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Karen Vaites Profile picture
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Jan 19 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Remember that time that schools reopened across the US in fall, 2021… and the lack of a surge debunked the myths about risks of school reopening?

Now we have the Omicron edition:
Same story in Philly:
And will you look at that decline in NYC since schools reopened!

<swoon>
I’m old enough to remember that this effect has been so consistent, some wrote threads about possibility that school reopening slows transmission.

Below, threads to consider.

I’m not making this case RN, but these threads at least show that reopening doesn’t cause ⬆️.

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More from @karenvaites

Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 19
A cultural reflection:

I’ve watched as parents who advocated for school reopening – initially w/ masks (based on early assumptions RE efficacy) have received more chilly reception after later questioning evidence RE masks in schools.

Then this month, @CDCgov sounded like us.🤔
When @davidzweig wrote this still-essential piece on the lack of Randomized Clinical Trials of masks in schools…

Parents were all:

“Well, those $2.99 Old Navy masks slipping down our kids’ faces could definitely have some shortcomings.” 🤷‍♀️

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Suddenly in December, White House BFF Leana Wen is calling cloth masks facial decorations, and by January…

Now It Can Be Said.
Read 11 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 18
Did you know the @CDCgov changed the mask guidance a few months back, to call for cloth masks with clear panels for children learning to read, among other cases related to speech and language development + special needs?

See:
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

I have feelings about this.
Looks like a September update.

Which is interesting timing; speech pathologists have been talking about the need for masks with clear panels since early in the pandemic.

I mean…

Let’s talk about why none of us knew about the change.

The @CDCgov coming out to finally acknowledge that masks impede children’s reading & speech development would seem important, no?

You’d think @CDCDirector would broadcast. Or at least we’d see tweets.

Anyone heard a peep?
Read 11 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 17
Every word of @jonathanchait's latest.

Progressives (in many regions) allowed / enabled the greatest domestic policy error of our lifetimes.

And very few are willing to publicly own that fact.

THAT's the source of the dismay and the eroding trust.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
I won’t soon forget that in the Great Debate between @ClaraJeffery and @NateSilver538, Jeffery was basically erasing last year’s school closure history.

Fact check: 53% of schools were closed in 1st week of Jan ‘21, and 37% hadn’t yet been opened (source: @BurbioCalendar).
US children lost historic amounts of school & became a global outlier among wealthy nations.

Pundits on the left just want to talk about how most schools are open now.

Guess what? Your actions 21 months into pandemic aren't the ones you'll be judged on.

Read 7 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 16
Oh look, another study – same as the other studies – showing that COVID spreads far less in schools than other environments!
I don’t even get excited anymore. I know that a) we have piles of evidence showing this already, and…

b) Anyone who didn’t get this memo already – alternately known as Team Remote Learning and Team Motivated Reasoning – will find a reason to blow off this one, too.
“But this is pre-Omicron!”

“But long COVID”

“But the immunocompromised!”

“But their immunocompromised grandparents’ neighbors!”

“But future variants!”

And no one even meeds to have evidence for any of it! Just the virtue of A Concern.
Read 6 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 15
I talk a lot about the silencing effect of the toxic reopening discourse.

This has affected teacher voices, too.

The many excellent educators I know are silent on reopening / effect of closures. And y’all see what some of your colleagues say.

It’s affecting perceptions.
Perceptions of public education are changing… and not only because of the perceived lack of reliability / lack of child-centering due to closures.

The way the loud voices talk on here is a real problem.

And I’ll be honest, every day I log on and I have to consciously work…
… to think about the MANY educators I know personally, and how we talk/DM about kids and closures, to keep myself from getting cynical about some of the educators in my replies.

I have met thousands of Eds and seen great teaching. I count many Eds as friends and advisors.+
Read 8 tweets
Karen Vaites Profile picture
Jan 11
"We've seen a 364% patient increase in patient referrals of babies and toddlers from pediatricians and parents” for speech delays.

Don’t tell me that masks on children are a cost-free intervention.

wpbf.com/article/palm-b…
Also, if this is what a speech therapist is reporting in Florida… imagine the situation in New York, where masks are required in day care centers.
And to everyone who says I’m putting the emphasis on the wrong thing:

The article highlights the impact of adult masking on kids’ speech.

Kids in my state, where toddlers are masked, have two forms of risk, not just this one:
Read 6 tweets

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