Are school activites wise?
Twenty twenty has been a wild year so far with the Covid-19 pandemic and as well as the world staying inside and quarantine. Most schools on the other hand, have been open to students or is considered optional during these hard times. Students at HISD including Westside students have already started school activities in the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, acknowledging COVID-19 being at a level risk.
Covid-19 is spreading like a wildfire and school activities is the perfect setting for a covid case to spark. According to the CDC on Covid to group settings, “The more people an individual interacts with at a gathering and the longer that interaction lasts, the higher the potential risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 and COVID-19 spreading.” Students being in a group setting is already a higher risk in itself for Covid. Students in HISD are reportedly having Covid cases during face to face school instruction and school sports, and other activities just adds to the risk. I’ve asked some questions to Summer Petrie, Westside student and volleyball player, “Should we have stopped school activities like sports in the first place? And why? How did it affect you as an athlete?” Her response, “I agree, we should have stopped school activities this year because we are in a pandemic. Because we are in one currently, we should’ve limited the amount of social areas that could be hotspots for the virus. We could’ve stopped a lot of cases and potential ones too and help the people who do have health risks at students homes. It has affected me as an athlete because knowing anyone could have the virus and the fact that teammates are always close to each other was too much of a risk.”
With Summer’s response, it is clear that school activities should have stopped this year, not just because of the activities, but making sure the people are safe around us and our community. The CDC recommends limiting the amount of social activity to a small amount, and with that small amount wearing a mask and social distancing. In other words, school activities should have stopped.
Ifraah Shegow is a junior at Westside Highschool. She is also involved in clubs such as french and dance. This is her second year on newspaper.
In her...
Of course they should have stopped. HISD is held hostage by abbott, morath, and their goons. It doesn’t mean anything to them that teachers, students, and families will unnecessarily die, as long as their best bud business bosses have a captive labor pool to exploit. Capitalism, like democracy, is dangerous without systemic safeguards for the little guy (or gal).