Socially distant school year

"…And I have no idea if kids are going to go back to school or whether they're going to have social distance. But I share your concern that there's a lot of that social interaction that's going to be missing. And I did want to bring up the activities because there's some activities that my daughter does that she's not going to be able to do. And I worry about the emotional toll that will take, but I don't know whether we're going to have school come fall.…"

"…Hey, Sudha, Phil, I'm coming in from Seattle, where my son Sanjay, goes to a school close to our neighborhood. A couple of things which are going on here is that I was asked for a kind of an opinion poll to figure out what I would like coming school year to be like. And I actually was very pro opening up the school completely in an attempt to get as close to the experience of a normal year.…"

"…And I think we're lucky that she's able to do that. But I know that does not speak for everybody else. And I know that she's even expressed some frustration with some teachers getting it, and some teachers struggling with how they are going about doing the teaching. And the experience varies widely. If I ask friends and how they're doing in different school districts, if you ask four people, you'll get five different opinions.…"

"…I know some of you are also young parents. What would be your thinking given that it's your kid going back to the school year to come this fall. I would love to hear more.…"

"…I find this conversation really inspiring and encouraging, hearing you all talk about your thoughts and concerns and hopes for your kids in relation to school. I am not a parent that I have been thinking and praying to be quite honest for a lot of the kids who are not in great or safe home environments, who school is a haven for them and is a place where maybe they can feel safe and get positive attention from teachers or be with friends.…"

"…In fact, as soon as we heard in Seattle, which was the first place in the US about COVID, within the next two days, my daughter's school announced that it was shutting down and they were switching to online classes within a week or really quick. We really were kind of aghast at that point, like we're like, wow, these guys are, I mean, are they overreacting?…"

"…And just kids are a numerator. And I think that's that's absolutely true. Whereas other people can be a percentage, they cannot. So just important to watch everything.…"

@shammi @Phil What are the benefits of IRL education?

"…Not to get too far off the topic of school, but I just wanted to add a few things that I thought were interesting in response to Shammi and Phil, and that was, first of all, I think it's interesting what you were saying about living in an increasingly digital internet world. And I have to admit hearing you say that I realized that even though we have not met in person and most of the people on this app I have not met in person with yet.…"

#teamsports

"…Forgetting all that if I just look at sports for a second, I don't believe that brain development happens just by reading a book or looking at a screen.…"

"…Yes. I think Phil made an excellent point here about these kids being born into technology. This is the world they know, and this is the norm for them. Yes. I think that that's a very good point. And that's something we have to consider addressing your point, Rachel, about the value of in person education. I really don't know. And I think it's a very subjective and personal matter.…"

"…Hi everyone. My name is Divya Aditya and I'm a high school teacher here in New Jersey. I would like to say that you all have made some excellent points here. This is such a controversial topic and there is really no right or wrong long answer. I agree that there's nothing like having a face to face conversation with your teacher and you can only get this by going to school.…"