Closed schools for no reason

I read disappointing information about China’s lockdowns in a WHO report. The person who wrote the report was impressed by the lockdowns and their supposed effectiveness. I wondered how anyone could believe Chinese data. They do not care about human life. They care that the government looks effective. I thought it likely that people who are impressed by the Chinese government have similar values as the Chinese government.

Just before the US decided to lockdown, there was evidence coming from California that suggested a much lower death rate with SARS-COV-2 infection. I hoped that this would convince our government officials to not move forward with the irrational and very harmful lockdown policies. Also, there was evidence that children were quite protected from severe disease, more protected than from influenza. I hoped this would mean schools would stay open. However, these data were thrown out by health officials and lockdowns were enforced and schools were shut down.

I have 3 children. At the time, 1 preschooler, 1 first grader and a second grader. Online school was worthless for all three. It was impossible for me, one parent, to watch all three at once to ensure that they were paying attention. I stopped having my preschooler participate and then watched the first grader.

While the extra time together as a family was good for the family, the time online was terrible for my children. They just learned how to watch things on a screen and they missed their interactions with friends tremendously. My 2nd grade daughter was beside herself, desperately seeking social interactions with people her age. 

We were fortunate to live in Iowa where the at home schooling and masking was short lived. Our family lost money because I had to be available to care for the kids when they were not in school. It is sad for me to see studies showing the severe emotional effects that school loss caused children and I am concerned about the learning loss many children in the US experienced because of prolonged in-person school closures.