Second Semester 2020/21 School Year

Classes in New York City should be running as usual through next week, or is that still up in the air while Plenković sits around tomorrow trying to come up with a plan? 🤔

Fuchs right now—tomorrow we’ll have ten more states plus New York City if tomorrow looks anything like today, which... yeah, seems pretty likely.

High school grads are heading back to class like clockwork.

stormymarlin12 said:Which four counties are we talking about?

EDIT: Found them.

Bozinovic jumped the gun there; outdoor patios only close during the night shift.

Raymond Perez9 said:No, it doesn't imply a 3+1 structure at all. My point is this: if remote learning is an option for every other high schooler, why isn't it an option for the seniors? What is the actual reasoning there?

The way things are set up now, professors for various subjects have to commute to campus just to teach these specific students while simultaneously running online classes for the underclassmen. If we are supposedly protecting freshmen, sophomores, and juniors from the virus, what is the justification for leaving seniors and their teachers exposed? It’s fundamentally illogical.

As for the burden of learning new material right up to the final bell, look at the reality of a student's life: they spend seven hours in class, plus another two hours commuting back and forth, meaning they are out of the house for nine hours a day. Once they get home, they spend at least two more hours on homework, plus nearly every night working on their capstone projects. We are looking at a minimum of 11 to 12 hours of intense mental labor daily, and that's without even touching the necessary review of everything they've learned over the last three years. Are we honestly expecting them to keep the entire four-year curriculum perfectly memorized at all times?
When exactly are these kids supposed to find time in a 24-hour cycle to review every subject for their final exams? I know it might not be a massive issue this year, but they are currently dealing with the psychological fallout of the pandemic, constant masking, and all that. These are young people, and we shouldn't be breaking them mentally right at the starting line. Where are all those psychologists who were so vocal about "prioritizing mental health" when it was convenient?

I suppose I might handle this situation in the following manner—I would call my pediatrician and ask, "Do you agree that because of all the studying for the SATs, my son's immune system might be a bit compromised next week?" 😉

So, I’ve got this lecture scheduled at a school during the week right after the holidays, and my professor mentioned yesterday that everything is proceeding exactly as planned—just a standard, in-person session, no need to worry about any disruptions... NYC, of course, so we all know how that goes.

nimbleranger17 said:So, I’ve got this lecture scheduled at a school during the week right after the holidays, and my professor mentioned yesterday that everything is proceeding exactly as planned—just a standard, in-person session, no need to worry about any disruptions... NYC, of course, so we all know how that goes.

I suppose neither you nor the professor can truly know what the situation will look like once the holidays are over.

Robin Anderson44 said:So why don't we just lock ourselves away completely for a few months and call it a day?

That’s a fair question. And honestly, it's a logical one. It’s basically what Rudy Giuliani said back during that interview on the news when everything first started blowing up. His quote was something like, "Worst case scenario, they'll lock us down for two months and the army will just be carrying sandwiches."

Looking back now, we know that wasn't even the worst-case scenario. In hindsight, we can see there’s going to be plenty of ignoring the pandemic entirely, plus those half-baked, impossible rules that just drag out the misery.

And then you have to factor in how inconsistently everyone follows the rules. I mean, just walk into any government office with service counters, like a DMV or a local hardware store. Every single one of those places is basically a tiny little box of Wuhan, seriously! 🙏
Božinović can talk all he wants about courts or public hangings, but if he can't even get Stefan at the local gas station to pull his mask up above his chin, then forget the courts and the hangings.

Schools and kids are just collateral damage in this whole mess. They're always the ones caught in the crossfire when these unsolvable crises finally reach a breaking point. Once the problem hits the kids, it's not just at the source anymore—it's hit the target. It means you've lost on every single front and the situation is basically laughing in your face.

Robin Anderson44 said:So why don't we just lock ourselves away completely for a few months and call it a day?

Look, if the entire world just hunkered down at home for about 20 days, this whole virus thing would be history. So, why aren't we doing that? 😉

And what about the people who don't even own a house? Where exactly are they supposed to be locked up?

hiddendriver34 said:Look, if the entire world just hunkered down at home for about 20 days, this whole virus thing would be history. So, why aren't we doing that? 😉

Yeah, honestly, I’m asking myself the exact same thing.

Parking spots with actual lines drawn on them, just like we do here in the States.

nimbleranger17 said: It seems like we’re seeing a heartbreakingly steady climb in anxiety and depression among kids here in Washington, D.C., especially after everything they’ve been through with the recent tremors and the fallout from the pandemic

Parents are the ones at fault here. If a child grows up in an unstable environment where they see and hear their masked parents covered in disinfectant while listening to conspiracy theories in fear, what else can they be expected to feel?

Ronald Chavez2 said:It’s fine if you want to find joy in something that most sane people would find absolutely pathetic and deranged, though I suppose I shouldn't count the folks clinging to the #newnormal crowd.

If you're talking to me—and since my post is right there below yours, I assume you are—then please, enlighten me: where exactly in my writing does it look like I'm actually celebrating this?
I am strictly laying out the facts here without adding any personal fluff. It seems like you either missed that entirely or you've got me confused with someone else. ☕

driftingtinker said:Parking spots with actual lines drawn on them, just like we do here in the States.

Honestly, it’s hard to even wrap my head around how this would work in places like Africa, India, or South America...

I mean, seriously, who's going to look after patients in hospitals if everyone is stuck at home?

What about TV, radio, the internet, or the fire department? Does everything just stop?

I'm assuming you guys are just messing with me at this point.

nimbleranger17 said:So, I’ve got this lecture scheduled at a school during the week right after the holidays, and my professor mentioned yesterday that everything is proceeding exactly as planned—just a standard, in-person session, no need to worry about any disruptions... NYC, of course, so we all know how that goes.

Then he hops online just one week after the holiday

We’ve got 1,122 students showing up on the positive side today.

There are currently 462,760 students facing negative outcomes today

Larry Walker24 said:We’ve got 1,122 students showing up on the positive side today.

Wait, out of the total count, 1,122 are actually students?

nimblelynx7 said:Wait, out of the total count, 1,122 are actually students?

Nah, if it was really that many students testing positive, they would've blasted it all over The New York Times or Fox.

Why was there never any massive testing done for the flu?
Kids need to stay in school. If a kid gets sick, they just stay home. Why is that such a huge issue?...