While the debate about sending kids back to school is still raging, the federal government has given schools guidelines for reopening as scheduled this fall. With back-to-school day closer than ever, many parents and teachers have openly expressed their skepticism. Read about more about what people have to say on the matter in our previous posts here and here.
But some parents are more than eager to send their kids back to school amid the pandemic. Moms who were not happy with Houston ISD’s decision to switch to online classes for fall gathered for a Red Apple protest to make their voices heard. And they were not the only ones.
Right next to them, two pitch-dark grim reapers were holding their signs asking to “Open Schools Now!” in a satirical move that meant exactly the opposite. The all-telling picture was shared by Twitter user Atro Spell with the caption “Grim Reapers protesting with Karens to open schools in Houston.” It quickly blew up on social media with 72K retweets and comments as well as 270.5K likes, with many praising the reapers not only for wearing black cloaks in Houston in summer, but also that.
Photos of Grim Reapers gladly joining moms in Houston to protest for school reopening have gone viral
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Houston ISD has decided that students will return to school in the fall, but virtually. Lydia Zatopek of Harris County Department of Education commented on its decision to ABC News: “Let’s try this out. Hopefully, this isn’t going to last very long. If things improve, there will be some opportunities for back to face-to-face learning. We’ll see how it goes.”
However, a group of parents from West University Elementary School were far from happy with the decision. One of them, mom Christine Flood said: “Children thrive from social interaction, learning from their peers, competing with their peers, comparing themselves to their peers, putting on clothes and presenting themselves, and learning manners each day inside the classroom.”
While parents claim to understand the threat of Covid-19, they feel like there shouldn’t be a “one size fits all” approach applied to their children. As a result, they are said to be gathering for Red Apple protests every Monday at West University Elementary School at 8 a.m. “until their request is taken seriously or HISD reverses its decision,” reports ABC News.
And people on Twitter could not miss a chance to comment
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!["Karen Complains To HR About My Body, I Uno-Reverse Her Complaint, [And Now] Everyone Hates Her"](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/coworker-complains-to-hr-about-womans-body-revenge-latest.jpg "\"Karen Complains To HR About My Body, I Uno-Reverse Her Complaint, [And Now] Everyone Hates Her\"")
Kids are germ FACTORIES. pediatricians are saying if kids go back it's a matter of time before every one of them get it. And there's a lie circulating...kids do and are dying from this...faster then previously thought. I've a 14 year old highschooler this year. Idk what I'm gonna do. They're going to social distance and my state is on the down trend but I'm afraid this will sling shot it.
I hate that there is a lot of "well that group is less affected". Okay, but we really don't know, do we. We are performing a live science experiment with the nations children.
There's a fair bit of evidence that kids *are* less affected--but there's a big difference between "less affected" and "not affected." If you put 50+ million schoolkids back into in-person school, that's still going to add up to a lot of cases, some of which are going to be serious.
And the other thing is that the countries that *have* successfully reopened their school systems have A) broad consensus about necessary public health measures, like masks and social distancing, B) sufficient testing and contact-tracing capacity, C) adequate supplies of PPE and cleaning products, and/or D) systems for prioritizing schools when it comes to allocating B and C. The US has zero of those things, and no plan whatsoever for developing them on a nationwide level--instead, states and localities are trying to cobble them together on their own. Nobody else has tried reopening schools under conditions like that.
What I'm noticing in Dutch communications from our RIVM (comparable to the CDC), is that they cherry pick what they want to be proven or not. Children not transferring the disease is one of them. It has not been proven to be true or false, still we go with it has to be true (when it seems very unlikely considering how most viruses go round in schools) and also the effects of face masks on containing the virus hasn't been proven true or false, but the RIVM doesn't want them (even though all the signs show they might be useful if used on a large scale and we do use them in public transport and mayors are now allowed to put the measure into place in certain area's). It feels like they want to err on the wrong side, when we are clearly dealing with something where every error guarantees more very sick people and deaths. I just don't get it.
@lara What I'm saying is that actual live is not as black and white as always closed or back to exactly the way we were. And it seems odd that our governments don't seem to get that fact.
........ and mothers of those children don't care.
@lara, every day is a live experiment, it's about what you know and don't know and the intentions that lie beneath. We have a lot of lead in our piping system, but when it was found out it was there, responsibilty was taken to remove it as good as possible. Now with viruses, we know how they go around in germ factories like schools and it seems unlikely schools will not play a mayor role in transmitting the virus through populations based on current knowledge. Even if we are wrong, this is what we're dealing with. But. We seem to be ignoring what we know and just go ahead on basing actions on very unlikely information. And I'm not saying you have to keep schools closed indefinitely, but I am saying you have to think about how you're doing this. Maybe attend classes half of the time in smaller groups (and use online solutions for the rest of the week). That way you can keep an eye out for the children that are in unhealthy home situations and you provide some relieve for working parent
Stille20, what an excellent point.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
This may come as a shock to you, but they do that all the time. Our children are experimented on constantly, from food, to schools, to what they are allowed to do and what YOU are allowed to do.
I don't even know which would be worse, my kid dying, or my kid living with a life long disability from heart/lung damage, unable to even walk without an oxygen tank at 12. All because I wanted them back in school
There is also the risk of them having a "light" form of covid but infecting someone that is not going to have the same luck, including you.... being an orphan or living with the guilt of the survivor doesn't sound good either.
Not everyone CAN homeschool though! Online is a s****y option for a normal kid!
SaraFromHell yes
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
What kids are dying? Where? When? In Europe I've only read of one girl in France and that's it.
Here you go. 42 Americans under the age of 14 have died from COVID-19 so far: https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Death-Counts-by-Sex-Age-and-S/9bhg-hcku
Genuine knowledge requires more than just "hearing" about something. Do your research, including the reliability of your sources, and don't just settle for what sounds comforting or "right"
Apologies, I was unnecessarily snippy in my comment to you.
Read some more!
Karin Jansen yes
Thanks for the source Kobayashi! As for the rest: hateful much? I did try to find more on this as in my country zero children were effected and this was an honest question.
Do you know how to read, Karin Jansen?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Oh, you really shouldn't have asked that. You are just supposed to assume the position and do what the Nancys tell you to do. How DARE you think for yourself, that is now a criminal insult to all Nancys/
These are the same moms who ship their kids to camp as soon as school is over. The same ones who give kids microwaved, ready food. The same ones who blame the teacher for anything that goes wrong. The same ones who send their kids to school with a fever. Also, the same ones who go to bars to have alone mommy time. These are trying times for everyone. No one expects you to give your child the same education as the teacher. Teachers are doing their best giving you plans on what to do from day to day. It’s really not that bad. Using the, “my child needs to be in school to learn” is complete BS because you know you just want them out of your hair.
I couldn't agree more, Lola. I have more respect for someone who at least says they need the childcare because they're going to lose their home if they don't go to work. The reason kids are getting it more right now, is that they've more or less been quarantined. And you know what, if these kids don't go back to school for a while, the world, their world, will not end. They will all eventually catch up. So what if they graduate at 19 instead of 18? At least they'll be alive.
That is an unfair assumption that the same mothers who have to send their kids to summer care are also dumping their kids to drink. I worked with those kids. Most of their parents were working two jobs to keep their kids fed. Those parents will not be able to help their kids learn because they will be working.
The parents who were working two jobs are probably not the ones out there protesting for schools to open.
That isn't what she said at all. What she said: The parents protesting for kids to go back are also the same ones to dump them in camp the moment school ends and enjoy drinks. What you heard: All kids in camp have parents who dump them there to drink.
Yes, there are moms who work two jobs to keep their kids fed, however, there are moms who do not need to work but rather do, because it is much easier than take care of their own undisciplined, misbehaving children and the household.
Karin Jansen, how can you compare Europe to the United States? European countries never declared COVID19 a hoax, they never re-opened their countries too soon against the advice of the epidemiologists. The situation in Europe is quite different now.
Bull f*****g s**t! It's the single workingoms, Karen! Do I work!?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Man, you have not only drunk the kool-aid but you are spreading it around.
Hope this PROVES how teachers are pretty much full-time babysitters. A career that is way underpaid and way under-thanked.
......full-time unappreciated babysitters.
Kids are germ FACTORIES. pediatricians are saying if kids go back it's a matter of time before every one of them get it. And there's a lie circulating...kids do and are dying from this...faster then previously thought. I've a 14 year old highschooler this year. Idk what I'm gonna do. They're going to social distance and my state is on the down trend but I'm afraid this will sling shot it.
I hate that there is a lot of "well that group is less affected". Okay, but we really don't know, do we. We are performing a live science experiment with the nations children.
There's a fair bit of evidence that kids *are* less affected--but there's a big difference between "less affected" and "not affected." If you put 50+ million schoolkids back into in-person school, that's still going to add up to a lot of cases, some of which are going to be serious.
And the other thing is that the countries that *have* successfully reopened their school systems have A) broad consensus about necessary public health measures, like masks and social distancing, B) sufficient testing and contact-tracing capacity, C) adequate supplies of PPE and cleaning products, and/or D) systems for prioritizing schools when it comes to allocating B and C. The US has zero of those things, and no plan whatsoever for developing them on a nationwide level--instead, states and localities are trying to cobble them together on their own. Nobody else has tried reopening schools under conditions like that.
What I'm noticing in Dutch communications from our RIVM (comparable to the CDC), is that they cherry pick what they want to be proven or not. Children not transferring the disease is one of them. It has not been proven to be true or false, still we go with it has to be true (when it seems very unlikely considering how most viruses go round in schools) and also the effects of face masks on containing the virus hasn't been proven true or false, but the RIVM doesn't want them (even though all the signs show they might be useful if used on a large scale and we do use them in public transport and mayors are now allowed to put the measure into place in certain area's). It feels like they want to err on the wrong side, when we are clearly dealing with something where every error guarantees more very sick people and deaths. I just don't get it.
@lara What I'm saying is that actual live is not as black and white as always closed or back to exactly the way we were. And it seems odd that our governments don't seem to get that fact.
........ and mothers of those children don't care.
@lara, every day is a live experiment, it's about what you know and don't know and the intentions that lie beneath. We have a lot of lead in our piping system, but when it was found out it was there, responsibilty was taken to remove it as good as possible. Now with viruses, we know how they go around in germ factories like schools and it seems unlikely schools will not play a mayor role in transmitting the virus through populations based on current knowledge. Even if we are wrong, this is what we're dealing with. But. We seem to be ignoring what we know and just go ahead on basing actions on very unlikely information. And I'm not saying you have to keep schools closed indefinitely, but I am saying you have to think about how you're doing this. Maybe attend classes half of the time in smaller groups (and use online solutions for the rest of the week). That way you can keep an eye out for the children that are in unhealthy home situations and you provide some relieve for working parent
Stille20, what an excellent point.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
This may come as a shock to you, but they do that all the time. Our children are experimented on constantly, from food, to schools, to what they are allowed to do and what YOU are allowed to do.
I don't even know which would be worse, my kid dying, or my kid living with a life long disability from heart/lung damage, unable to even walk without an oxygen tank at 12. All because I wanted them back in school
There is also the risk of them having a "light" form of covid but infecting someone that is not going to have the same luck, including you.... being an orphan or living with the guilt of the survivor doesn't sound good either.
Not everyone CAN homeschool though! Online is a s****y option for a normal kid!
SaraFromHell yes
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
What kids are dying? Where? When? In Europe I've only read of one girl in France and that's it.
Here you go. 42 Americans under the age of 14 have died from COVID-19 so far: https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Death-Counts-by-Sex-Age-and-S/9bhg-hcku
Genuine knowledge requires more than just "hearing" about something. Do your research, including the reliability of your sources, and don't just settle for what sounds comforting or "right"
Apologies, I was unnecessarily snippy in my comment to you.
Read some more!
Karin Jansen yes
Thanks for the source Kobayashi! As for the rest: hateful much? I did try to find more on this as in my country zero children were effected and this was an honest question.
Do you know how to read, Karin Jansen?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Oh, you really shouldn't have asked that. You are just supposed to assume the position and do what the Nancys tell you to do. How DARE you think for yourself, that is now a criminal insult to all Nancys/
These are the same moms who ship their kids to camp as soon as school is over. The same ones who give kids microwaved, ready food. The same ones who blame the teacher for anything that goes wrong. The same ones who send their kids to school with a fever. Also, the same ones who go to bars to have alone mommy time. These are trying times for everyone. No one expects you to give your child the same education as the teacher. Teachers are doing their best giving you plans on what to do from day to day. It’s really not that bad. Using the, “my child needs to be in school to learn” is complete BS because you know you just want them out of your hair.
I couldn't agree more, Lola. I have more respect for someone who at least says they need the childcare because they're going to lose their home if they don't go to work. The reason kids are getting it more right now, is that they've more or less been quarantined. And you know what, if these kids don't go back to school for a while, the world, their world, will not end. They will all eventually catch up. So what if they graduate at 19 instead of 18? At least they'll be alive.
That is an unfair assumption that the same mothers who have to send their kids to summer care are also dumping their kids to drink. I worked with those kids. Most of their parents were working two jobs to keep their kids fed. Those parents will not be able to help their kids learn because they will be working.
The parents who were working two jobs are probably not the ones out there protesting for schools to open.
That isn't what she said at all. What she said: The parents protesting for kids to go back are also the same ones to dump them in camp the moment school ends and enjoy drinks. What you heard: All kids in camp have parents who dump them there to drink.
Yes, there are moms who work two jobs to keep their kids fed, however, there are moms who do not need to work but rather do, because it is much easier than take care of their own undisciplined, misbehaving children and the household.
Karin Jansen, how can you compare Europe to the United States? European countries never declared COVID19 a hoax, they never re-opened their countries too soon against the advice of the epidemiologists. The situation in Europe is quite different now.
Bull f*****g s**t! It's the single workingoms, Karen! Do I work!?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Man, you have not only drunk the kool-aid but you are spreading it around.
Hope this PROVES how teachers are pretty much full-time babysitters. A career that is way underpaid and way under-thanked.
......full-time unappreciated babysitters.