“Are you sending your kids to school in the fall?”

Yes.

“Wow, I can’t believe you’d do that to your kids.”
..........

I obviously have to justify that I love my kids with my whole being and I would never subject them to any harm.

The fact is - there is risk in everything we do.

There is a risk in taking them swimming.
There is a risk in taking them bike riding.
There is a risk in them catching the common cold.

You see where I’m going with this, right?

All of these risks far outweigh the risk of my children going back to school and contracting COVID-19 which has over a 99% survival rate in children.

These are simply the facts.

Not every parent sees it this way though, some parents see shielding their children as the right solution. They want to live in a risk free world and contain their children.

We cannot go on living our lives paralyzed by fear.

We live in a world together with other people and we always will. Hiding inside our homes will not solve anything.

Containing our children for longer than they’ve already been, is counterproductive. We will weaken our childrens’ immune systems and they will be extremely sensitive to the simplest illness they may contract.

Aside from the fact that our children need social interaction. They cannot be well equipped for life by being contained at home in fear.

If the schools do open and one child gets sick, some parents are going to panic and cause such a commotion until the schools lock their doors once again and there goes another school year.

But the fact remains the same. This virus is not going anywhere. You won’t wake up in a day or two to hear that it has vanished. Just like any other respiratory virus, it’s here to stick.

Also a fact: it’s manageable.

But unfortunately, people are overlooking the facts.

They are allowing their judgment to be clouded with politics and fear.

Yes, case numbers may be going up, but how many fatalities are we hearing about? Much less than the beginning.

Humans adapt and we have adapted and trained ourselves to live our lives with caution. Most of us are doing our parts and moving forward. Because simply, life must go on.

So when you judge anyone for wanting to send their kids to school, try to think rationally and look at facts.

The facts indicate there is no excessive harm.

Because our children need to feel normalcy again.

Because their mental health is suffering just as their physical health may.

Because like everything in life, there is a risk.

Virus or not, there will always be a risk.