So, where we live, it is close to 365 days since our kids have been to school. It is hard to believe that in our country, kids are being held inside their homes when government agencies and medical professionals have clearly stated that schools are safer places to be.

People are actually arguing despite teen suicides, a gargantuan rise in depression and self harm that kids being home is the right choice. It is hard to support that argument, with the amount of poor children and abused and neglected, how anyone can assume it works for everyone is beyond me.

Not to mention that some people don’t have 2 parents in the home. And the fact that many kids are left home alone to learn. Opening up an opportunity for household accidents, predators, not having the educational support is not the only problem.

Everyone is not privileged. Everyone is not well taken care of. Everyone is not safe. Everyone is not well equipped to learn this way. Everyone does not learn well without assistance. Those who do well in this model, their families can easily find a virtual option for them.

Children are also not super spreaders and rarely get severely ill. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/health/coronavirus-schools-children.html. Out of the entire population of the United States, there have been less than 200 deaths in children. Any death is sad. And it is especially sad when children die. I cant imagine the pain these parents feel.

But schools can’t stay closed. This virus is not going anywhere. And those states like NY with massive lockdowns have had the highest number of deaths at 44,512. Schools take precautions that aren’t taken other places and can’t be controlled outside of school as children gather all around cities and towns because of no school activity.

I’m not saying the virus isn’t real. I’m not saying people have not died. But many are in groups aged 80 and over. And in data I have scoured in my own area, 50 percent or more are in long term care facilities. We must protect those older people by vaccinating them if they choose, or not doing what Cuomo did to NY nursing homes by putting sick with well patients.

This may not be a popular post. But I don’t like deniers of science. I also can’t tolerate twisting of facts to meet some agenda. I and many parents across the country are speaking out more boldly about why this is wrong. We can not let union lobbies keep our kids from school any longer.

CARES funding and supplies sit untouched in our area and many areas, showing us that this isn’t about children. This is about leveraging political power and asking for unrealistic things not deserved while punishing children.

0ur children deserve better than this. And as the vaccines roll out, excuses to keep schools closed have worn thin.

~simply

Dee