Hey, there! Log in / Register
18 months into pandemic, parents across BPS demand system do more to prepare for Covid-19
By adamg on Thu, 11/11/2021 - 9:07am
Boston Parents Schoolyard News reports on a new BPS-wide parents group:
As COVID outbreaks proliferate, parents from more than a dozen schools have gotten together to demand that the BPS administration ramp up efforts to stop COVID spread.
Earlier:
Curley School shut for ten days due to Covid-19 outbreak.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
I think a shutdown is coming
Ugggg
Vaccine mandate
There should already be one in the high schools honestly.
SchoolYard "News"
I have read Schoolyard News on occasion and it can be entertaining and informative. I'm fine with using it as a perspective but I'm not sure if it's something that UniversalHub should be posting as breaking news.
It's one thing to post an article from the Globe, Herald, or other journalistic publication where a group of named people have reviewed & fact-check a story. But a guy with a blog is not necessarily something that I put in the same category. This particular article does not even have an author.
This particular article was written by "a group of parents" but does not cite any names, numbers of families represented, or even the author's name to allow the reader to verify their authenticity. I agree with everything the article is pushing for but I am highly suspect of articles or postings made by anonymous sources. This could be a group of parents or it could just be one angry person with alternative motive. "Fire the COVID testing company....and hire my company!"
Call me skeptical but the word "news" has been so watered down and manipulated that I think we need to push back when something is presented as news when it's clearly opinion....and anonymous.
Um.
I'm not sure what you think Universal Hub is, but last I checked it is literally "a guy with a blog" who posts all sorts of stories of interest, not just journalism-school approved ones.
I think that's different
In that Adam put his name on stuff he writes. I suppose the gray area is when someone puts up a post under their user name (vs. real world name.) but that's rare. Adam doesn't post stuff like 'West Roxbury residents complain about bike lanes' without having some actual quotes from specific people at specific forums. It's real reporting vs. checking the weather by sticking your head out the window.
"parents across BPS" implies
"parents across BPS" implies it's a large group. For all we know, it's a small group of vocal parents who've probably already gotten their kids their first vaccine dose.
Vaccinate every eligible kid
and remove the requirement that parents give permission first.
Just a guess
Neither the courts nor the public would accept a policy of injecting kids aged 5-12 with anything without their parent's approval, even if it is for the best.
Yeah no
Make sure it's *easy* to get vaccinated, yes. Honestly, that's one of the biggest factors. Parents have a lot on their plates.
And make testing opt-out, not opt-in, yes. It's not particularly different from taking a kid's temperature, in terms of invasiveness.
But injecting kids with anything without parental consent? Hell no, and wouldn't fly.
What would fly
Is keeping the unvaccinated kids out of school.
Works for measles, etc.
Bingo
This is the way vaccination has worked in this country for a long time. "Mandatory" doesn't mean "we forcibly inject you" -- it means "there are fines and exclusions".
Consent
if it can be legally placed upon the minor, then let them give it. But someone's gotta give consent. That's not a line I'm willing to destroy.
Theater isn’t helpful
Outdoor eating, air purifiers, contact tracing. This is theater, just like hand sanitizer and cleaning surfaces.
Test, vaccinate, mask. Have a plan for remote learning. Focus on what matters — kids in classrooms — not your wishlist of silly nice-to-haves. Zero covid is a dumb, wasteful strategy, covid is a fact of life that we need to live with, fortunately an increasingly less deadly fact (particularly if you’re intelligent enough to get vaxxed and boosted).
Contact tracing?
Why is this theater?
And keeping surfaces and skin hygienic may not prevent COVID infections, but there's a certain middle-ground we should reach between surgical suite sterile and constantly bathing in dirt, grime and germs.
Nonsense
Outdoor eating and air purifiers are both ways of reducing exposure.
And contact tracing is a fundamental part of any reasonable testing program.
Al fresco
It’s November, al fresco weather will be back in May. And contact tracing? It’s a school, contacts are classmates and any before/after school program colleagues — identifying close contacts isn’t hard. But anyways, given the low incidence of covid, the increased availability of vaccines and treatments, this isn’t the most pressing use of time and money for BPS.
I don't think...
Not as hard as most adults, probably - but I don't think you know how contact tracing works. They need to trace where they've been, who was there at the same time, and contact them, and so on -- and if you think kids are limited to just school and "before/after school programs", you're mistaken.