Should our kids go back to school? Yes!

People don’t like political posts. That is why I declare this post to be apolitical. I don’t care if you’re a Forever Trumper or Never Trumper, If you want to vote for a Maniac or a guy with Alzheimer’s. Should our kids go back to school? Yes! Our children going back to school should not be a choice between Right and Left. Their education should not be wielded as a political sword. Trump wants to keep the schools open and so the Left says they will not be bullied. If the left decides to open all schools Trump would say it is irrational, illogical, and that they’re incompetent. I hate all of it.

Kelsey asked me yesterday what I thought of our kids going back to school. I saved my soapbox for today.

Are we harming children? Every day.

Every single day when they wake up our kids our at risk. My kids jump on the trampoline, they go swimming, they ride in a car. They get fevers and I don’t give them antibiotics (shock and awe). We give our kids popsicles filled with tons of sugar. Am I a bad parent….maybe, but not for the above reasons. Every day our kids wake up they are at risk of things that will be much more harmful to them than COVID-19.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said recently “Policy makers should acknowledge that COVID-19 policies are intended to mitigate, not eliminate risk.”

“The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”

They go on to say, “Although children and adolescents play a major role in amplifying influenza outbreaks, to date, this does not appear to be the case with SARS-CoV-2. Although many questions remain, the preponderance of evidence indicates that children and adolescents are less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, children may be less likely to become infected and to spread infection. Policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within schools must be balanced with the known harms to children, adolescents, families, and the community by keeping children at home.”

Should We Save Everyone?

I watched this post by a well known physician recently.

To think that Trump, Pelosi, or anyone in government can forcibly save all of society is not realistic. The claims in the news that government officials are killing people by letting companies open shop is maddening. Some people have claimed that we are killing our children by letting them go back to school. It is not worth my time to argue with these people.

The CDC states that 647,000 people die in the US each year from coronary artery disease and that we spend a whopping $219 billion per year on this disease.

Assuming that the COVID-19 deaths double to 300,000 people this year you would expect that USA would react proportionally with $110 billion in spending. Instead by one report in the USA Today , we have spent $2.5 Trillion dollars on this disease.

I don’t doubt that Coronavirus is life threatening. It is a serious illness that warrants our attention and response. I have seen the seriousness and devastation of this illness firsthand. The disproportionate reaction however has been alarming in many ways.

This article from the Nature and one from the New England Journal of Medicine published a few days ago reiterates that the disease does not effect children to near the same degree as it does adults.

Doing our part to mitigate, and not eliminate, risk is wise. Keeping our kids out of school is not. The saving of humanity should be left to someone more Celestial.

Plans I agree with:

1. Sending kids back to school full time
2. Wearing masks/shields
3. Distancing in the classroom/lunchroom

Wearing masks and social distancing still don’t have a strong scientific backing. Although the science behind these things is not convincing both seem to be simple and logical solutions to possibly help out. I found this article an easy explanation of the benefits of social distancing. If it means that it gets the kids back in school I’ll go for it.

Plans I disagree with:

1. Having school one day a week
2. Not having recess- make sense to anyone else?

Should our kids go back to school? Yes!

Or maybe no. Fortunately in America we have the right to choose a lot of things. Some of those rights have been restricted recently. Maybe you’ve decided that home schooling is the best situation for your kids. Kelsey and I may decide that for our kids as well if school is part time or so heavily restricted that our kids can’t move or breathe while they are there.

The fortunate thing is that our local school officials have been doing a great job of communicating to us their vision of the future for our children. I appreciate all of their work.

In the last few months COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. The economy has been destroyed, lives have been lost, the social unrest seems to be unprecedented. Let’s not make things worse by depriving future generations of an education.

Mic Drop. I’m going golfing.

About Me

I am a husband, father, ER doctor, and an avid golfer.  With a handicap of 1.4 I have a fairly legitimate claim to be among the Top 100 Physician Golfers in the United States.  You can read more about my story on my about page. Feel free to contact me or follow my sites on social media.