Well, to combat FOMO, or “everyone else is doing it” – my 17 year old and 20 year old haven’t seen their friends in person for more than a month.
@Twoin18 stay at home orders aren’t going to be lifted anytime soon in most states. Social distancing will still be in place in phase one and two I believe. We are in Illinois and it stay at home does end on May 30, that just means more places can open for business - with social distancing and masks. It still won’t be time for kids to be getting together in groups and hanging out. I do agree that outside makes more sense and the kids could keep distance. Golf courses are opening here on May 1 and S19 already made a tee time. Only doubles allowed to go out. No foursomes. The boys will stay six feet away from each other.
Partying and drinking in groups is ridiculous. Those parents should be telling those kids they aren’t better than other people and don’t get to break the rules. We are all social distancing now for a reason and those kids who think they can do whatever they want are acting mighty entitled.
@momzilla2D our kids both said they would wear masks as well. Anything to help get back to a more normal existence. D21 and I just ordered some “cute” ones online yesterday. Never thought I’d even be writing that. S19 said he and his friends for sure would wear them if it was a requirement to get back to school.
@homerdog I was one of the people who agreed with a poster’s statement that they would be camping, hiking, etc. I am speaking for my family only. There will be only us traveling and doing those things together. No friends involved. My kids are not seeing friends. We have reservations to camp and hike at Acadia in mid June. If the state allows campgrounds and the park to open (though I don’t think trails are technically closed, just facilities) we will go. It would really be no different than staying home and hiking close by, which we have already been doing. There are no rules in place that state we cannot do that. I do NOT believe that non family members should be gathering to do those things.
@privatebanker, thanks for sharing your D’s perspective regarding on-line learning. My son is a sophomore at a NESCAC school and seems to have hit a wall. His experience sounds similar to your D’s. Lots of work, but not loving the process, even though he feels the school has done a good job with the transition. He wants to be on campus collaberating with his friends. His school had room selection the other night. I wish they delayed it because I believe the process of choosing rooms gave these kids the false sense of business as usual for next year. My daughter is scheduled to start at BC in September and we are asking her to think about deferring (if BC will even allow it). Her HS is doing an exceptional job with on-line learning and it still has not been a good experience for her. The thought of paying two college tuitions in the fall for what is going on in my house right now is a bitter pill to swallow.
This article indicates that Purdue hopes to have the college open in the fall…
“Citing ‘zero lethal threat’ to students, Purdue works to reopen college for fall 2020”
My kids haven’t seen their friends either, but our stay home order expires this week and is unlikely to be renewed. The NYT chart shows most states have orders expiring April 30, and we will see which get extended and for how long. Some churches reopened today with distancing.
@homerdog I agree with you, but these are college kids; they are adults. What can their parents do, ground them?
@homerdog But I really don’t think the stay-at-home orders are going to last. We’ve only been under them a little bit over a month and people are going insane. I personally think that they’ll be undone soon, regardless of what the consequences are.
@homerdog, a read a Grown and Flown Facebook post yesterday asking parents if they were allowing their kids to see their friends. I was shocked by the responses. Most folks are allowing it and their rationale seems to be that they feel sorry for their kids so they let them be with friends or BF/GF to make them happy. I just can’t wrap my mind around this and am so fearful about what this behavior will mean for the rest of us who are “doing our part”.
So many are just burying their heads in the sand. Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
I have a friend whose son is a D1 athlete (winter season) at a top 50 uni. The sports program is one of the best in the country. Coach told kid that the team would be back on campus in the fall, even if the general student body was remote. I don’t see a scenario where this could ever be the case. Thoughts?
Re: different people from different households getting together to socialize.
I am just guessing that some people think it’s okay or much less risky if no one in either household has had to leave the house to work.
I was surprised to learn that some members of the hiking club have been getting together in groups of 2-4 to hike on the weekends.
Again, just guessing they think the risk is very low because most are retired or have the ability to work from home — so very little contact with others beyond a grocery store run.
I was invited to go hike a few weeks ago & I declined because H was working at the restaurant & around other people in close quarters, and I was still helping a night or two with carry out orders at a different restaurant.
Sure enough, he got sick and then I got sick.
But for people who have been able to stay home, save for getting groceries, I think many view it differently.
@xyz123a Maybe the coach in denial; my guess is he could try to do that in the event that school is closed, but the school would probably tell him no.
@xyz123a I don’t know about training with social distancing, but regarding on-campus living, consider that there are still a few hundred+ students on many college campuses right now, students who never left because they were unable (internationals and students with special circumstances). For example even at BC where you have a rising freshman, they started with maybe 500 and are down to 200-something. They are housed in the freshman traditional hallway style dorms, one person per traditional double. There don’t seem to have been any issues with this setup. With the rest of campus empty, there certainly would be room for more, such as athletes.
Wouldn’t it depend on what sport was involved? Cross country teams, a fall sport, are just running through the woods anyway and could easily maintain ssocial distance.
I don’t really understand kids getting together or have the need to. Yes, I truly understand it but with FaceTime and the like that lots of them have been using since middle school they still get to see and be with their friends.
Sure go take a walk with a friend or so things that you can social distance like a lunch at a park etc but having parties just puts too many people in harms way right now.
It’s perfectly possible to hike while remaining 6 feet apart, so I’m not sure what the issue is here. I also see lots of condemnation on social media about people going to beaches that have reopened, even when it is obvious those people are 6 feet apart too in an environment where the risk of spread is minimal. The attitude that “they are idiots who are going to die” is foolish and is more likely to backfire than to be helpful.
So I think there needs to be clearer thinking about what is risky and what isn’t. As an example many of us in our neighborhood go outside each evening at 7pm for pot banging (which started because we have several nurses and doctors living nearby). Really it’s now more of an excuse for socialization and we spend 15-20 minutes chatting in the evening. Last night we took out cupcakes for everyone and put them out on a table on our driveway. We are outdoors, more than 6 feet apart, and not putting ourselves at risk. But it’s not strictly in accordance with the letter of the stay at home order.
I remain in the pessimist camp, I’m afraid.
Could colleges open with a handful of students on campus? Yes. There are international students stuck on many campuses at the moment. But these are campuses build for 1000s of students. Social distancing can be maintained with only a small percentage of students in place.
I could almost imagine this for athletes. There are a relatively small number, and they could be tested a lot, and housed in some sparse way. There’s issues with team sports, and locker rooms I would suspect. But these might be able to be addressed.
But the real point is that I do not see how you could have large numbers of students on a residential campus, safely, this Fall. There’s a reason that no one has addressed dormitory living - there is no solution.
The virus will still be here in the Fall. There will not be a vaccine by then.
And, crucially, there is a safe alternative: students can take many classes online. For labs, alternatives will be developed.
I know this sucks. I’m sure that students want to be back. I’m sure they are bored. I’m sure they want to go back to their friends, and go to parties, and go out together. However, the world has changed, fundamentally.
My D has done one social distance walk with a friend. Our neighborhood is quiet enough it’s easy to do that.
My S has done frisbee golf a few times and kayaked once – with the same friend. He drove himself to frisbee golf course, and he’s the only one touching his discs. They stayed 6 feet apart the whole time. With kayaking he drove himself there. His friend provided the kayak but it’d been sitting in their garage all winter, and he wiped it down around the edges and the paddle for my S. Of course on the water they were plenty apart. He’d like to do more kayaking and we’re looking into buying used ones for the summer. Seems like a good 2020 activity.
My son has gone hiking with a friend twice, without telling us ahead of time. They drove a long distance each time. I think he now understands that’s not acceptable. If he leaves again without telling us, I will lock the house doors and let him stay outside for awhile, ha.