You do realize schools stayed open in person in the US during all those catastrophic events?
Fortunately for the wealthy, the schools stayed in person and open largely this time as well. The middle and lower classes werent quite as lucky in many places this time.
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Why would a high infant mortality rate close US schools? Or wars which were fought (mostly) overseas?
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Right. I know kids who dropped out of school in my old neighborhood because of crazy households and others who were not get enough to eat when schools were remote until they eventually started dropping food off in the neighborhood because of the struggles of those students. But we have CC problems where we can debate the pros and cons of Covid policy.
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High infant ( and child) mortality often resulted from the many epidemics that swept through early and mid-20th century US, especially but not exclusively in the slums. Contagious disease was common and sometimes deadly.
Both coasts of the US were legitimately afraid of attack and enemy fire during WW2, hence blackout curtains and drills were conducted in many cities at some points in the war. Many parents feared for the safety of their children but sent them out to school.
I realized that the inequity of the burden of school closure doesnt seem to be discussed much, except in passing. Maybe next time there is a catastrophe we can agree that either all schools in a state should be either open or closed, not cherry pick so that the privileged ( including governors) can in effect exempt their families from local closure laws. I wonder if there would have been greater pressure to close or to reopen had all parents had a stake in the outcome and shared in the burden. It would certainly have been a different conversation.
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I didnāt say that it was.
Remember the order of the exchange. I posted an observation about people laughing off the one and adhering with a death grip to the other. You responded with a post essentially saying there is incomplete knowledge about both issue categories. I mentioned that the article I posted was effectively my first google hit to suggest there is more research going on than just the cohort in the US Veterans Affairs system who apparently were mostly pre-vaccine patients.
Whereās the issue here?
Fortunately, compared to the early and mid-20th century, we are much better now at understanding and managing highly infectious diseases. For example, we now understand that with regard to airborne viruses like Covid, simple measures like masking and social distancing can help prevent the spread and therefor lessen the impact. And technology makes these remediation measures more accessible through things like temporary online learning when circumstances so justify.
But setting that aside, Iām not sure the relevance of bringing up past hardships. To my mind, it seems that some try to use examples of past hardships as if they somehow lessen horrific consequences of covid, while at the same time exaggerating the damage done by simple remediation measures.
As for your comments on the disparate impact of online learning (not the same as closure, btw), in many areas the rules were mandated by local, county, and/or state governments and applied to schools across the social strata.
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Agreed. I suppose the other thing about being old is that you know you are on borrowed time anyway and the implications arenāt what they are for younger people.
Yes, my Cuban grandmother lost two toddlers - a boy and a girl - to some strain of flu in Cuba in the late 1930s. They were people who were wary of disease and, I donāt think, would have taken the faux patriotās āleave me aloneā approach to disease management. My MIL still remembers west coast blackouts, growing up in rural western Washington. She doesnāt ever describe that as a government intrusion, but will talk your ear off for hours about having to get a license to go clam digging. I think for many it comes down to how seriously you take the threat.
A lot of people didnāt take COVID seriously and thought it was all a bunch of nonsensical hysteria. For them, sure, I can imagine the lock down was a major cramp in their style. My grandmother would not have flinched over the COVID mandates, and mind you she was a Cuban who fled a communist revolution and has all the world views typical of that cohort of people, which is pretty anti-government.
It would seem that most people, in most states, were pretty happy with the extent of covid restrictions their locality had, even though those restrictions varied widely across localities. So I guess that is a good thing.
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I am getting my 4th shot this Thu. My 3rd booster was Moderna administered in August. It has been over 7 months.
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No issue hereā¦ We just have a differing opinions (especially around young people) which can lead to disagreement when it comes to Covid. No biggie. My family has literally had no serious impacts from Covid since May 2020 (2 distance relatives over 75 with many co-morbidities died early in the pandemic). No hospitalizations, no serious illnesses besides one 2nd cousin with lingering Long Covid (also tested positive early in the pandemic) despite lots of confirmed Covid infections (including a few non-vaccinated family members who tested positive), so I believe in how the vaccines have protected my loved ones (and possibly color my own views).
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Put that together with Covidās effects on mental health from the article I posted earlier and it gets even more doubtful that masks and zoom are the biggest problem with depression.
I wonder how depression and suicide increases correlate with having had Covid (or drugs and other pre-Covid causes).
Stats tend to make me want to see other stats - probably goes along with being math/science wired.
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Iām not sure thatās been established. Maybe youāre thinking of another poster.
Somebody made a good point earlier that perhaps much of the depression, drug use and suicide was triggered by the existence of the virus itself rather than social isolation.
Owners of businesses that tanked and unemployment is a much different conversation.
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Which vaccine did you choose for the upcoming one?
I am doing Pfizer this time. Itās recommended to get a different one.
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Pfizer is not that much different from Moderna. The biggest difference is the lower dose of mRNA. J&J would be more different.
From the Austin American-Statesman (behind a paywall):
"A state appeals court on Thursday upheld an injunction that allowed 19 school districts ā including the Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth independent school districts ā to require face masks to be worn despite Gov. Greg Abbottās executive order prohibiting mask mandates.
The next stop for the case will be the Texas Supreme Court, where a handful of similar rulings are awaiting action. As a group, the cases could answer a significant question: Who has the power to issue health and safety rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and future wide-scale emergencies?
Abbott argues that the Legislature gave him, and nobody else, the power to issue emergency orders that can void contradictory local rules and suspend state laws that would otherwise let local officials issue mask mandates and other safety requirements. "
Itās interesting to me that Texas school districts are being stricter than those in Maine - there are very few that are still requiring masks here.
Actually, most of the school districts listed do not require masks anymore either. It is really more a question of where such a decision should occur, at least for the future. I would not be surprised if the next court finds the case moot.
Oh, I see that. But I would think the court would want to make a ruling in case the districts decid that masks are needed again. Itās not a moot point.