Comments by "wily wascal" (@wilywascal2024) on "Smerconish: What have we done to our kids?" video.

  1. 835,000 American fatalities from Covid-19 is not enough for Smercartoonish. Smercartoonish wants to wait until schools close down anyway because cases explode in schools because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, taking out children, teachers and school staff, while likely spreading Covid-19 further and faster, so that it can sicken, injure and kill more people, especially vulnerable people in the homes children come from? We have an imperfect situation that requires imperfect solutions. Most of us understand that. We're all very concerned about children, want them to attend in-person schooling. Am especially concerned about minority children, who suffer the most. In Milwaukee 1,040 children and staff were out with Covid in just the last week. And only 8% of eligible school children 5-11 in the district are vaccinated. People want kids in school, then mandate that all children attending school be vaccinated fully for Covid-19, just as is already done for other contagious diseases. We got schools in Republican controlled states that don't require masking in schools, which is insane.
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  2. It's so selfish when people don't want to senselessly die or see others senselessly die. 835,000 American fatalities from Covid-19 not enough for you? The vast majority of teachers care deeply about the children they teach, they care that the children don't bring Covid-19 home to family and relatives who could be vulnerable. Should we wait until schools close down anyway because cases explode in schools because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, taking out children, teachers and school staff, while likely spreading Covid-19 further and faster, so that it can sicken, injure and kill more people, especially vulnerable people in the homes children come from? We have an imperfect situation that requires imperfect solutions. Most of us understand that. We're all very concerned about children, want them to attend in-person schooling. Am especially concerned about minority children, who suffer the most. In Milwaukee 1,040 children and staff were out with Covid in just the last week. And only 8% of eligible school children 5-11 in the district are vaccinated. People want kids in school, then mandate that all children attending school be vaccinated fully for Covid-19, just as is already done for other contagious diseases. We got schools in Republican controlled states that don't even require masking in schools, which is just utterly insane. Consider that we will likely be through this Omicron wave in a couple of months, and children can once again go back to in-person learning. And what we should be considering is having summer classes offered for all school children, allowing them to regain ground in their studies. Besides, you're blaming and bashing on teachers when in many cases it is school boards and administrators making the call to go to remote learning. Teachers, administrators, and school boards are like the canary in the coal mine; they see how Covid-19 is affecting and impacting their schools first. They shouldn't be faulted for doing what they think is best for everyone -- including the children.
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  3.  @FelixPfaltermann  ~ You're being intellectually dishonest, Doc! Chicago is not the only place going to remote learning, and you're trying to use that to justify your blanket condemnation, which is factually wrong. You're just bashing on teachers with your spurious smears. And you're also ignoring most of the points and arguments presented. There are no Omicron studies to support your position in what is a very fluid situation during this pandemic. But we can look to other nations suffering major Omicron outbreaks: In Germany, where schools in some states have already closed, cases among the under 15s are running almost twice as high as the national average. The U.K. is seeing a similar trend, as are European Union countries including Austria and Ireland. UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there's no certainty the government will be able to keep classrooms in England open. In France, there were so many class closures last month that the government backtracked on a rule that classes would shut for a week as soon as one student was found to be positive, instead requiring the entire class to get tested. The rate of children under nine years old testing positive skyrocketed to 634 per 100,000 by Dec. 6, up from fewer than 100 in early November. "Children are the biggest contamination pool at the moment," Karine Lacombe, who heads the infectious-disease department at Saint Antoine hospital in Paris, said on RTL radio Tuesday. Denmark's government closed all primary schools on Tuesday, as much as a week ahead of schedule. That's also happened in the Netherlands and parts of Switzerland. One reason for the spread within schools is the fact that young children are among the last group in the population to get vaccinated. Shots for 5-to-11-year-olds are in the early stages of rollout in Europe, and drugmakers are still conducting trials on preschool children and babies. While children haven't directly suffered as much from Covid-19, often contracting the virus asymptomatically or mildly, they've not been completely spared. A small number have developed multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a sometimes deadly pediatric condition associated with Covid. A much larger number have long Covid -- symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog that persist long after the infection. But beyond the immediate fallout, children are another means of transmission to vulnerable adults and grandparents. The arrival of winter has meant more time spent indoors in classrooms with closed windows. Countries are now trying to address the vaccination gap. But if omicron takes hold, and authorities see schools as a key route for transmission, reopenings may be delayed. * And you're lying. So far, 823 children have died from Covid-19 in the U.S., some from Omicron. Far more have gotten sick, many seriously. Moreover, because Omicron is so much more contagious, it has the potential to cause more children to be severely ill, suffer long-term effects, or die, despite its lesser virulence in most cases. Most cases are not all cases. Children are NOT totally immune to severe disease and death from Covid-19, and there is still a significant amount of the Delta variant present in the U.S. Aside from that, the fact is that this administration has been promoting therapeutics, both publicly and through government efforts. You seem to have the mistaken idea I'm a teacher. I'm not. But I am willing to be objective about this, unlike you. I see both sides of the issue, you only see one. Your way or the highway. But it's not case closed, and your proclamation can't make it so. We all wish we were done with Covid-19, but Covid-19 isn't done with us yet. We will continue to need to adapt as the situation unfolds and conditions change. The ability of humans to adapt to changing conditions is one of our greatest strengths, and we should be embracing that. And that should be done by doing whatever we can to keep everyone safe. 835,000 dead Americans is already far too many, don't you think? Or is it that you just don't care? Let's make vaccinations mandatory for EVERYONE eligible, get ALL the kids able vaccinated so schools don't have to go to remote learning, have everyone wearing masks indoors, save as many American lives as possible, and get through this by working together. Problem is, we have a large number of people who don't want to work together, the vast majority of them Republicans, who want to row in the opposite direction, away from common sense and reason. That is where your ire should be directed -- not at teachers.
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  4.  @FelixPfaltermann  ~ Still being intellectually dishonest, Doc! Still evading the points and arguments. Still lying. Somebody dies in a car accident that has Covid-19, the cause of death is listed as from the injuries they suffered directly responsible, not Coivd-19. I don't know where you got that crackpot conspiracy theory idea from, but it clearly wasn't from any reputable source. I do consider and give great weight to the harm done to children from school closures, but you don't consider and are not giving any weight to how children act as disease vectors, or how many children are not yet vaccinated. Responsible people protect children with car seats and drive carefully when children are in the car, and your analogy is critically flawed in other respects as well. Besides, if you actually cared about children, you would not be trying to diminish the loss of those 823 who died from Covid-19, and you would not be ignoring all those who get severely ill and hospitalized and/or suffer long-term debilitating effects from Covid-19. I look at the whole picture, while you cherry-pick only the facts that fit the narrative you wish to believe. I realize that schools are only trying to do what is best for the children and everyone, that these aren't easy decisions, accept that there are valid arguments to be made for and against school closures, while you just want to vilify teachers. Unfortunately, it appears your partisan bias prevents you from being objective about this.
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