With summer winding down, and with schools getting set to resume their schedules, parents are forced to make the tough decision of whether in-school or virtual learning is right for their child. With COVID-19 Coronavirus cases continuing to spike daily, the safety and well-being of the students, faculty, and employees must be given some serious consideration.
While the difficulty of employing social distancing and keeping students masked up and sanitized is still unknown, I imagine attempting to keep them focused and engaged with learning will be a trying challenge within itself. Schools will also still have to serve meals and conduct physical education classes which, without wearing their masks during these times, may indeed heighten the risks of contracting the virus or being infected. Granted, most young people tend to be asymptomatic, and are able to bounce back pretty quickly, but that leads to a bigger problem of them possibly bringing it home. Unless adjustments and protocols are put in place, some middle and high schools will probably even attempt to move forward with their team activities to include both practices and games.
At the risk of increasing the number of people potentially infecting others, shouldn’t we err on the side of caution and continue to only have virtual learning? I believe that to be the most prudent and safe course of action for all of us during this uncertain time. Everyone please continue to remain safe!
Charles R. Butts Jr. 