The View co-host Joy Behar suggested schools should not return to in-person instruction this year, instead proposing that students should repeat the school year.
“Sending kids back to school this year is so fraught with anxiety and uncertainty. Why not just have everyone repeat the year? Is that such a far out idea?” Behar asked on Twitter.
Sending kids back to school this year is so fraught with anxiety and uncertainty. Why not just have everyone repeat the year? Is that such a far out idea?
— Joy Behar (@JoyVBehar) January 31, 2021
Behar’s suggestion came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance to suggest a return to classroom instruction.
“Schools are an important source not just of education, but health and social services for children,” said Margaret Honein, a member of the CDC’s COVID-19 emergency response team.
“Back in August and September, we did not have a lot of data on whether or not we would see the same sort of rapid spread in schools that we had seen in other high-density work sites or residential sites,” Honein said. “But there is accumulating data now that with high face mask compliance, and distancing and cohorting of students to minimize the total number of contacts, we can minimize the amount of transmission in schools.”
Behar’s comments were met with ridicule by some on Twitter, who pointed out that students in some areas of the country have already had relatively “normal” school years.
“What are people in all the sane parts of the country, who followed the science and the scientists, whose kids had a fairly normal year that all of ours kids should have had, going to do?” responded New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz.
“Not just that but here in Chicago, all the public school kids have been out but the private school kids have been in,” added Daily Wire Senior Editor Emily Zanotti. “So you keep 25% back but force 75% to repeat? Also, if this year meant nothing why are we paying teachers for it?”
Not just that but here in Chicago, all the public school kids have been out but the private school kids have been in. So you keep 25% back but force 75% to repeat? Also, if this year meant nothing why are we paying teachers for it?
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) January 31, 2021
Keeping students out of the classroom for longer periods could also lead to other negative consequences, with a body of research beginning to emerge that school-age children are under increased stress and anxiety levels from the disruption to their education and social routines.
Behar did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
