My take on this is that when we're done, we will finally be able to cure the common cold.

 

With all the focus on the COVOID Pandemic I wonder how drug overdose deaths are doing. Prior to the COVOID pandemic everything was drug overdose in the spotlight and now everything has shifted to something more aligned with division. I wonder when this pandemic thing fades what the new focus will be?

Ron

 

Footage alleges Chinese locked inside homes if they test positive for COVID, violate quarantine
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4267447

 

Interesting comment from a doc on Tv about children and Covid. He said,

As many children have died of Covid in the last year as have died in car accidents. We still mandate car seats and seatbelts for kids but certain Governors are making mask mandates illlegal. A mask is the best defense for kids 12 and under. It is nest to mask all kids and all adults interacting with the kids.​

​

Note: masks have been deemed effective enough that the CDC update recommendations are that contact-traced individuals do not need to quarantine if they were wearing a mask while interacting with a Covid positive individual. Unfortunately, the data was collected before the Delta variant became the most common virus. The .delta variant is more contagious so mask should be warn by the kid and the people around the kid.

 

I believe some jurisdictions have prohibited mask mandates for children, as far as I know none has prohibited the wearing or masks by children. This seems like a lot like leaving a child to decide whether or not to fasten their own seat belts.

 

I believe some jurisdictions have prohibited mask mandates for children, as far as I know none has prohibited the wearing or masks by children. This seems like a lot like leaving a child to decide whether or not to fasten their own seat belts.

And yet, in most states, police can give tickets for having a child unbelted. In some states, you can be contacted by child and family services for driving around without car seats for your kid.

 

Mask mandates for children for inside schools with proper ventilation is a no brainer if it will allow normal school attendance.

 

Mask mandates for children for inside schools with proper ventilation is a no brainer if it will allow normal school attendance.

A poll of Austin, TX parents showed 93% positive for mandatory masking for 6th grade and below (12 and under). The school board has now mandated masks in violation of the governor's "no mask" mandate.

 

A poll of Austin, TX parents showed 93% positive for mandatory masking for 6th grade and below (12 and under). The school board has now mandated masks in violation of the governor's "no mask" mandate.

That 93% can still have their kids wearing masks in school, so even if the 'no mask' mandate exists, parents still have the right to correct it with their own personal decisions on their child wearing a mask.

 

That 93% can still have their kids wearing masks in school, so even if the 'no mask' mandate exists, parents still have the right to correct it with their own personal decisions on their child wearing a mask.

But the issue is not about the parents who will send their masked children to school… it’s about the people who won’t, unless forced, mask their children. Creating, unrecognized by those parents, a hot spot of infections. Of which statistics say 1.8% will become infected and spread he virus. 1.8% seems low, but it’s above an R naught of 1 and will continue to create a spike of deaths.
Ignore the details of the math. A summary is that pediatric COVID cases will continue to spread the virus and continue to cause an increasing amount of deaths.

 

But the issue is not about the parents who will send their masked children to school… it’s about the people who won’t, unless forced, mask their children. Creating, unrecognized by those parents, a hot spot of infections. Of which statistics say 1.8% will become infected and spread he virus. 1.8% seems low, but it’s above an R naught of 1 and will continue to create a spike of deaths.
Ignore the details of the math. A summary is that pediatric COVID cases will continue to spread the virus and continue to cause an increasing amount of deaths.

I completely agree with mandated vaccination of children and for them (especially the under 12 groups that can't get a shot) to wear masks (most of which will be ineffective in preventing delta transmission unless they are true N95 types) under the current conditions but realistically, forcing them is unlikely to happen and is also unlikely to materially change the number of cases if the 93% actually do make their kids mask.

 

Texas school boards have finally decided that they are going to just outright ignore the governor's ban on masks and require them anyhow. Which I think is most excellent.

Oops, is that political?

 

Texas school boards have finally decided that they are going to just outright ignore the governor's ban on masks and require them anyhow. Which I think is most excellent.

Oops, is that political?

No, it's a fact. Unfortunately, only 5 school boards in all of Texas are requiring masks as of yesterday (if I understood the report correctly)

 

I expect this just to be their first few.

 

As to the schools about all the states can do is make recommendations. Here in Ohio it falls on the school boards and like elsewhere it's a total mess. I received a letter from the VA (Veterans Affairs) today telling me while the VA hospital was now open to patient visitors a mask is mandatory and that would fall under the federal government. Patients are discouraged from bringing along a guest unless the guest is absolutely necessary for support as in pushing the patient's wheel chair. The schools are another story with every city and town having their own school boards.

Ron

 

Here, masking is mandatory but actually learning anything in school is not.

Oregon suspended its requirement that students show a proficiency in 'essential skills' in order to earn a high school diploma late last month

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-prove-proficiency-math-reading-writing.html

'Oregon schools were among the last in the country to reopen to in-person instruction during the pandemic,' the paper wrote. 'Our legislators should be focused on how to help students regain the ground they’ve lost after a year and a half of distance learning and hybrid instruction – not on lowering our standards.'

 

This is the damage 1.5 years of remote-(non)learning caused while keeping kids of school. Let's do what's necessary to keep them in actual school classes this year.

My 15 to 16 yo was in remote-learning in Oregon for the last 1.5 years so I personally saw the effort it took to actually do the work of a typical school year at home. A huge number of students have been coasting during this time with teachers passing sudents that failed to even log into the system.

https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/...-achievement-gaps-for-portland-students-pwoff

The attendance and failure rate issues were also found in neighboring suburban districts. In Tigard-Tualatin School District, only half of the district's Hispanic and Latino middle and high schoolers attended regularly during the first quarter of 2020.

In Hillsboro, the percentage of all high school students failing half or more of their classes during the first quarter of 2020-21 is at 26%, double what it was the prior year. The district is more diverse than its urban counterpart in Portland. In Hillsboro, 38% of students are Hispanic or Latino. Still, those students are failing at more than twice the rate of their white peers.

To the east, Reynolds School District reported only 30% of its high school students were "fully engaged" in school.

Ledezma and state leaders note that gaps in achievement among student demographic groups have been an issue long before the pandemic, but distance learning has exacerbated them.

https://katu.com/news/return-to-learn/how-successful-were-oregons-students-in-remote-learning

"Because we didn't test all of our children. So it would be inaccurate to try to surmise or summarize in that kind of global way that you just shared from other states around how our children are doing," Patterson said, explaining that standardized testing won't tell the whole story. "We want to be clear that caring for students, receiving them well, supporting them in learning, getting close up, contextualizing what their experiences have been over the past year and a half, what they're ready to learn next, is really what matters most."

ODE wants to shift the narrative. They're avoiding saying learning was lost, nor using the terminology "learning loss" to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning.

Instead, ODE is calling the impact "unfinished learning" and viewing the glass as half-full for its students.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries...the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning#

Our analysis shows that the impact of the pandemic on K–12 student learning was significant, leaving students on average five months behind in mathematics and four months behind in reading by the end of the school year. The pandemic widened preexisting opportunity and achievement gaps, hitting historically disadvantaged students hardest. In math, students in majority Black schools ended the year with six months of unfinished learning, students in low-income schools with seven. High schoolers have become more likely to drop out of school, and high school seniors, especially those from low-income families, are less likely to go on to postsecondary education. And the crisis had an impact on not just academics but also the broader health and well-being of students, with more than 35 percent of parents very or extremely concerned about their children’s mental health.

 

Here, masking is mandatory but actually learning anything in school is not.

Oregon suspended its requirement that students show a proficiency in 'essential skills' in order to earn a high school diploma late last month

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-prove-proficiency-math-reading-writing.html

I see that as a really good thing. When I point things like this out to my granddaughter I explain to her these are the people who will be working for you someday. All good jobs require excellent written and verbal communication skills. When my own kids were younger I stressed you either pursue a field in demand in college or you pursue a trade that is in demand and pays well. Ever called a plumber or HVAC person on a Sunday morning?

Ron

 

Is it a disadvantaged generation or a generation with new skills? Kids learn something whether they are taught, or just observing the actions and their surroundings. Whether they learned a pre-defined curriculum or they learned to adapt and, therefore, learned about adaptation like no other generation of students ever have. Different is not negative - it is just different. Differences is what allows some individuals to survive/thrive in extraordinarily situations. How much effort should be spent to turn these kids back to "the same" vs. celebrating their unusual experiences? Only the future can decide.

How important is it for students to complete prescribed curricula? Especially now with so many schools dropping SAT scores from the acceptance protocol. Leaning how to learn is the most important skill, not learning/memorizing an arbitrary curriculum.

The kids are alright.

 

I see that as a really good thing. When I point things like this out to my granddaughter I explain to her these are the people who will be working for you someday. All good jobs require excellent written and verbal communication skills. When my own kids were younger I stressed you either pursue a field in demand in college or you pursue a trade that is in demand and pays well. Ever called a plumber or HVAC person on a Sunday morning?

Ron

Dont be so quick. If things keep going the way they are, your granddaughter will be working for them in order to make things equitable and fair.