Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker has insisted his administration will “follow the data and science” when it comes to dealing with the virus. The people of Massachusetts were forced into lockdown with all schools closed in the middle of March because the governor said that the data and science advised doing so. Only in the last week or so have we been given the governor’s blessing to leave our houses, and only because we were told that the data and science said we could.
With that in mind, the Massachusetts Department of Education released its initial guidance for opening the schools in the fall on June 5. These guidelines do not create a learning environment for Massachusetts’ children. They create a prison and crush all the joy, energy and passion of childhood learning.
The guidelines’ key requirements are that all children and faculty must wear masks all day, all children must be six feet apart at all times and always face the same direction, all children should eat lunch in their classroom, all children should stay with one teacher the whole day and not leave the room (presumably meaning no more gym, recess or art), and no classroom can have more than 10 children.
These regulations defy common sense and seem to have no basis in human biology.
Children cannot and should not wear a mask covering their nose and mouth all day. Ignoring the fact that such a face covering all day is physically unhealthy (as you are breathing in your own carbon dioxide all day), it is mentally debilitating for all involved. No child should be in a chair all day facing one direction with no physical contact with others. It is not normal and degrades the educational experience for all involved. The issue of only 10 kids per class simply ignores the physical and financial realities of Massachusetts’s schools. Even the most wealthy towns will have difficulty fulfilling such a random dictate.
But the most infuriating aspect of the school guidelines is the hypocrisy of them. Gov. Baker took away people’s liberty based upon “data and science.” He, therefore, has no right to take away children’s educational experience precisely because of the data and science.
Massachusetts’ own data shows that there have been over 100,504 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts. Of those confirmed cases, 7,337 have died with over 4,500 of those deaths occurring in nursing homes or long-term care elderly facilities. The average age of death is 82 years old. Over 98% of those who died had co-morbidity issues.
No one below the age of 20 has died. Not one. And only 111 people below the age of 50 have died. Every life matters, but the data and science show that school-age children from preschool through high school have almost no chance of any negative medical effect from COVID-19. Indeed, young adults through middle-aged folks face almost no risk from the virus.
If Gov. Baker and his staff were following the data and science like they have preached for months, they would be celebrating the opening of schools in the fall and the re-igniting of the educational experience of our children. They are not and the people of Massachusetts should be deeply worried as to why not and stand our ground and say “enough is enough.” Open the schools, governor, with no masks or social distancing.
James P. Ehrhard is an attorney and a former elected member of the Tantasqua (Sturbridge area) Regional School Committee.
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June 16, 2020 at 05:09PM
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Open schools without masks or social distancing - Boston Herald
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