Learning from the grown-ups
We've all learned a few lessons. We need a few more.
The whole “You assume grown-ups know what they’re doing when you’re a kid” thing is kind of played out, but it’s played out because it’s true. There’s a moment or series of moments you experience as you stumble into adulthood that smack you in the head and you realize that your parents were making it up as they go along, as were everyone else’s parents.
That’s especially true now. None of us have ever dealt with a pandemic before. The vast majority of us are flying blind here. Our political and cultural institutions are too. The difference is that those institutions have the ability to call on public health experts and epidemiologists to guide them, either through financial compensation or having them employed in-house.
Not that that’s exactly done wonders for the state of the country. Sure, the coronavirus hasn’t been allowed to slice through America completely unchecked. Americans are, by and large, wearing masks. Some of them just happen to be wearing masks while acting like things are otherwise normal and visiting Epcot, for reasons beyond understanding.
Seriously, that looks like the opening of a Jordan Peele horror movie. The cheery Stormtroopers (you know, the soldiers who fight for the evil oppressive Empire) at the end are a bit too on-the-nose.
Regardless, the powerful institutions (like Disney) who have been able to listen to the advice of public health experts have by and large shared that knowledge with the public. None of us knew what the hell we were doing when it came to dealing with a pandemic, but we were able to learn. We were told about masks and hand sanitizer and social distancing. We absorbed the knowledge.
That capacity to learn is part of what growing up is about. Kids assume that grown-ups know what they’re doing because they’ve been alive so much longer and therefore have had more time to learn things, like how to do weird adult things like filing taxes and changing a tire. What we didn’t realize when we were young is that there’s a difference between learning information and applying that information.
We’ve learned what the best ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 are. Both you and Ron DeSantis, for instance, know that the coronavirus largely spreads through respiratory particles that enter the air via exhalation, coughing, yelling, and so on. What you’ve likely done differently from Governor DeSantis is how you’ve applied that knowledge. Judging by the politics of the average Where We Are subscriber, you’ve likely been pretty responsible. DeSantis is the governor of Florida, which is, uh, not doing too hot right now.
It’s easy to blame the people of Florida for their current predicament. And in a way, some of them did bring this on themselves. They’re the ones who elected DeSantis to office and voted for Donald Trump, no?
But sitting on high and condemning the people we view as simple bumpkins to death is the easy answer. It’s the path of least resistance and the one that makes us feel good about ourselves. It’s also bullshit. Florida is not entirely populated by MAGA hat-wearing reactionaries. DeSantis only barely defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum to win office. He was aided by a healthy dose of voter suppression, without which he may not have won at all. The people who did not sign up to be led by an overgrown frat bro are dying too.
Most importantly, a human life is a human life. Many people buy into COVID-truthing simply because they don’t know any better. Those who do know better and decide to work themselves into an ideological lather and parade around without a mask? They know what they’ve signed up for. So be it.
But many people are simply too uneducated and too poisoned by what they watch on television or read online to help themselves. That’s a tragedy. There is blood on the hands of the purveyors of that misinformation, whether they be in the White House, a cable news studio or sitting at a computer screen. They’ve learned bad information and they’ve applied it, and they’re paying for it with their lives and with the lives of others.
The grown-ups in charge are failing not just in Florida, but everywhere. They’ve learned about the situation in our country and chosen not to apply that knowledge.
Take your pick. There’s MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, who let the Miami Marlins play on Sunday despite four positive tests on their roster. Half of the team’s players are now infected and their season is on hold. There’s House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and the rest of the Democratic leadership, who are willing to let Republicans gut the $600 per week unemployment benefits keeping so many Americans alive and housed. There’s, well, Donald Trump.
I’m talking about all of this in educational terms because the resumption of school has been weighing heavily on my mind. I’ve got one semester of college left before I’ll be finally, blissfully done getting my degree. It’s going to be one hell of a time for me to graduate. COVID-19 doesn’t seem like it’ll be going away anytime soon and many are projecting a surge in infections sometime in November.
I have to show up to campus for two of my classes. The rest are entirely online, but those two are scaring the hell out of me. Things will supposedly be properly distanced and there’s going to be a mask policy and everything, but still. It’s terrifying. College students aren’t exactly known for following the rules.
I’ll be one of millions of students returning to school, whether they be in kindergarten or in grad programs. Students are going to be packed into supposedly socially-distanced classrooms with their teachers, and we’re all going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
It feels like madness. And yet here we are.
We’re going to have older teachers ask little kids to please keep their masks on, to stay apart, to be safe. We’re going to ask high schoolers and college students to not sneak around and party and hook up. We’re going to try to play college football.
We’re going to do this because it feels like there’s no other option, outside of that whole playing contact sports thing. We’ve learned a lot about COVID-19.
My hope for the return of schools is that students will take the lessons our time seriously. It’s clear that many of the grown-ups haven’t. We can achieve a better future. We can do so much more and accomplish beautiful things. It’s simply a matter of applying the knowledge we’ve been offered.
Our world will never be the same. Our schools will never be the same. I hope our future leaders conduct themselves in a different manner too.