Schools need to push toward in-person education
Mark Twain reasoned certainty “that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics, a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.”
Unfortunate Twain’s not around for COVID-19 as death shadows a world and U.S. nation betting on a vaccination which many say they have no intention of taking.
Dinner conversations about religion and politics may cause uproar but we can all agree that education endeavors during the Age of Coronavirus exists as a risky business.
Ambiguity reigns here with a belief that schools should develop plans that return students to on-site learning as soon as possible.
And this idea that students can learn remotely or virtually but participate in athletics ranks as monkey business.
Colleen Maguire, NJSIAA Chief Operating Officer, made cogent remarks regarding restart- ing high school athlet- ics.
“During the past five months, the lives of our student-athletes have changed drastically,” Maguire offered in an August 25 NJSIAA website post.
“Last March, NJSIAA made the difficult decision to shut down high school sports. That decision was necessary to slow infections and to allow for mitigation efforts to be established. However, cancelling high school sports has come at a significant cost – the emotional and social well-being of our student-athletes. We need to return to sports this fall.”
No argument here about the importance of sports. Allowing student-athletes safe return to competition sounds perfectly reasonable. However, if face coverings and social distancing matter during classroom situations, safety seems jeopardized when football players clash. Saliva, perspiration, coughs, grunts and myriad other body swaps occur during a scrimmage pileup.
If those conditions exist in football then education in a classroom setting with masked students spaced six-feet apart sounds doable.
A hard-sell occurs when parents, many who exhibit aped behaviors about their children’s participation in athletics and not so much in classroom competition, push back about in-school learning during this pandemic then kick and scream if schools cancel athletics.
If athletes can play again then students involved with robotics, thespian pursuits, debate and a variety of other extracurricular activities should ask for reinstatement of their club interests.
American College Testing or ACT, notes that “extracurricular activities can help improve discipline, determination, commitment, communication, and social connection —which are all skills needed to succeed in high school and beyond.”
And, according to ACT research, “involvement in high school activities is often associated with higher ACT Composite scores, regardless of a student’s GPA.”
Mind you, many worthy and accurate assessments remain true although COVID-19, which has infected 6.5 million U.S. residents and killed nearly 200,000 with some dire projections of the death toll doubling by January, changed every aspect of life.
Amazing that more information and perspectives changes personal beliefs daily about how we should proceed with behaviors regarding coronavirus issues.
West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District canceled all fall sports and the marching band season due to concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement from Superintendent Dr. David Aderhold, the district based its decision on:
Health, safety and wellness of its studentathletes, coaches, spectators and school community
Social and emotional welfare of its teams
Financial complications for the school district.
“Our approved reopening plan bans the utilization of in-person after-school clubs and activities, closes locker rooms and eliminates weekend events. We have taken these steps to ensure that strict social distancing guidelines are followed and that we can uphold our cleaning and disinfecting plan. Eliminating facility usage allows us to shift custodian staff from the evening to the day shift to further protect our students and staff that are participating in an in-person hybrid model,” Aderhold said.
What he said.