Parents are understandably concerned about the safety of their children at school in the wake of COVID-19. The best available evidence indicates if children become infected, they are far less likely to suffer severe symptoms.[1],[2],[3] Death rates among school-aged children are much lower than among adults. At the same time, the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant. Further, the lack of in-person educational options disproportionately harms low-income and minority children and those living with disabilities. These students are far less likely to have access to private instruction and care and far more likely to rely on key school-supported resources like food programs, special education services, counseling, and after-school programs to meet basic developmental needs.[4]Seems pretty clear, right? For whatever reason, Oregon's Governor Kate Brown isn't listening and has instead tethered the ability of Oregon's kids to return to in-person learning to an absurd metric with no science behind it. I hope my fellow Oregonians will take the time to understand what's going on and let their voice be heard.
Aside from a child's home, no other setting has more influence on a child's health and well-being than their school.
Comment: The control of the dissemination of information by the tech giants continues apace: