What the CDC Thinks Schools Should Look Like This Fall

The CDC has released school opening guidelines, and they're predictably nuts.

Wear masks if over the age of two
Discourage sharing of items or supplies that can’t be easily cleaned between uses
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces between uses
Develop a schedule for increased, routine cleaning and disinfection
All belongings separated into individual cubbies or labeled containers
Avoid sharing electronic devices, toys, games, or learning aids
Desks should be 6-feet apart and all facing the same direction
One child per seat on school buses and skip rows between riders
Install sneeze guards or partitions where 6-feet-apart won’t work
One-way routes in hallways
Tape on sidewalks and walls to ensure kids stay 6 feet apart
Close shared spaces like cafeterias and playgrounds
Physical barriers or screens between sinks in bathrooms
Children either bring their own meals or serve individually plated meals in the classroom
Kids eat lunch in classrooms
Virtual events in lieu of field trips
The same children stay with the same staff all-day
Avoid switching groups or teachers
Stagger student arrival and departure times to limit crowds of kids
Limit non-essential volunteers and visitors
If possible, daily health and temperature checks

Can you imagine being a gradeschool kid going to a school like this?!

I've seen this the first one talked about on a local news article from a daycare. They were seriously going to try to implement it and require all the kids there over the age of 2 wear masks all day. When the gal was questioned about the difficulty with getting kids that young to put on a mask every day, 8 hours a day, she suggested parents wear masks at home with their kids to condition them! So no one was ever supposed to not wear masks now if your child is going to daycare in an attempt to enforce an uncomfortable face covering on toddlers.

And it's not going to get much easier on school age kids. My son has a hearing disorder. He wears an earpiece, and we've already lost it twice and had to replace it. Sure a mask would be easier to keep track of, but anyone who's ever had their kid not come home with a glove or a scarf or glasses or any other article knows this one. And that's before we get into keeping them on the right way.

Then there's the obsessive cleaning and disinfecting protocol. When? Who? It's not that it's a bad idea, but it is wildly impractical.

And the supplies ... Either you require every kid to supply their own or you figure out how to fund schools to supply every kid. Either one isn't happening now. That's why supply sharing happens. Not every kid can afford their own, and the schools don't have the means to supply every kid. What about books? Single copies of books build massive classroom libraries, but those are shared. You can't have enough to for every kid to have their own. And most sets only supply four to six copies, not enough for a whole classroom.

Let's them talk about they want every classroom to resemble a prison. Teachers take advantage of different seating configurations and types of seats to appeal to every learning style. My own kid needs to be seated close to the teacher. He's highly distractible thanks to the hearing and another learning issue. But regimented seating won't allow that freedom to any teacher, and the plexiglass partitions are worse.

Oh and let's ditch gym class and recess ... it's not like we have an obesity epidemic which is one of the underlying issues for severe COVID-19. And have you ever tried to get a gradeschool kid to sit through an entire day without any breaks at all? Just sitting in his or her desk, not moving? Good luck with that ...

These are so silly, I have to wonder if the people who wrote them have ever been anywhere near a school at all ...

a reply to: ketsuko

This is Alisa Milano level stupid.....

I saw this the other day on Facebook and just shook my head. There is no way schools are going to quadruple their bus fleets and add more routes. None. Zero. Do they know what a school bus costs? Plus extra drivers and wages? The classrooms I was around were around 26'x26' if they were lucky, there is no way in hell you're going to put desks 6' apart and hold 25-30 kids. Extra custodians/maintenance, sanitary rules, whoever made up that list has no kids and has never set foot near a school.

Not to mention kids will not stay away from each other and if they scare them into doing it, have of the gradeschoolers will have panic attacks. I spent 18 years in a school district, what goes on there on a normal day is mindblowing at times.

a reply to: ketsuko

These are so silly

This is ridiculous .

If this really happens, it will backfire and encourage more parents to homeschool their children and keep them away from all the 'new normal' shills who come up with these ideas.

Absolutely draconian.

Implementation should be guided by what is feasible, practical, acceptable, and tailored to the needs of each community.

www.cdc.gov...

a reply to: ketsuko
Deservedly or not-The Millenial generation has taken a lot of flak over recent years as being percieved as the most wussificated,easily offended,self entitled,whiny,limp brained bunch of snowflake people since records began.

Can you imagine what these kids will turn out like if their entire childhood is spent in "new normal/post lockdown" conditions as described in the OP?
It won't be pretty,thats for sure.
At least it'll take the pressure off the millenials I suppose.

Just one more reason to reinforce my decision not to have any kids.

but if I had kids, I wouldn't let them go to school in that kind of repressive environment.

I doubt if much education could take place in an atmosphere where most of the energy would be spent on keeping the kids "safe"...and keeping them from being kids. It's not like school systems aren't Nazi enough as it is.

It's going to take an entire squad of "enforcers" in every school. They will need cages of wire fences to keep the malcontent kids away from their classmates.

Have you ever ridden on a school bus? No matter how tough the bus driver is, it's anarchy.

a reply to: HalWesten

This is true. Half the time while we were home, ours was extremely worried that if he didn't get back to school he would never, ever see any of the kids and teachers he knew and liked ever again.

We do our best to shield him from the news. It doesn't come on the TV here until after he's in bed for the most part, and if he brings it up, we talk with him about it of course, but there was no hiding what was going on in the world and why. He was afraid his teacher was going to die of a disease and so were all his friends.

Now send him back under these conditions, and we're looking at the same issue.

a reply to: Phage

I'm not saying there aren't some ideas in here. Temp checks for one, but the schools already do that one now. I felt like parent of the year last year when I sent mine to school with a barking cough. We did a temp check before he left, and it came up normal. He coughs for every reason known to man and being ill is just one of them, so I had no real reason not to put him on the bus that morning along with a note to his teacher that he hadn't had a fever, just the cough, please keep an eye on him. By noon, he was over 100, and I was getting called.

But some of these things are so out of touch impractical, that I'm not sure why they even made it to the list as written.

a reply to: ketsuko

This news, though it comes as no surprise, is extremely disheartening. The kids are bearing the brunt of these brave new measures. I truly don't know if I plan to send my youngest back to school.

The other issue is that because these are CDC recommended, how long until the teachers' unions raise a fuss when your local school district says, "But these are guidelines, and they won't work out here for practical reasons."

How many strikes in the fall?

Sounds like preparations for neat lines of humans in matching jumpsuits staring at a screen that says obey.....

a reply to: ketsuko

Good luck getting the kids to adhere to this.

Every damn Kid will be in detention in every school in Merica.

a reply to: ketsuko

Perhaps their guidelines relate to trying to minimize the spread of a virus and have nothing to do with politics, economics or what you think kids will behave like?

a reply to: FauxMulder



Really ........

a reply to: chr0naut

Yes, it's entirely obvious there is nothing practical whatsoever about them.

a reply to: ketsuko

it's entirely obvious there is nothing practical whatsoever about them.

I'm not saying there aren't some ideas in here

www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: chr0naut

Yes, it's entirely obvious there is nothing practical whatsoever about them.

So, because someone, somewhere, might break the law, it is all OK for us to go rioting madly now



If we don't at least try to do those things, then the virus will spread fast. If we do try to do those things, then even if things aren't perfect, at least there will be a slower spread, and to fewer individuals.

originally posted by: Notoneofyou
Sounds like preparations for neat lines of humans in matching jumpsuits staring at a screen that says obey.....

Does it?

Well some mitigation has to be done.. for vulnerable category family members. Anything lke a virus could kill my middle daughter.. and she did die .. but for 21 years we had to be ultimately careful as to what she was exposed to. Some of these kids will have family members who are like my daughter or even worse. We lived a lifestyle that was quite restrictive at times and in some areas it was "draconian". If people can decide to take their own health into their own hands.. conversely the others should be allowed to prevent exposure at their own level. Sometimes these 2 things butt heads... but I think we can come up with some ways to appease both sides of the coin to a great extent. Maybe not completely, but then those who cant come to an understanding must also face the consequences of their decisions.

This is what I meant by our crazy "new normal"..