As people worldwide make adjustments to get through COVID-19, a pandemic that has become a new type of normal for everyone, one of the biggest changes was the shift in education. While some schools are allowing a mix of in-person schooling, most have resorted to online classes, whether this was in the form of asynchronous, synchronous, Zoom, Google Classroom, etc. However, even with a large number of cases in the United States, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, stated on August 7th that the schools across the city could reopen. On October 1st, New York City became the first big city to reopen all its schools for 3-year olds in pre-K programs to high school seniors. However, on October 5th, New York started to close down their schools again. According to the Mayor of New York City, most of the schools that closed were private yeshivas (an Orthodox Jewish College or Seminary) with ~100 public schools. However, if the city's average test positivity rate reaches 3% (currently around 1.5%) over seven days, the public system would have to reclose.
Should New York City have more restrictions in place regarding those who are returning to school, such as age limits, how often, and making it optional?
With the reopening of schools in New York City, how do you think this will affect the rest of the United States schooling systems? Would you feel comfortable returning to school in an environment like this?
Sources:
N.Y. Schools Can Reopen, Cuomo Says, in Contrast With Much of U.S.
New York Becomes First Big City in U.S. to Reopen All Its Schools
N.Y.C. Closes Some Schools … Again
I think it was pretty interesting that New York tried to do this. I think if they wanted to keep their schools open for longer I do think they should of put more restrictions before opening the schools. Of course I do not know what kind of restrictions they put but it must be very little or not enough if the schools closed only a few months later. As for age limits I would limit the younger kids from going out as I don't really think most of them would find it hard to keep distance or not make contact with other people in a school enviroment. As for every other grade such as middle school and up I think it would be fine if they reopened. I think other states can look at New York and take a few notes on what to do and what not to do.
ReplyDeleteI think that other states should be looking to New York and taking notes, however, according to Google, New York is populated with an upwards of 8 million people. 1.1 million of them are students; is it really safe to be sending them to an environment where it's possible to catch COVID, and then have it possibly spread to their family? I think New York needs more restrictions with their schooling as this is potentially dangerous to not just students, but their families as well.
DeleteI would agree that sending younger children, specifically, to school would be a big risk because it's hard for them to social distance, wear a mask, or take the provocative measures that will keep them from spreading and obtaining germs. Though, I think that these younger children are most in need of these in-person classes. Those in school interactions and learning environments are probably essential to early childhood educational development. I think that it's very hard to have children learn exclusively online because they don't have those same immersive experiences that really help them learn. I think it's also really hard on parents to essentially have to regulate their child's learning and schedule throughout the day, while also having to work. For these reason I would say that it would be more important for younger students to return to school than older age students. Especially because older students are used to online work and can probably succeed in that format. You are right though that there is high risk of spreading covid, and schools would have to come up with really good systems or tactics to keeping them safe.
DeletePatrick Mori:
ReplyDeleteI think it is intriguing that New York has reopened its schools. I think that it should be the same as normal school for those who do go. I think that it should be optional with and online synchronous option to appease those who have doubts or fears. I don't think there should be any other precautions that they should take that they haven't already done in terms of age restrictions or scheduling. I think that the opening of the New York schools will certainly Spurr the opening of a lot of other schools around the nation, however I don't know what this will mean for us specifically. I would definitely feel comfortable going back to school regardless. My cousin is a counselor for a school in New York so this issue is actually very relevant to me and my family.
I completely agree with the idea of having an online synchronous option along with in person schooling, as I think that this would definitely be more viable. However, in a space like Aragon where there's roughly 1000 students, is it really viable to have all of them return to school when the United States is still seeing an increase of cases? I think that if there were to be a return to classes, we shouldn't have all students on campus at once, as it becomes harder to social distance that way.
DeleteI think its interesting New York opening their schools, but I also think that students should have the option of they want to go back to school in person or not because of safety concerns if they have a compromised immune system or they are anxious because of Covid and these students should have the option to go back or not. There should be extra rules for the students though in how they can interact with one anther and that social distancing is strictly followed so that the spread of Covid is slowed and that if a there are in fact Covid cases present in the schools that it should close.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued that New York decided to open their schools. They should definitely place restrictions on school, for example younger students would benefit more from in person school than older students (of course this is relative, but elementary schoolers have a harder time on Zoom than high schoolers). Schools are coronavirus transmission hotspots, so it's crucial that classrooms remain distanced, masks are enforced, and temperatures/COVID tests are administered frequently. Students should absolutely not go to school every day, emphasis needs to be placed on safety, additionally students can't put themselves in the mental state that in-person school is here to stay at our current phase of COVID spread. Mental health has been challenging for many of us throughout our online learning, if New York were to return to fully online school, it'd be easier for students to adjust if they never went to school in person five days a week. New York's decision shouldn't affect the rest of the country and it probably won't, New York city is an isolated case and doesn't reflect the situation for the rest of the country.
ReplyDeleteThough Cuomo has many a failure during his stint as governor, I must say that this decision to reopen schools is one I wholeheartedly agree with.
ReplyDeleteMy evidence is as such:
A) COVID-19 mortality, according to NY City Health, is incredibly rare between the ages of 0 and 17 years old; the number of deaths attributed to these ages is only 9 (0.06% of deaths).
B) The APA and AACAP released statements on July 15 that emphasized the necessity for fairness, equity, social interaction between students, and mental health services. With strict quarantines in place, this is nigh impossible to do in my opinion.
C) According to the Census Bureau, 34 out of every 100 Americans now face some form of anxiety, depression, or both. The group hit hardest is 18-29 (and presumably younger, but the Bureau does not assess minors), with 42% anxious and 36% depressed. During late June, 11% of all adults seriously considered suicide. This is, for lack of a better term, a "mental health pandemic."
We need to start slowly reopening in order to reverse these malignant changes, along with the damage being done to the economy and nation as a whole; I sincerely hope that NY's example spreads, and yes, I would be comfortable going back to school provided there be some safety precautions.
New York City should be going completely online. Although the number of COVID-19 deaths is low in young people, children and teenagers can still spread the virus to other individuals who are at a higher risk in society, such as parents, teachers, and elderly. Just because a virus doesn’t affect your age category doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting the rest of the population. When we have a highly contagious virus without a cure, and people are not socially distancing or preventing unnecessary interactions with others, individuals will get infected regardless of their age and continue to contribute to the spread of the coronavirus. I would not feel comfortable returning to school in an environment like this. That would be putting my family and community at risk. It would be unfair to teachers who have to endanger their lives to keep their jobs. The reopening of schools is irresponsible during a pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI believe New York should be completely online because they have a more severe situation than most. Their schools are packed because they live in an urban environment. Age shouldn't matter as everyone matters and people must be protected. As for being optional, I think that is a bad idea as well. Many are being influenced by the politics of government and people are being convinced that this issue isn't real. I personally would not feel confortable going back to school because this situation is still extremely severe. We have made adaptations to have a school online and this will have to continue until a vaccine is developed and spread nationwide.
ReplyDeleteNew York, one of the biggest cities in the United States, should definitely have a little more restriction in regard to who returns to school. At the current state, all schools in places that have massive populations should be online. Places that are smaller shouldn't have as many restrictions, and I personally know someone who goes to in person school still, however, they again, live in a smaller town with no known cases. In places that are as big as New York, cases like the flu, similar to the Coronavirus, spread like a wildfire, and if not kept under control, spread all over. Right now, all school, in big cities should stay online until collectively the nation agrees on when we can return, either when the cases see a decreases, or some other telling sign. I feel limiting a in person class to a few students might be good, however that has lots of limitation and might be hard to control, and I don't see a point of putting a age restriction on in person school. I believe online school should be continued in places that have a big populous.
ReplyDeleteDuring March and April, coronavirus cases spiked in new York. Many people had suffered and had died to the virus, schools were closed because of the danger the virus posed to children. I agree with several people who commented above me in the fact that New your should be completely online. I can understand where teachers don't get to really interact with students and students won't be able to learn as much, however life is much more important in this situation compared to someone learning some algebra. Along with that, we still do learn from online classes and we are capable of getting knowledge from home. At least they did cancel school again and I hope that they can open schools when they are safe again.
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