Children under 18 make up 22% of North Carolina’s population.
Children under 18 make up 3% of North Carolina’s Covid cases.
This fact is important in any discussion about the risks and rewards of having in-person school this year.
I haven’t heard this fact anywhere. Maybe you have?
Feel free to share it.
Source: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article241168731.html
In terms of usefulness in American politics, fear and shame have a quick half-life. Anyone can get the public riled up over something scary, but eventually people get tired, numb, or just “over it.” The returns diminish over time.
This kind of explains the Trump presidency. “Many people,” as Trump would say, have grown tired of the drama. If they weren’t before, the year of Our Lord 2020 pushed them over the edge.
Democrats have the best opportunity in a generation to take back power. The problem is they’ve lost their political aim, and they might squander it.
Here’s an example from North Carolina:
This was posted today. The North Carolina Democratic Party is attempting to shame Dan Forest and Republicans for having a fundraiser where people are gathered without masks.
It looks like a really nice evening. Most (sane) people would love to enjoy an evening like that. Judging from the looks of things, I bet some good BBQ was served.
But not in 2020! Today, we shame and berate our fellow citizens for wanting to enjoy life, for wanting to feel a shred of normalcy in this messed up time. It’s sad, in an “if I can’t be happy, no one else can” kind of way. It’s also stupid politics.
Today, the C.D.C. came out in favor of opening public schools. Here’s a notable quote from the press release:
“School closures have disrupted normal ways of life for children and parents, and they have had negative health consequences on our youth. CDC is prepared to work with K-12 schools to safely reopen while protecting the most vulnerable.”
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/new-cdc-guidelines-come-down-hard-in-favor-of-opening-schools/19201905/
People want to feel normal again. They want their kids to have a real education. Democrats, ignoring what people want, are running on disruption, the abnormal.
The clock is ticking on this strategy. Remember, fear and shame have a quick political half-life. Democrats seems to be missing the evidence that Covid might as well. The recent spike of cases in the South and West is flattening. If the numbers aren’t going up around November 3, then all of this could absolutely backfire.
More importantly, Democrats need to treat voters with respect. Americans know it’s bad right now. They can’t avoid it. They don’t need daily reminders from a political party.
An elitist attitude got Democrats in trouble in 2010. It could happen again in 2020 if they don’t start offering up real solutions to get kids in schools and country folks eating BBQ without a side of shame.
There is an average of 10.86 hospitalized covid patients in each county in North Carolina.
1,086 / 100 (counties) = 10.86 patients per county
Source: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/hospitalizations
There are 1,553,334 public school students in North Carolina.
That’s an average of 15,533 students per county.
Source: https://www.publicschoolreview.com/north-carolina
As you might expect after seeing the first figure, our health care system is not being overrun. In fact, the number of “in use” hospital beds has decreased while covid “positives” have increased over the past month.
Source: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/hospitalizations
As we do not have a cure for Covid-19, these numbers are likely to look very similar by the end of 2020.
So…
How long do you want to keep schools shut down?
When is it worth the risk to open them up again?
I think it is now.
If it gets bad, we can always shut it down. But we should absolutely try.
Disclaimer: I have an agenda. It’s called my children’s future.
Today was supposed to be the day that Governor Roy Cooper announced his plans for the upcoming school year. He decided to wait.
I have two boys, 6 and 8. They are public school students. Cooper’s decision will have a direct impact on my family and the hundreds of thousands of others like “us” in this state.
We’re running out of time. School systems, teachers, employees, parents and students needs to know what’s going to happen to their lives in six weeks.
Why don’t they? I’ll tell you why, but you have to indulge my juvenile side a minute.
One of the benefits of having two young sons is you get to re-live your own boyhood in certain ways. One of these ways is you get to play the 21st century versions of the video games you grew up with. Nintendo is still Nintendo, it’s just a lot more fun. Speaking of fun, I take a great deal of pride in beating my boys in certain games. Again, Nintendo is still Nintendo and I put in the work at their age. It still pays off.
Things were going pretty well in North Carolina until June. Our covid curve was long and slow. I compared it to a “two-mile hill” in a post on this site. Governor Cooper was going to be a hero. The “Cuomo of the South” had gotten it right from the beginning and proved his critics wrong. Re-election seemed inevitable.
It was hard not to call North Carolina a success story, and it was smooth sailing as we negotiated the pitfalls of other states with ease.
In “Zelda” in 2020, you use a special power called “stasis” to freeze large metal objects that look like coronaviruses and will kill you if you touch them. In North Carolina in 2020, you use an controversial political tool called a “lockdown” to freeze human beings so they don’t get actual coronaviruses. The concept is the same.
It all seemed to work pretty well for us and after a few months of pain, it was time end the lockdown.
At the end of May, we hit the re-start button, putting an end to this nasty ordeal and getting back to our normal way of life:
um…..yeah….
It wasn’t over.
You need a cure to avoid the spikes. We don’t have one at the moment.
North Carolina’s covid problem roughly doubled in the month of June. The spikes got larger.
Rumors of the school year being postponed and rumblings of “remote learning” broke the hearts and the collective will of Tar Heel mothers.
They need a break. Their sons and daughters need a childhood.
So now what??? How do we get through this? Cooper’s not telling us, so you get the Cross Creek Divide answer:
I’ve got two solutions, one philosophical, one practical.
The first: actually listen to the experts. That’s what Cooper says he does.
In this case, listen to physicians who have spent their careers treating diseases that harm children.
They say our kids need to be in class.
The nation’s pediatricians have come out with a strong statement in favor of bringing children back to the classroom this fall wherever and whenever they can do so safely. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidance “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”
The guidance says “schools are fundamental to child and adolescent development and well-being.”
The AAP cites “mounting evidence” that transmission of the coronavirus by young children is uncommon, partly because they are less likely to contract it in the first place.
On the other hand, the AAP argues that based on the nation’s experience this spring, remote learning is likely to result in severe learning loss and increased social isolation. Social isolation, in turn, can breed serious social, emotional and health issues: “child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation.” Furthermore, these impacts will be visited more severely on Black and brown children, as well as low-income children and those with learning disabilities.
Now for the practical: Ramp up the teaching fellows program immediately. Forgive all student loans for graduates of UNC, NC State (yes, even them), or any other state university that agree to teach in a public school for four years starting NOW. Quadruple the funding, NOW.
The reason is simple: we need young teachers, NOW. Why? Young people are less susceptible to the dangers of Covid-19, NOW.
Adapt to the danger.
Most of all, keep moving forward.
It’s time to be brave.
Cause they are.
Today, Governor Roy Cooper extended the shutdown of many businesses and mandated masks in public. You could feel the collective “ughhhhh” arise from Tar Heel guts. Many of us are “over it.” Others vehemently disagree and believe we should fall in line for the collective good. The virus and everything relating to it it are now political. If you think it’s bad now, wait until public school starts (or doesn’t start) in a few months.
Cooper has maintained a strong lead in state-wide polls, but I have a feeling the race for Governor will begin to tighten as the collective patience of North Carolinians wanes in the summer heat. Time will tell, but time is running out. The election is less than six months away, and a poll is in order.
Who do you think will win the race for Governor?
Do you think Joe Biden or Donald Trump will win North Carolina?
Combine your answers and vote:
Cross Creek Divide 