So, what is with this recent push to start school, to send kids back to school? my distrust of President Trump motives and s mild state of general paranoia have got me feeling like a conspiracy theorist. Coronavirus cases are rising in over half the states in the country. Kids, preteens, teens,and young adults are the least likely to take COVID-19 prevention methods seriously.
There are going to be a host of new infections. There are going to be outbreaks on campuses across the country. And, there are going to be deaths.
Parents are trying to keep their children home this fall, are encouraging the ones in college to study online the next school year, at least until 2021, because they know that the number of coronavirus infections among students is going to rise significantly once the school year begins. There is every possibility that colleges, high schools, etc., will be forced to close due to outbreaks on their campus.
Politicians and business people pushing to reopen the schools know that children are going to get infected if they return to school this year. They know many of them will die. And, not one of them seems to care.
So, what’s so important? What is worth children’s lives? Money? Sure. A lot of businesses make money off of the education system, off of schools and students. Publishers. Food service companies. School supply producers.
Colleges make a lot of money from room and board (food) when the students are on campus. They had to return a good portion of that money when colleges shut down in March and they won’t receive that money if all classes are online this year. They will get class fees and nothing else.
So, they want students to go back to school. And, honestly, a lot of weary parents want their kids to go back to school.
Politicians have done the math and calculated how many children could get infected, and how many could potentially die. They have weighed that number against the economic benefits of reopening the schools and decided it is a number they can live with.
President Trump said he would not shut down the economy again. Reopening everything sends the right message to the country, with just the tone he wants.
No matter how high the casualties, we will keep the economy going. We will preserve the free market system. It is business as usual, above and beyond anything else, by any means necessary. No price – not even children’s lives – is too high.
Mark Earnest Johnson 