Believe me, I wish I could return to school as we know it in the fall. I wish that children could play together on the playground, engage in collaborative learning endeavor, go on field trips, and learn, learn, learn, but guess what, there's a pandemic spreading all over the world--a pandemic that is deadly and life changing. We have to take this seriously, and we cannot risk lives. So what should we do?
Take the long view
Foolish leaders want the quick fix while wise leaders, scientists, and well educated folks know that it is important to take the long view. A few more months at home with quality remote education will save time, save money, and save lives. Sacrifice in the short term will lead to greater strength in the long term.
Let's take Trump's ignorant and irresponsible pandemic response as an example of short term, quick fix destruction. Trump didn't want to deal with the frightening and present pandemic warnings, so he ignored it hoping it would go away. He further ignored it by disbanding the pandemic health team, and then he ignored early warnings of the virus and later called it a hoax at rallies and elsewhere. After that he told us it would go away, and when it persisted he decided that we shouldn't test people or do what we need to do to save people, instead burying his head in the sand, he persistently continues to discount the seriousness and reality of the pandemic by hoping he can wish it away. This demonstrates his short-term, quick-fix, child-like mentality which does no one any good.
Instead, we have to take the long view and remember that a few months or even a couple of years of thoughtful, careful behavior will lead to long term strength and good living. To not go to a bar for a couple of months, but keep your health seems like a good trade-off. To teach children remotely for a few months rather than risk the death of teachers, children, family members, and co-workers also seems like a good trade-off. We have to take the long view.
Work on betterment
The pandemic has exposed inequality and other problems that need attention. We can no longer sit back and ignore inequities in health care, neighborhoods, schools, working conditions, and opportunity. Right before our eyes, the numbers illustrate the pain and suffering inequity causes. Trump and his wealthy colleagues are not sitting in their cars for hours waiting for food hand-outs or COVID-19 tests, they have what they need within their arm's reach, but too many Americans are waiting in those lines. While we are relegated to our homes, we should be working towards ways to create greater equity, opportunity, good health, safe neighborhoods, and optimal education for ALL Americans, not just a wealthy few. How can we do that?
Strengthen communities
While schools need to be centers of community engagement, they can't be the centers for all community needs. One reason people want schools to reopen during the pandemic is that schools were serving far more needs than just education. We have to think about what this means for community life and rather than have schools be a single source of support, we have to provide supports that can help families when schools are closed. How can we well-use funds and community departments to support families during a pandemic without risking the contagion spread that opening schools will create.
First, we can take some time to educate ourselves. Rather than a steady diet of Fox News propaganda, challenge yourself to read/watch three or four different news sources a day including one from a country other than the United States. That will broaden your perspective.
Make time to highlight four areas of American life that you think can be better, and read up on those areas. For example, water quality is going to be an ever increasing threat to good living across the Globe. Rather than tear away environmental protections as Trump does to elevate his wealth and the wealth of his financial backers, make time to read about what we can do to increase and sustain water quality so that everyone in the United States has access to clean water. Our lives depend on this. Another factor may be quality health--in too many cases, it is poor controls that lead to poor health. The Trump team has rolled back many regulations that help to keep our environments safe from pollutants that cause cancer and other early deaths. We should be looking at ways to reduce pollution-related diseases and deaths. Not only will this increase the quality of lives, but it will also reduce health care costs that generally land on the taxpayer. There are hundreds of problems waiting to be solved in American society, and each of us can be part of the solution if we're well informed rather than passive recipients of the danger those problems bring to our lives and lives of our loved ones and community.
Speak up. It has been awesome to witness recent protests. We all have to find ways to speak up for what is right and good for all of us. We cannot sit back idly and do nothing--we have to use our time, our money, and our voices to advocate for what is right and good. Traitors and crooks like Trump and his heinous cronies count on everyday people to be quiet--we can't stay silent if we want positive change.
Work together. Aline yourself with groups of people who want change and work for it. Support local leaders who do good work for the people. Join and/or support your local unions. Join groups such as the ACLU, Amnesty International, Black Lives Matter, and other groups who work for equity and greater opportunity for all. The more we work together for change, the better.
The more I think about opening schools in the fall, the more I realize that proposition will only exasperate contagion spread, greater illness, more deaths, and more lost time with regard to raising healthy, well educated children. We must teach remotely from September to January, then revisit this situation in January. We can do this--this will save lives and make us stronger for the long road. It will also keep people safer during the flu season. This is not ideal--like every teacher, I would like to be going back to school as we know it, but I don't want to simply go back to a situation that is warehousing children in unhealthy ways.