CDC School Suggestions Not Feasible
While most of the country is performing virtual graduation ceremonies, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is looking ahead to fall. This week, the group released guidelines to schools when the time comes around again to open and resume some sort of normalcy.
If schools were to follow the suggested guidelines, there would be no normalcy at all. This is especially true in rural districts like we have here.
Thankfully, these are suggestions and not mandatory so long as some tyrannical leader or group do not insist they become such.
As I surveyed comments on social media pages of my educator friends, both liberal and conservative, I was seeing the same consensus across the board. There were concerns being expressed by administrators, teachers, parents and the students themselves.
The guidelines were quite numerous, and the CDC was quick to point out that these were only suggestions. They also made clear that implementation should be guided by what is feasible and tailored to the needs of each community. That is good, because from what I have experienced there is no way most of these suggestions could even be possible here.
They began with the basics, which the schools here already do each year dealing with flu and other health-related issues. These include staying home if you are ill, proper handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues.
Once past the basics, the list became ludicrous. For example, it is suggested that each person over the age of two wear cloth face masks all day. Can you imagine trying to teach a group of kindergarteners wearing face masks? Imagine a foreign language class where pronunciation is of vital importance between two words with a cloth covering your face.
Another suggestion was to keep student desks at least six feet apart. In most classrooms there is barely room for the students in the class now. Another was no sharing of electronic equipment. Our schools do not have the budget required for each student to have their own computers, calculators and other materials.
Then there were the suggested rules for bussing of students. One student per seat, with an empty seat between rows. That one was laughable. In routes here students would be picked up at close to midnight. Add the fuel not budgeted for and there is no way for that to be up for discussion.
There were other suggestions, including no extra-curricular activities. Again, not up for consideration. Many students, sadly, only go to school because of extracurricular activities. Cafeterias were to not serve food but have food brought to classrooms. With government’s own nutritional restrictions that one is impossible.
I understand the CDC was trying to offer suggestions with the health of students in mind, but these are ludicrous. These are intelligent individuals who have forgotten what it was like to be a student. There is much more to school that sitting in a classroom learning math and science. The social and team building education through sports, music and other organizations are as important as core classes.
If students and educators are well enough to go to the local mega-mart, they are well enough to go to school in a normal setting where real learning and life’s lessons can be experienced.
These guidelines are ridiculous, and we as a community need to unite to ensure the needs of our kids are put first.
Randy D. Gibson is the CEO of RDG Communications Group and the former director of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce and the Texas State Rifle Association.
