worth it? Is it worth the price of room and board? She can still see friends in person more than she can at home but, yes, a lot of things that makes the school special won’t even be available. Does she still have the choice to stay home and take remote class?
In a weird way, I’m almost glad that S19 doesn’t have to make this choice since Bowdoin isn’t having sophs on campus for fall.
I think those mask studies were for particles getting through the mask ‘incoming’, not outgoing. Everyone has been telling us the YOU wear a mask to protect OTHERS and others wear them to protect you. If the t-shirts, surgical masks, etc protect you better, then pick one of those. Personally, I can’t breathe through a dish towel or thick sweat shirt material so even though they stop more particles, they don’t work for me.
I’ve made a lot of masks and I wear one because some experts tell me to (and those pesky executive orders from the mayor). However, I’m on the side of the doctor from Minnesota (he’s always on MSNBC) who doesn’t think masks do a lot of good, but do NO harm so why not? Masks may not prevent all the particles from getting through, but they do keep you from touching your face, do prevent coughing all kinds of things out into the room, do remind you to stay 6 feet away, etc.
If anyone here believes that college age boyfriends and girlfriends are going to stay 6 feet apart, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. It might require a bit more creativity than before, but they will not be staying 6 feet apart.
@3SailAway - I’m so sorry to say but I don’t think that would be worth living on campus at all. Like you, I don’t debate the reasons for the restrictions, as they are needed no doubt IMO, however I believe I would be depressed living in such conditions of such limited social interactions.
Yes, the housing lottery is either individual or roommate/suite-mate. It does not otherwise allow for friend groups. D19 would have considered a suite had she know about the isolation rules before housing assignments.
I think you’re right, @homerdog . D19 can withdraw from the housing contract and take her classes from home. Therefore, the difference is not in the academic sphere, which is the same either way. Most other aspects of her life would be better living at home, from nutrition to exercise to outings (to the beach or mountains). She would have more job opportunities at home also (tutoring, babysitting, dog-walking).
So what she really needs to decide is whether her social life at school is worth the cost. I’m definitely leaning towards no, especially since she has close friends from high school who may also decide to stay home. College social life can wait until it is closer to the real thing.
She is also considering deferring, but only if she finds a meaningful and challenging alternative to continuing with her classes.
@homerdog Some school boards/governors are in fact advocating for a free for all. The Orange County (CA) Board of Education recommended regular temperature checks, frequent hand washing and thorough cleanings but advised against masks and social distancing. My governor want to mandate full-time school for every student, making social distancing impossible. Our two high schools have 1500 students each in overcrowded-already facilities. Kind of crazy.
Oh, and everyone still seems to think high school sports, esp football, are happening. Because…the South. They did delay the official start of practice to mid-August. Maybe something magic will happen by then.
While Spain is holding some kind of ridiculous memorial to the covid deaths as it was over, numbers are rising, Barcelona SARS-CoV-2 positive cases tripled. Did they open schools?
@3SailAway our senior daughter has also been contemplating if living at home, where she has a car and can get a job would be better than going back, but right now she has a few classes in person. If they go completely online she will stay here, and may not even live in the house, but we might rent an apartment for her. My S19 on the other hand, will be in an apartment with 3 other students, each with own bedroom. right now classes also are some in person.
It will require either creativity, disregard for privacy, or money. D19 and her boyfriend only have the first one! Not sure they will allow students to pitch tents on campus . . . I am also concerned that the college will ask/allow kids to report each other for breaking rules such as no visitors in dorm/room. How else can they enforce it?
I’m going to have to disagree. It greatly depends on the college, where they are located, and how they are addressing the situation. What Harvard is doing is not the same as what Purdue is doing, for example.
Yup, or as my daughter put it, the semester will will either be depressingly lonely or the rules will dangerously ignored. She decided to skip the guessing and worrying and stay at home. Her first choice would’ve been off campus with a select friend or two, but her friends parents were more classist than I ever would’ve guessed.
For those downplaying the hardship of boxed dinners and no parties, keep in mind that coming of age in an economic downturn affects earnings in the short term and long term. Whatever seemingly small sacrifices students are making now are predicted to be magnified over the course their working lives. There will also be students who never return to the classroom due to family economics and this disruption to their schooling.