BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Case For &\; Against Closing of Schools and Colleges Global ly Over Coronavirus - Jenna Burton DTSTART:20200406T100000Z DTEND:20200406T110000Z UID:TALK141460@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Jenna Burton DESCRIPTION:!https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iXZDchVTtJPY /v1/1000x-1.jpg!\n\nThe prompt spread of the COVID-19 in every continent h as given rise to growing fears among the civilians and their respective go vernments. This has made many countries including Italy\, Japan\, and the United States to close schools\, colleges and all other academic instituti ons\, affecting studies of millions of students globally\, and disrupting the socio-economic factors state of affairs.\n\nThis strict measure is cam ouflaged under an ideological guise with an underlying assumption that clo sing school and colleges will help prevent the virus from spreading and ot her further outbreaks. Knowing quite well that it isn’t the only prevent ative measure to contain the menacing contagion\, governments of different countries have now taken even bigger decisions for locking down. \n\n*Clo sing Down Schools & Precautionary Measures*\n\nLet’s take a look at the analysis of an international study for the effect of closing schools. The outbreak of coronavirus in the United States has impelled 850\,000 K-12 sc hools to shut down\, affecting millions of students – an International s tudy suggests. On the other hand\, all UK schools were closed from 20th Ma rch\, 2020 as more deaths occurred and 32 more people passed away due to t his deadly virus\, taking the death toll to 104 last week in England. \n\n However\, many countries have chosen not to close schools and other academ ic institutions. One of the prime examples is Singapore. The country has d ecided not to close schools citing that it would do more harm than any goo d. If countries choose to close down the schools and colleges\, officials and staff of the school must undertake precautionary measures that include : \n\n• Limiting any interaction among staff and children\n• Compellin g children to wash their hands frequently\n• All students must be tested for any fever \n• Reminding students to not touch their faces and to sn eeze in their sleeves\n• Staff can also consider changing the classroom environment by putting each seat six feet apart\n \nOn the other hand\, kn owledge about the impact of COVID-19 is quite inadequate. Many scientists are uncertain about the impact of the virus on children. What is discovere d so far is that the COVID-19 relates to influenza\, which is quite danger ous for children and the elderly. Since children are particularly vulnerab le to it\, consequences can be severe – they can either becoming serious ly ill or the ailment can prove to be fatal. \n\n\n*H1N1 Influenza VS. COV ID 19*\n\nThere is evidence that suggests that these precautionary measure s – the closing of schools and colleges are quite feeble in terms of con tainment of the virus. Another pandemic is that of H1N1 Influenza and it b elongs to the same family as COVID-19. During the epidemic\, similar measu res were undertaken. However\, they didn’t help reduce the extent of the damage but only slowed the pace at which the contagion spread. Put briefl y\, the slowing of pace was also at a sparse level – the precautionary m easures undertaken during the 2002 SARS epidemic\, didn’t help alleviate the burden on the over-crowded hospitals. \n \nDuring the 2009 H1N1 influ enza\, schools across the United States were closed. An International stud y revealed that the sentiment of the parents was in support of the precaut ionary measure. But many other studies revealed that despite the shutting down schools\, children were frequently going out and visiting public site s and taking the closing down of academic institutions as vacations. Histo ry repeats itself and this suggests that closing schools as a precautionar y measure can prove to be counterproductive. But then again\, that was inf luenza and the 2020 pandemic. \n\n*Are Children Really Affected by COVID 1 9?*\n\nThere is strong evidence that suggests that children are not positi vely affected by it. They might wonder to themselves\, "can someone do my assignment for me":https://www.assignmentlabs.co.uk/ while I take break fr om school?’ But that cannot happen. Various studies reveal that a limite d number of few young adults have been affected by the contagion compared to the elderly. It is largely because of the robust immunity levels in chi ldren. This can be a reason to not close the schools as the alarming level s of the prevalence of the disease continue to be curbed. We will discuss below the precarious impacts of closing the schools on socio-economic fact ors and their effectiveness.\n\n*Negative Side of School Closures Globally *\n\nHaving expounded on the facts that reveal the ineffectiveness of clos ing schools during plagues and epidemics\, it is now mandatory to shed lig ht upon the devastating effects on the socio-economic factors of nations a s the schools shutdown. First and foremost\, if schools close – simultan eously child care programs will be shattered and parents would have to sta y home to take care of their children. Many parents who are health care wo rkers and work in fields related to medicine would lose their jobs. Furthe rmore\, parents who are daily-wagers will also lose their jobs. This would directly result in slowdown of the economy. \n \nSince children will be o ut of school and their parents will not be working and earning\, it can le ad to a severe famine and scarcity of food. Communities that provide food and shelter to the homeless\, youth and the people in need would be disrup ted by the extra burden of the out-of-school students. \n \nAfter the scho ols’ closure\, it will be difficult to decide when to reopen them. Schoo ls will also need to be maintained and sanitised during the epidemic. Fede ral and local governments will have to explain proper reasons for the clos ure of the schools and they would have to take care of the underprivileged communities that are: children whose parents are healthcare workers\, dai ly wagers. \n \n*Positive Side of School Closures Globally*\n\nHaving eluc idated on the facts against the closing of colleges and schools\, it is no w mandatory to shed light upon the positive side of closing schools and co lleges over coronavirus. Children are often the carriers of the outbreaks. Since children have higher-levels of interaction with the outside world. \n\nTherefore\, theory suggests that closing the schools would reduce this contagion’s transmission. But the argument that was also pondered upon contradicts this theory given the fact that children are almost immune to the coronavirus. \n\n*Final Thoughts*\n\nAlthough there is a dire need for curbing public gatherings and avoiding any public site. Specifically thin king\, the closure of schools can be used as a well-established tool to cu rb the proliferating infections that would otherwise spread easily. Having stated the arguments for and against the closing of schools\, we are stil l quite unfamiliar with the full impact of these measures. If the benefits of such measures erode then public outcry can be anticipated as the peopl e lose confidence in their respective governments. LOCATION:Venue to be confirmed END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR