Only 31 deaths of children under age 15 involving COVID-19. Common flu-related child deaths from 37 to 187 during regular flu season. Should Governors

[tuffsmurf]

I don’t think online-learning is suitable for most children. Homeschooling on the other hand is very do-able if you have an invested parent, but it requiers one stay-at-home parent, which as you said isn’t possible for many people. Especially not if homeschooling wasn’t something you had planned on doing.

 

[Peeps]

I don’t think online-learning is suitable for most children. Homeschooling on the other hand is very do-able if you have an invested parent, but it requiers one stay-at-home parent, which as you said isn’t possible for many people. Especially not if homeschooling wasn’t something you had planned on doing.

I think a lot of homeschooling advocates believe that it IS possible for at least one parent to stay at home.

I can agree that with some real scaling-back, it probably can be done, but…I don’t think it’s easy in Illinois. We have incredibly high taxes here, and it’s getting much much worse, and it will get even worse than worse as a result of this pandemic and all the lost jobs.

Many educated people realize that this is NOT a good state to live in and rear a family. Many of our state’s policies are NOT family-friendly, and are definitely not business-friendly. It honestly takes two people working to provide even a modest lifestyle for their family. Or a willingness to go into debt to buy things like a family vacation, an extracurricular activity, a hobby, a home with more than one bathroom (we only have one), etc.–things that people in other states can actually afford on one good income.

I just read this morning that one of our local business people in our city, a man who owns several businesses including restaurants, is closing them and moving to a different state. He gives his reason that “in recent months, his eyes have been opened to the unfriendliness of Illinois towards business,” and he is moving to a state that provides better conditions for businesses to be able to succeed."

Our city alone has lost several hundred people during the last five months–not to death by COVID-19. These people have lost their jobs and businesses, and have chosen to move to a state that has policies that help businesses to thrive.

The State of Illinois will lose even more people in the coming months, and our city will see many many closures of businesses and companies. So so sad.

And that means even higher taxes for those of us who choose (like fools) to stick it out in the Prairie State, in spite of the complete control that the Democrats have over our State government and the Big City of Chicago. There is a glimmer of hope–our Pope/King, Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, is in some trouble with some kind of bribery case and there are calls for him to resign. Even our very Democrat governor is frowning and saying, “If he is guilty, he’ll have to be penalized,” but I’m pretty certain he’s following Speaker Madigan’s script, and that it will all work out well for Speaker Madigan, and all his accusers will…not have a happy outcome. It’s possible that Illinois farmers will find some interesting…things…in their corn fields this autumn.

 

[pnewton]

I think a lot of homeschooling advocates believe that it IS possible for at least one parent to stay at home.

And it is, sometimes. On the other hand, not everyone is in the middle or upper class. Half of all Americans make at or below median income. A quarter are in the lower 25%.

 

[tuffsmurf]

Of course it is possible to homeschool for many families! But not for all, and not only for financial reasons. In family with several children at different ages, the parents might find that they can’t effectively teach their older children while taking care of a couple of toddlers at the same time.

 

[goout]

I will know that our health officials are authentically concerned for our health when smoking is banned.
The rank hypocrisy is what allows the virus to be politically weaponized. There are so many activities that can be regulated to save so many more lives, yet the virus is singled out.
(yes, I know…smoking is a choice, getting the virus is not. So what? Are you really concerned about protecting people, or are you concerned about scaring people?)

 

[meltzerboy2]

Do you think I am ‘touting’ online learning or that I do not realize the problems involved with it, not only for younger children but even for college-age students and their parents? Think about the teachers (including those public-school teachers whom you claim to be incompetent in your community), some of whom also have young children at home plus have to organize their lessons to teach online by incorporating learning management systems which they have to themselves learn. That’s not easy either. I myself teach college students and have to teach them online. Do you think they do their assignments without supervision? Some of them are also adult learners who themselves have children, while others are special-needs students. Besides, not all students and families even have access to computers.

In short, I am painfully well aware of the problems involved in online learning and teaching, and I am sure even the administrators who talk about the “continuity of learning” are aware. The alternative, however, is either to shut down the schools altogether for a few months or to open them completely, even in areas where the virus is surging, and thereby risk the health and lives of children, parents, teachers, staff, and communities. Would you suggest we open the schools completely for on-site education and take that chance of an outbreak in the school system that may kill people? I’m not willing to take that chance. Better to have less effective learning or even no learning than more deaths than we already have had, particularly in the areas hard hit by the virus.

 

[JoeFreedom]

My wife and I and family have made the decision to also leave this crudhole of a corrupt Democratically controlled massively in debt and getting worse overly regulated state too.

Madigan will never be charged and never pay. His influence and corruption (evil) is so deep and wide.

 

[Peeps]

I will know that our health officials are authentically concerned for our health when smoking is banned.
The rank hypocrisy is what allows the virus to be politically weaponized. There are so many activities that can be regulated to save so many more lives, yet the virus is singled out.
(yes, I know…smoking is a choice, getting the virus is not. So what? Are you really concerned about protecting people, or are you concerned about scaring people?)

I see where you’re at here. For me, it’s drinking----for many reasons, I would love to see alcohol banned…

…but we tried that, and a hundred years later, we are STILL suffering from the evil effects of Prohibition! I have read books that trace much of our current government corruption in Illinois back to the days when the mobs ruled Chicago and ran a pipeline down to St. Louis, a pipeline which caught up cities along the route–like my city.

And I also realize that the vast majority of people in the U.S. drink responsibility, or at least keep it under control most of the time, and that only half of auto accidents are correlated with alcohol–most of the other half of auto accidents are caused by a sleepy driver…

…so do we ban “insufficient sleep?” I WISH! It would be great to call in to work and say, “I’m sorry, I can’t be at work today. I only got 3 hours of sleep last night.”

Prohibition breeds crime and corruption. It’s not the answer. BIG government that attempts to control people and their thinking is NOT THE ANSWER! A barrage of laws and regulations is also NOT THE ANSWER!

Morality, self-control, and basic goodness must come from within a human being who has allowed God the Holy Spirit to direct their lives.

Only basic safety laws and regulations should be instituted, not laws and regulations regarding every little detail of every moment of our day.

When someone chooses to smoke, they are certainly in all likelihood, compromising the length and quality of their lives, and also limiting the people who will be willing to be close to them. But to ban that choice to smoke ignores the possibility that someone CAN control their smoking, limit it to ony a few smokes or less per day, and not smoke where there are other people. It’s hard, as nicotine is highly-addictive, but it CAN be done.

Same for food. About half of Americans are obese (I’m one of them–about 30 pounds overweight, but I’ve lost 80 pounds.) Should we ban foods that are high in simple sugars? Or other foods that are meant to be occasional treats, not daily meal fare? Of course not–about half of Americans are NOT obese or even overweight, and they have learned how to control their intake of these delicious but not nutritious foods!

Our country’s Founding Fathers realized that goodness comes from within a person as they allow God to mold them, not government laws. So they made sure that our Constitution allows us the freedom to be good by our own choice. It’s amazing and I don’t want to see this freedom ended and our lives micro-managed by those who want to play God.

 

[pnewton]

The alternative, however, is either to shut down the schools altogether for a few months or to open them completely, even in areas where the virus is surging, and thereby risk the health and lives of children, parents, teachers, staff, and communities.

There are a lot of possibilities between these two - partial opening, opening with a lot of possible safety precautions, and choice, to name three off the top of my head. There are a lot of valid arguments for most of these.

 

[meltzerboy2]

Yes, I know, but I was responding to a CAF member who believes that online learning is virtually impossible, especially for younger children, because parents are not able to supervise them due to their work obligations. I realized the problems involved only too well, but presented the alternatives.

 

[tuffsmurf]

What effective safety precautions can be taken though? Most seven year olds won’t keep their mask on them for the entire day. Nor do they do social distancing.

 

[meltzerboy2]

Teachers and other adults can supervise the children. That’s part of their job.

 

[meltzerboy2]

Smokers have very little freedom of choice in public arenas nowadays such as restaurants, schools, and office buildings.

 

[pnewton]

What effective safety precautions can be taken though?

There are none, if you precautions that will no be dismissed because they are not foolproof. I am speaking of possibilities in the real world that recognize the tradeoffs.

 

[tuffsmurf]

Have you tried making 20 seven-year olds keep uncomfortable masks on, or not get close to each other while playing at the school yard?

 

[meltzerboy2]

Again, that is part of the teacher’s supervisory job. Children can learn to play in small groups rather than all together. Or play time outside can be eliminated and the school day (and year) shortened so that the children do not go bonkers.

 

[Thorolfr]

tuffsmurf:

I live in Europe and only at-risk people get the flu vaccine. I have had the flu multiple times in my life.

Wow.

I had the flu once, when I was in my 40s and was not getting the flu shot every year because I stupidly thought the flu was no big deal.

I was surprised, too, to see someone write that they’ve had influenza multiple times. I’ll be 60 next year and I don’t think I’ve ever had a real case of influenza, just what is colloquially called “stomach flu”. And I always get a flu shot every year.

 

[goout]

Exactly. Gov’t overmanagement of human welfare doesn’t work.

 

[tuffsmurf]

Stomach flu, is that calici virus? Throwing up etc?

 

[EXdrinker]

EXdrinker:

I am personally getting very tired of the cavalier attitudes towards millions of people’s lives and liberty by shutting so much of our economy down and causing them financial, psycological, and spirtual ruin.

Do tell, especially about the bolded…

You would have to be catholic to understand the spiritual ruin that can happen by withholding access to the sacraments.