Have we lost all sense of decorum and decency during this pandemic?
Over the past year and a half, we have battled an invisible enemy that attacks randomly, without regard to sex, skin color, nationality and now age. During this invasion, we have learned quite a bit about this virus and about ourselves.
Learning about the virus involves believing in science and trusting doctors and nurses. Science and medical professionals tell us not to ingest bleach or horse de-wormer, to social distance and to wear a mask. Science also has brought us vaccines that work. We still might get the virus, but the odds of dying or ending up in the hospital are slim or next to none. Plus, dying from the vaccine alone is very rare — 190 million people fully immunized in the United States and only three deaths. Science is hard to refute.
On the other side of the COVID-19 coin is how we have reacted to the virus. Civility, decorum and decency have taken a back seat to rudeness, discourtesy and bad manners.
This was evident at a recent school board meeting in Putnam County. A person speaking in support of a mask mandate was booed and mocked by the crowd. This was reported in multiple news outlets and was quite disheartening to read. What was even more disheartening was that the school board members allowed this behavior to occur.
So, what I gathered from accounts of the meeting was that loud, obnoxious people, unwilling to listen quietly, forced the school board to reverse its decision concerning a mask mandate.
As I see it, the school board has two primary goals: providing a quality education to all students and providing a safe environment in which that quality education can be provided (this includes administrators, teachers, service personnel and students).
A statement in one article really hit a nerve and that was, “Every student has the right to decide for themselves whether to mask up or not.”
So, elementary students, which include preschoolers and kindergartners, have all the facts and have read the data and understand it completely to make an “informed” decision? By this logic, I’m quite sure they all also know the facts concerning the diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B immunizations they needed before entering Putnam County schools.
Maybe those dissenters need to fully read the Constitution to understand that a mask mandate, like those required immunizations, is a clear and rational protection of the public health, just as no mask mandate is a clear and present danger to the public health.
"discourse" - Google News
September 01, 2021 at 04:00AM
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Jeff Pratt: Discourse over public health shows decaying civility (Opinion) - Charleston Gazette-Mail
"discourse" - Google News
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