Prevention and Empathy.
These are two words that seemed to be missing in much of the debate about the school reopening plan and are still missing. This should not be a debate. It is not something to be argued about.
The easiest way to continue to have our schools open is to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through the use of a school-wide mask mandate. This will help contain an outbreak should one take place, allowing the threat to be contained and school to continue. This plan is in place in surrounding schools, such as Gering and Chadron. I invite you to look at how a school board that shows some empathy and kindness to others can handle a tough situation without making it about emotion:
https://www.geringschools.net/district/news/2020/08/14/gps-covid-19-communication-dashboard/
This path involves empathy and self-sacrifice, as we need to think about others and not just ourselves.
This idea is not a political one. The decision should not be made from an emotional place. It needs to be an informed decision, made after true research and thoughtful conversation. In other words, it needs to be an educated decision. If you are on the school board, or are an administrator, you should be able to make educated decisions, not ones based on how you feel or based on a political headline or facebook post. To make a decision based solely on what you think, versus listening to experts in their field is poor practice.
I am not a mechanic. I know nothing about motorcycles. You probably don’t want me working on your motorcycle. I will mess that monster up. This is exactly like letting people with no experience in the medical field make all the decisions regarding COVID-19 and our schools.
If we believe in our children, then we believe they are resilient. We believe they should grow up to be selfless. Caring about others is not “living in fear.” It is being a good citizen. We should be united by our children’s well-being, not divided by our personal interests.
This is not political. I’m going to say it again. This is not political. This is real, we are living during a world-wide pandemic. At a local level, it must be dealt with now, not when a full on outbreak takes place. Prevention is the key to controlling the outbreak.
If you want to play basketball, wear a mask now.
If you want to sing in choir, wear a mask now.
If you want to play volleyball, wear a mask now.
If you want to go to school all year long, wear a mask now.
Wear a mask now.
And let’s be clear, wearing a mask means just that. Wear the mask over your nose, mouth and chin. Wear it the whole time you are at school.
Wear it when you talk.
Wear it when you type.
Wear it whenever you are in the building.
Administrators, staff, and teachers set the example.
If you don’t wear a mask, stay home.
If you can remember to put pants on, you can remember to wear a mask. It may be uncomfortable for you but this is about sacrificing in the short term, to benefit in the long term. You can do this!
Again, this is not about your political leanings. It seems like most school board members cannot set aside their politics for the better of our families.
We live in a small-town to have the opportunity to raise our children with more freedom than they might have in a bigger city. Wearing a mask does not take away your freedom, it makes you part of the solution instead of part of the problem. COVID-19 takes away your freedom – your freedom to breathe, your freedom to be well, and possibly, your freedom to live.
Please think about others and take some time to rethink the decision to open schools with nearly zero precautions in place. You can’t hide from a pandemic by pretending it’s not happening. I’m glad we’ve been fortunate enough to not have a major outbreak in our town. With prevention, empathy and leadership, we might be able to fend off an outbreak but it must start now.
-Timm Hoff
Parent, Alliance Resident