Aging with Grace

I am enough of a realist to understand that I can’t reach every child, but I am more of an optimist to get up ever morning and try.

Preston Morgan

We ask a lot of teachers. Recently, even suggesting that they learn how to use a gun to defend their classrooms. Now, we come to them in the midst of a pandemic and demand they go back into schools and teach our children at great risk to themselves, their students and everyone around them.

During a walk the other day I passed by a museum. Sitting in the grass, nearby, was a group of kids from a day camp. They had just finished eating and were getting ready to go into the museum. I listened to a conversation that went something like this. “We are going into the museum, now. Everyone put on your masks. Where is  your mask? Find it and put it on. I don’t think your mother said you don’t have to wear a mask. I will talk to her when we get back. To go into the museum you will have to wear a mask. Pick up the mask and put it on.” This continued for several minutes. How, I thought, is wearing masks ever going to work for several hours in a classroom?

Masks are one of many problems involved in opening schools.  In some parts of the Country we are talking about going back into the classroom with a very high incidence of the virus in the community. Schools are notoriously short of funds. Where will the money come from for the supplies and labor it will require to keep the schools sanitized?

I realize the importance of children going back to school. Having a countrywide mandate on masks and not rushing to reopen the economy before we have better control of the virus, might give schools a better chance for success.