Peggy Carr, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, pointed to many factors that could drive the learning loss, and the Washington Post listed them: “Other studies have shown a rise in classroom disruption, school violence , absenteeism , cyberbullying, and teacher and staff vacancies , and schools also say more students are seeking mental health services.”
All of those are fruits of the lockdowns, too. If you kick the children out of school, outlaw Little League, shut down their playgrounds and basketball courts, and scold them not to hang out with their friends, you are harming them. It’s no surprise, but unsocializing children produces antisocial effects on them. Yet those of us who resisted the unnecessary closures were accused of selfishly wanting to get children and teachers (or their grandparents) killed.
Masks also likely interfered with learning, as anyone who has spent time teaching children can tell you. Yet school mask mandates remain in place despite a lack of evidence that masks are beneficial for children.
Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that people in charge would knowingly harm children for no good reason. But looking now, as the predictable harms of the school closures become evident, we must assign blame to the school boards, county officials, and state officials who did this to our children, in addition to the media figures, public health officials, and union bosses who lobbied for this.
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