Reopening Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Great Are the Risks?

The CDC has received criticism for revising their original recommendations about the reopening of K-12 schools, by issuing recommendations that appear to downplay the potential risks to students and staff.  There is just so much wrong with the new recommendations that I won't bother to point out all of the misguided, romanticism that it displays with regards to the reduced risks for children if schools open up fully this fall. I'm just going to point out a few things and also make a suggestion for Governors and school districts.

1. To date children may not have been as significantly impacted by COVID-19 because most schools in the country shut down and went remote abruptly around the 2nd week of March, before the pandemic really started to affect many cities and states.

2. We know from states like FL and Missouri that kids returning to summer schools/camps/daycares resulted in dozens of positive cases that then resulted in the abrupt shutdown of those sites, leaving parents scrambling to figure out what to do with their kids after these parents had been lulled into the false sense that it was going to be safe to return to work, and have their kids back in a school or camp setting.

3. While the majority of pediatric cases may not have resulted in hospitalizations, it doesn't mean that the children didn't suffer from COVID-19 symptoms, nor is it possible to know the longterm effects on childhood exposure to this virus. Moreover, one of the most serious concerns about pediatric cases of COVID-19 is the fact that children who are asymptomatic or who only develop mild symptoms may be efficiently spreading the virus to adults who then experience more severe, even life-threatening symptoms. Especially in urban and low-income areas children may live in multi-generational households where they could spread the virus to older family members, especially those with underlying health complications. For families of color the rate of complications such as hypertension and diabetes could put adults living in households with children who spread the virus at disproportionately greater risks of serious or even fatal complications from COVID-19.

4. Adult and pediatric studies from other countries where the pandemic struck earlier should be viewed very cautiously since many scientists now agree that the strain(s) of the virus that are causing COVID-19 cases here in the U.S. have mutated and appear to be more infectious and potentially may cause more severe symptoms in people who are infected here in the U.S.

5. It is a shameful fallacy to suggest that the nutritional needs of children who depend on school meals can't be met unless the kids are physically present in school. When schools shut down in March many school districts continued to do an exemplary job of ensuring that kids were still provided with multiple meals each day.
Are you seriously trying to convince me that I should be confident that you will safety protect students and teachers in a school building and on school buses, if you are also telling me that school districts are not even competent enough to figure out the logistics of setting up neighborhood pickup locations or meals on wheels type drop-off initiatives to get food to hungry kids???

6. It's ludicrous to state that you're concerned about kids getting enough physical activity and not being able to engage in physical and social exchanges with their peers, when you are also attempting to convince me that the way school districts are supposed to keep everyone safe if they return to school is to make sure that physical distancing is maintained, that kids should not share items, should not eat in cafeterias, or socialize closely with each other, and should remain corralled in a single classroom, at a single, designated desk for hours on end, in order to minimize contact.

7. Lastly, there is this notion that students may experience increased cases of abuse and potentially suffer PTSD if they are at home instead of school. Here is what I would encourage school district and Governors to do: if you are seriously concerned about the welfare of children in their own homes, instead of laying off thousands of teachers, why don't you retain those teachers to serve as community level child safety advocates and let parents know that you have a dedicated staff of teachers whose only duty will be to check in with at-risk children every week and to provide additional support to families who may need help with tutoring or online learning. Also how about hiring more social workers and community workers to do home visits if necessary? Teachers are already mandated state reporters for suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, and whether the child is at school during the day or at home learning remotely, what is most important is that child are aware that they can reach out to their teachers if they don't feel safe at home.

Miseducation Nation

Sadly I'm not surprised at the news that reading scores for 8th graders have declined over the past decade.  I have to agree with the fact that this is troubling. The reasons should be obvious to administrators, but the question is what are they going to do to hold students (and to a great extent parents) more accountable?  Many kids really come to school with the expectation that they can sit in class, take selfies, play videogames, and watch unrelated, inappropriate content online, and still get an "A" in class. I'm not exaggerating. I was teaching a class of freshmen high schoolers recently and tried to show them an example of what they needed to do to turn in an acceptable presentation. One group was in the back of the class taking a group selfie, and when I redirected them to put their phone away, the student who owned the phone got angry and stormed out of class because I had the nerve to interrupt them. The sad part is she was allowed to remain outside of the class for the rest of the period. If I were the administrator in charge I would have confiscated her phone for the rest of the day, and contacted her parents to come and get it, with the understanding that she would be suspended if the behavior continued. In addition,. I would have marched her disrespectful little behind back to class, and ensured that she understood such nonsense would not be tolerated!

In the same class another student decided that he was going to watch a YouTube video out loud, while I'm teaching at the front of the class.  He proceeded to laugh at whatever he was watching. When I asked him to close the Chromebook and pay attention he proceeded to tell me, "Miss, can't you see I'm watching a video on YouTube?" As if I was disrupting him when he was doing something gravely important. So, it gets better... I walked over and told him to either close the Chromebook and pay attention or I would confiscate it. This little lost angel is going to turn to this friend and say, "Didn't I just tell this bitch I am watching YouTube!"

Needless to say he got booted from my class and then tried to to lie and say he didn't call me a bitch. None of the kids involved are anywhere close to being grade level competent in Science... But that is the behavior they present in class because that is what they have been allowed to get away with up to this point.

I don't know when the word "consequence" became more unacceptable than the N-Word in school, but I think the biggest failure of the public school system (and many private schools) is that they are now afraid to be bold enough to let kids know that there are major CONSEQUENCES for negative behavior--be it not doing school work, or if they are disrespectful to teachers. If I ever even dreamed I was in a class and called my teacher a bitch, I would wake up and apologize. No, I wouldn't do this because I feared my parents would "knock me into next week".  My parents never had to use corporal punishment, because they made sure that my siblings and I were raised in an environment where respect for our elders--especially people like teachers who were trying to help us to gain an education or do something productive in our lives--was a normal expectation. In addition, I could look at examples of people in my life/community who made certain choices, and the consequences or rewards of those choices.  I knew what I wanted my future to be like.

Today, a lot of schools use the an approach called the "restorative justice/practice" model, where you talk to the student about what they have done wrong, and what they can do better. However, in my experience, the kids abuse the process. Some will not even acknowledge the adverse behavior and act as though whatever happened was the teacher's fault, or that the teacher's picking on them for no reason. They know that at the end of the conversation they go back to doing the same thing. They are not being held back when they don't meet appropriate standards to go to the next grade, so why do they care if one or all of their teachers give them failing grades?

People express concerns about machines taking human jobs, but if there isn't a serious attempt to get students back on track academically and behaviorally, I sure as hell would trust a machine to do an appropriate job more than I would trust most young people within the next 5-10yrs!

Right now I'm still in Sir Sidney Poitier "To Sir With Love" mode, and I am not ready to throw in the towel because I believe that raising the educational achievement in public schools is a worthy fight we can't afford to abandon... But some days it's not easy when I could be making a lot more money working under better condition without a rude kid in sight.

The dilemma of going vegetarian

Starting next week my goal is to try to eat a vegetarian based diet, and limit my dairy intake for at least 2 months. I don't plan to give up meat and dairy 100%, but I will only eat them every other weekend. Today I was in the grocery store and realized what a challenge this will be. Most of my favorite foods are dairy-based (cheese, yogurt, eggs), and while I could probably do without beef and chicken, I love seafood (mainly shrimp, lobster and scale/bony fish). While I don't eat an abundance of meats right now, do like dairy. My main reason for doing this is to see how it changes my overall health, and because livestock agriculture plays a huge role in global greenhouse gas emissions. I'm not going to suddenly turn into a "Meat is Murder" judgmental fanatic, but I will make these conscious, personal choices. On my shopping list are: Drinks: Coconut, Almond and Soy milk. I like Almond Silk, but I'm going to try packaged coconut milk as well. I've only ever h ad it by naturally producing it, but that would be challenging here. Water, maybe some orange juice, as well as hard cider--but only Stella Artois :-). It's overall low in calorie and sugar content. Snack: homemade granola. and veggie chips, as well as cucumber sandwiches, and avocados. Meat: I'm going to try some of the veggie alternatives, but I probably can just get by on imitation crab meat for the first two weeks. I also have fish to last a while, so I will just eat it on weekends. Greens: To date, I've always bought lots of veggies and fruits, but I end up having to freeze them because I don't eat them fast enough. That will change. It will be 90% veggies 5% fruit and 5% "meat" for the duration of my personal challenge.

I recently watched the documentary "Cowspiracy", and while I think Kip Anderson's method for extrapolating some of the numbers for the impact of agricultural runoff and human livestock consumption was somewhat flawed, it doesn't understate the reality that our meat-heavy diets and mostly sedentary lifestyles are literally costing us the planet and our health.

It is really a conundrum for me because on the other side are dairy and livestock farmers who work VERY hard to earn their livings... Growing fruits and vegetables are just not as profitable, and the U.S. Government already has to subsidize many farmers because they make so little from the sale of their products. So what is the solution? Is there a way to have both a healthy planet and lots of T-Bone steaks? I think we need to do more to find a solution that works for both farmers and consumers before it becomes an even greater crisis.

Hey Baby, It's Been A While (Part 2)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I really should be writing about regression analysis right now, but I've decided to take a few minutes to bring you up to speed on the past year and a half. I definitely didn't intend to take this long to write the 2nd part of my piece on pregnancy, but being a single mom with an amazingly energetic, cute-as-a-button baby, who somehow morphed into an even more amazingly independent, smart, cuddly not-so-little toddler, I barely have time to do more than pick up toys and read bedtime stories these days.

So, let's see:  I'd promised to share some insight into my first trimester of pregnancy, and surviving endless nausea. I'm sure every woman who experiences nausea during pregnancy thinks her experience is "the worst", but truly, mine was awful for two month.  I think I would have preferred to actually vomit more instead of just feeling constantly nauseous all day.  I would somehow make it through the day, then wallow in discomfort on my couch for the rest of the evening until I fell asleep.  Then I discovered two things that changed the whole experience. 

1.  Orange juice mixed with ginger ale first thing in the morning.  I would drink about a pint of it on the way to work and then pray that my belching sessions would end by the time I got out of the car. It really helped with the acid reflux and indigestion.

2. Seaband Acupuncture bands.  I don't recall how I stumbled upon this marvel, but it was truly an amazing product. Perhaps I was looking for non-drug anti-nausea alternatives and Google did me one solid when this popped up in the search results.  I immediately went out and bought a pair from my local pharmacy.  Initially, I would put it on first thing in the morning after my shower, and within about 15 minutes the nausea would subside.  I've never liked wearing watches or other wrist jewelry, so when I first tried Seaband, I would take it off after about an hour. However, the nausea would return, so I'd have to put it back on.  The benefits definitely outweighed the desire to not wear anything on my wrists. At some point I even started sleeping in them.  I don't know if they work as well for others, but I definitely would recommend them.  I have no affiliation with the company.  I ended up buying a second pair because I was a bit concerned about  losing one (you have to wear one on each wrist for maximum effect).  

After the first two months of nausea my pregnancy proceeded without a lot of theatrics.  Thankfully I was healthy physically, and more importantly I think being mentally excited about the coming of my child, despite a world of uncertainty, helped to create an insulated bubble of happiness that carried me through.  I remember finding out I was going to have a boy around 22 weeks. I'd already picked out names--about five years ago! It was a choice between Wilhem (my paternal grandmother's name is Wilhemina, and she had the sweetest soul), Leonides, like the heroic Spartan king, or Gideon, after the biblical hero, and also the moniker of one of my favorite TV characters, Jason Gideon (quirky side note: the character was created by a guy name "Jeff", which also happens to be the name of my son's dad). 

Both the biblical story of Gideon and the Greek myth of Leonides are about brave warriors, accomplishing incredible victories against immense odds.... with 300 men. Their courage, faith, and determination allowed them to do the impossible.  The deciding factor for me was that Gideon lived to enjoy the rewards of his bravery and died of old age (something I hope for my son), while Leonidas gave the ultimate sacrifice for his people when he was still very young.  I have no idea whether my son will end up choosing a military path, or if he will ascribe to any form of religion as an adult, but when choosing a name I wanted to give him one that embodies a sense of the possibility of accomplishing his goals, despite unbelievable odds.  It's a theme that has been central to my own life story thus far.

Ok, back to regression analysis. Next time I'll talk about my delivery and the past 20 months of being a mom. I hope my hiatus won't be as long next time, but can be very busy with a toddler who's literally skipping and jumping around the house every waking moment of his day.

Avoiding the extended dangers of post-Harvey flooding

Update 1 of 1: 8/31/17 at 5:17 p.m. This news release from Texas A&M discusses the fecal coliform (i.e bacteria typically found in human feces) contamination of Harvey's stormwater.  

Next time I'll return to writing about my first trimester highlights and challenges, but today I wanted to take some time to reflect on the awful tragedy of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey. As one of the many states in which I have resided, and still have family and friends, TX will always be near and dear to me. It's devastating to see the aftermath of Harvey, but it's also very heartwarming to see all of the positive stories of first responders, and everyday people helping each other. Here's a link to a good NPR article that lists a number of organizations where you can donate supplies for those in the affected area. I'm planning to donate supplies for infants and new moms.  I already had planned to donate such items to my local Salvation Army, but now I'll just send them to TX.  I have lots of new and very gently used baby clothes, diapers, etc., that my Superman of a son has already outgrown.  I can't begin to imagine how stressful it is for all of those new and expectant moms in the southern TX right now.

As a microbiologist, one really important thing I wanted to reiterate, is that, as much as possible, people should try to avoid exposure to the flood waters in the coming days and weeks.  I've seen news stories of children and adults splashing and voluntarily submerging themselves in the storm water. I know that it's a stressful time, and one way to try to help children cope--or for adults to cope--might be to do something "fun" like splash around and make the most of being surrounded by all that water.  However, it's extremely important to remember that all the flooding will include flooding of sewers, meat processing facilities, and other potentially hazardous sites such as municipal trash facilities.  In the coming days there will no doubt be serious issues with decomposing organic material, that may include large animals, and sadly even humans whose bodies have not yet been located.  As a result, the pathogen/potential pathogen load in the flood water will increase. Even wading in the water may prove to be harmful, especially if one has cuts and abrasions that may be exposed to harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi.  Added to these biological hazards are the potential chemical hazards from flooded petrochemical processing plants, service stations, hospitals, morgues, hardware stores, and other chemical manufacturers and suppliers.  Just this morning the Arkema, Inc. chemical plant exploded near to Houston.
  
I remember 12 years ago during the Katrina search and rescue operations a colleague whose family member was a first responder in the area recounted how they were rescuing some victims who had been in the flood waters for extended periods of time, and had severe skin rashes [due to infections]. More important than the infrastructure clean-up and repair that has already begun, it will be so important for those in the affected areas to keep themselves as healthy as possible. One way to do this is to limit exposure to flood waters so as to avoid the many pathogenic and chemical contaminants that will remain in the flood water long after Harvey is gone. Keeping kids away from the water will be a challenge, but it's something that all parents in the affected area should try to do for the next few weeks/months.

Hey baby, it's been a while...

It's been quite a while since my last post. I've been super busy:  first moving, and then moving again after a fire in my condo building; living like a gypsy, and then finally finding my little slice of paradiso. All the while my biggest priority has been ensuring I remained as stress-free as possible during my pregnancy, and thankfully delivering the world most awesome little boy.  I know, I'm a bit biased.  I've decided to make my next few posts about some things I found very helpful before, during, and after my pregnancy.

And now for the standard disclaimer:  I'm a microbiologist, not an OB/Gyn. The information contained in this post is based on my personal experience and not meant to be medical advice.  If you are pregnant, wish to become pregnant, or a recent mommy, you should consult your primary care provider for medical advice.

Prenatal Insight

Okay, so I'll start with the prenatal insight. Although I'm in my late 30s (alright 39 is as late as it can get), despite the conventional evidence that most women will have a harder time getting pregnant after 35, it was not a challenge for me to get pregnant,  In fact it was the opposite... but that's all I will say. I believe the main reason for this is because I was in good health--emotionally and physically.  Although my weight was a bit more than ideal, I exercised regularly, and for the most part I ate healthy, home-cooked meals.  I've always preferred making my own food as opposed to eating out, or eating fast food.  Don't get me wrong, I love me a Five Guys every once in a while, but I could never allow myself to make it a habit.  I know what Type II diabetes and hypertension can do to the body, and my goal is to avoid them now and in the future.  Throughout the years eating healthy has been one of the most important factors in maintaining my overall health.  I've never been a size 2,  and my weight has fluctuated over the years, but it's usually directly correlated to the amount of exercise I engage in, as opposed to unhealthy eating habits.  At most times in my life I maintain my exercise routine by walking. A lot.  I've walked seven or eight miles in a day without a second thought.

During my pregnancy I only gained about 20 lbs over all. In fact, most people who saw me on a regular basis didn't even realize I was pregnant. It did help that it was winter and I could wear bulky clothes.  As a reference Kim Kardashian had gained over 50 pounds with six weeks left in her first pregnancy.  I don't envy Kim her weight gain, but I do applaud and admire her ability to snap back into top physical form. For the record, I won't be dropping 50 pounds within 3 months of my delivery, but I will be losing the weight I gained and even more, because I'm determine to return to what I call my "ultimate healthy body" before my next birthday. Plus, I have closets filled with vintage clothes I love that I'm planning to wear until they have holes in them.

I was never a fan of drinking plain water (bad, I know), but, during my first trimester, I became very good at it as a means to stay hydrated.  Given that I was probably losing about a gallon of water a day in urine, gulping huge glasses of water became routine. This is one thing I plan to continue doing postnatal--not the losing lots of urine part, the drinking lots of water. Also, I have been a fan of taking prenatal vitamins for years, not because I was actively attempting to become pregnant for years, but because it's my belief that it can't hurt to be as healthy as possible and to take them as my regular vitamins.  So, at the "advanced maternal age" (that's what they label you medically if you're my age and pregnant) of 38yrs, 9mths., I had an easy, breezy conception and a problem-free pregnancy. Well, mostly problem-free pregancy.  My first trimester was an awful blur of nausea, but I actually only vomited once. Next time I'll provide some insight into how I managed to get through the purple haze of nausea for two excruciating months, and talk about some websites and products I found extremely  helpful. Oh, by the way: my pregnancy test was a $1 test from the Dollar Store. I took it almost on a whim. They work.

The monster often has a familiar face

As a child, unbeknownst to my parents, I'd often spend all night reading books when I was supposed to be fast asleep. As I got older it seemed that I'd lost this "skill" and instead of being able to read through the night, picking up a book while in bed often led to me dozing within the first few lines.  Eureka! I'd stumbled upon a bonafide  cure for insomnia (not that I've ever been an insomniac--just a night owl most of my life).

Tonight, for the first time in over a decade, picking up a book to lull me back to sleep had the opposite effect.  After falling asleep too early for my usual bedtime on a Sunday night, I found myself up at 3am. In an effort to go back to sleep quickly I started reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  I'd seen--and loved--the hauntingly sad movie adaptation of the book years earlier, so I knew what to expect. Or at least I thought I did.

For the first time in a very long time, instead of falling asleep from reading, I found myself having to put down the book so that I would not keep reading it all night long.  The story is not fanciful or a rare literary masterpiece in the traditional sense.  But what it is matters more than reading a classical Shakespearean tale.  The sadness of this story takes on a whole new dimension.  Not very many books dealing with child abduction and murder tell the story from this perspective. It's frightening because it's reality for so many children and their families. It makes you want to do more than just teach your kids about the dangers of this world that are sometimes disguised as the neighbor next door, or the kindly looking, familiar face from church... it makes you want to never take your eyes of your child. Ever. Because you know that just like Suzie Salmon, who was an intelligent, thoughtful child, looking forward to going to high school and all of the things that little girls and boys her age might look forward to--your child might have a very temporary moment where he/she trusts the wrong person, and before they can run away or even call for help, the monster disguised as the familiar face, or the friendly face, can forever shatter your child's life, and your world.

Real life horror stories such as those of Jaycee Dugard and the Cleveland Kidnapping survivors offer some insight into the horrors that child victims might face at the hands of their abductors.  But there are so many others who are unable to even speak of their horrors because unfortunately, they have not survived the monsters who robbed them of their innocence and their lives.

At the end of the movie version of The Lovely Bones, I felt some measure of satisfaction that "Mr. Harvey" had been struck dead--almost supernaturally-- by a falling icicle.  In some ways I hoped that it would be a very, very long time before anyone even found his body, and an even longer time before his turn in Hell was up.  But on the other hand, I hoped that, they did find his body immediately, because then Suzie's parents would know that this monster was no longer out there alive and able to hurt other children.

Like Suzie Salmon's monster, real life monsters often have familiar, or superficially friendly faces. It's a balancing act to teach children to be compassionate, friendly and confident out in the world, while at the same time (as my mom likes to put it) "maintain vigilance" against those who would attempt do do them harm. There's no easy way to deal with this issue as a parent. One just has to do the best and hope for the best in a world that still has far too many monsters waiting to prey on the unsuspecting.