Parents should decide if children return to school

If a little girl walks into a classroom this fall, it should be her choice. Or at least her parent’s choice.

If a little girl walks into a classroom this fall, it should be her choice. Or at least her parent’s choice. If she is going to be exposed to a potentially deadly virus, it should not be forced upon the family by any government official. That’s the essence of personal freedom.

Here are some reasonable assumptions:

• The coronavirus will be on a school bus. At least one child will have it.

• The coronavirus will be in a classroom. At least one child will have it.

• The coronavirus will be on the playground when the masks fall off. At least one child will get it.

The decision to expose children to such risks should rest solely with their parents. And the last thing they need is to be mandated to send their kids into a pandemic-plagued world against their wishes.

President Donald Trump is threatening to cut off federal funding to states that don’t fully reopen schools in the fall. That is a mistake. It contradicts the fundamental principles of American freedom. If you can argue wearing a mask infringes on personal freedom, what about forcing parents to potentially expose their children to disease and death?

If Pennsylvania schools even partially reopen in the fall for in-classroom learning, they will need all the funding they can get to clean, disinfect, purchase masks and PPEs for teachers and staff and ensure medical help is readily available if a child gets sick.

It could all be an empty threat, as Congress controls funding, but the underlying issue involves protecting children, as well as their parents, teachers and the vulnerable janitors, cafeteria workers, secretaries and school crossing guards who serve them.

And the underlying issue involves who has the right to risk a child’s life.

Schools can reopen in the fall with all the promises of social distancing and safety administrators can muster. But some parents will not trust such guarantees, and that’s understandable. They know kids. They know they will remove their masks, get too close, sneeze into their hands, touch the eraser, or just cough into the air. Many also can’t keep their hands out of their noses.

Parents know this. So, let them decide if they want to take the risk. Those who want to send their kids into the classroom can do so, if a modicum of safety is possible. But parents who don’t want to send their children into the classroom should be able to keep their kids at home. It’s as simple as that. Gov. Tom Wolf should not be pressured into forcing schools in Pennsylvania to reopen if the coronavirus numbers keep rising and if it will endanger the lives of thousands of teachers and staff, not to mention children.

We’re already seeing rising numbers of young adults hospitalized with the coronavirus. We don’t want to see the same with school-aged children. The president says their immune systems are strong and they can withstand the virus. But that’s overlooking the thousands of children with underlying or undetected health conditions that put them at risk for serious illness or death if they contract the coronavirus. And it’s overlooking the medical fact that children will bring the virus home.

Forcing children to return to school during a raging pandemic could lead to more sickness and death. Sick teachers can’t teach. Sick children can’t learn. And sick parents can’t work and make sure their children even get to school if it’s open.

Let’s face the facts. As much as we want things to get back to normal, nothing can be normal while this virus spreads. Just ask the doctors and nurses who are trying to save lives every day. And ask the families of the more than 130,000 Americans who already have died.

The decision to expose children to such risks should rest solely with their parents. And the last thing they need is to be mandated to send their kids into a pandemic-plagued world against their wishes.