Blue states … we see you.
Students.
And parents.
Especially Mary Katharine Ham.
Among *the most* copious & unassailable data we have on COVID is that it blessedly spares almost all children, & we had lots of indication of this early, but we ignored it in favor of a plan that actively hurts children. It was and is wrong. https://t.co/PqQN1aQhKd
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 2, 2021
It was and is wrong.
Booyah.
And that we are having to fight against masks in ANY of our schools nearly 18 months later is atrocious and just flat-out wrong.
I get this a lot. This is an unrealistic, immature way to approach public policy for millions. In my area, they’ve been out of regular school for 18 mos. Self-harm & learning loss are up. If a society operates as this guy would like, we’d eliminate pools. This is not compassion. pic.twitter.com/Uu8y7kbLJS
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 2, 2021
It’s about control, not compassion.
We’ve known that since last March.
I also get a lot of “but what about might happen in the future and data we might have later?” Again, not a realistic way to do public policy. It has no limiting principle.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 2, 2021
Fear, guilt, shame, intimidation … this is all we’ve heard from far too many elected officials, public health officials, teacher’s unions, and talking heads for the last 18 months.
It seems quite sensible to favor mountains of data about a disease over possible future data, which we cld incorporate into calculations. The message of public bureaucracies that’ve systematically ignored good data we have on COVID+kids, is they’ll let us know when it’s “safe.”
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 2, 2021
Instead of letting parents decide for themselves.
In places where that public bureaucracy has been most resistant to letting kids do things in person despite tons of very good data, I have trouble seeing when they get to “safe” without being pushed aggressively. That’s been the story of the parents fighting for more than a yr.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 2, 2021
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Yup.
This editor is one of those parents.
And we’re still fighting.
And in many those areas most resistant to in-person school, all the staff and admin of school districts were pushed to the front of the vaccination line way back in the spring.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 2, 2021
You know, like teachers.
Especially union teachers.
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