New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof admits that President Donald Trump's decision to reopen schools was right all along, a report says.
In his opinion column last November 18 entitled, "When Trump Was Right and Many Democrats Wrong," Kristof boldly stated that "children have suffered many mayors and governors were too willing to close public schools," The Blaze reported.
In his op-ed, Kristoff pointed out that most of the children affected by the situation belong to low-income families. Instead of helping them, remote schooling can become a failure when students don't have a computer or even Wi-Fi access.
For months now, Trump has been pushing - demanding even - for schools to reopen.
In fact, his tweet last July went viral when Trump declared that schools must open in the fall.
SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!
"” Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
The demand is a never-ending echo of Trump's decision to reopen schools. He knew right then that the nation's priority must be to continue learning for the children and help them find a sense of normalcy despite the pandemic that is surrounding them.
Kristof's column last week also makes compelling points as to why schools should follow Trump's advice to reopen.
He wrote, "Schools, especially elementary schools, do not appear to have been major sources of coronavirus transmission, and remote learning is proving to be a catastrophe for many low-income children."
A few days before he wrote the column, the New York Times reported that President Trump's push for the reopening of schools backfired due to the distrust of the people. Even educators believed that teaching students in this time of pandemic was unsafe leading to even more opposition of Trump's decree to open schools.
Despite the push for normalcy, many mayors and governors who sided with the Democrats decided to close schools instead of opening them and just went for remote learning.
Now, millions of families are not only devastated. Children's futures are also at stake.
Right now, priorities are questioned with schools closed while restaurants and even bars are allowed to stay open and operate.
Kristof adds that it's a lot different overseas mentioning that schools are open instead while bars and restaurants are closed.
He adds, "In both Europe and the United States, schools have not been linked to substantial transmission, and teachers and family members have not been shown to be at extra risk."
Kristof also cited the American Academy of Pediatrics saying that not only do children learn best when present in the classroom, they also learn social and emotional skills at school that cannot be easily replicated online.
Right now, the closure of schools have only magnified the gap between low-income families and those who are affluent enough to send their children to private schools and adjusts better to remote learning.
Worse, statistics show that for every eight children in America, one lives with a parent suffering from addition. For these children, the school serves as a haven and a refuge for them.
Kristof ended his column urging the people to follow what Europe has done: close bars and do everything possible to keep schools open especially for children who were not as privileged as others.
