We must take appropriate measures that allow kids to get back to school

Rand Paul

Labor Day has passed, and in most years, the entire country would now be back to school. Kids would be learning, catching up with old friends, and swapping stories from the summer. Teachers would have decorated and readied themselves for a year of struggles and smiles, learning and community.

Traffic is always heaviest this time of year, because of school buses full of kids, and parents going to work, returning from summer vacations.

But in far too many places, including much of Kentucky, this is not the reality. There are no buses, no kids in classrooms, and few smiles.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We’ve been admonished for months by nags in the media to “follow the science.” What they mean, of course, is the science that fits their preconceived notions.

What if the science tells us that school-age children get COVID less often, transmit it less, and have fewer severe cases? What if the science tells us the mortality rate for those under 18 is 1 in a million, or far less than the seasonal flu?

What if the science — from the American Academy of Pediatrics, to the schools that have already re-opened and can provide data — tells us that it is better, safer, and smarter to have our kids at school?

Thales Academy in Raleigh, N.C., is a charter school system with multiple campuses and nearly 6,000 students, teachers, and staff. They reopened on schedule in July and are in their 8th week of in-person instruction. They have three cases of COVID among the 6,000 people. None were contracted in school, and no one who got sick spread it within the school.

Fairfax Christian School is an oasis among closed schools in the D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia. Every single surrounding school fearfully closed to in-person learning. FCS and their 400 students and staff have been back on campus five days per week in person for three weeks, with no COVID cases.

Both of these schools share some ideas — they socially distance as much as possible, including not changing classrooms as often and having lunch in their classroom instead of a cafeteria. They temperature check and health quiz every child, every day. They have remote learning enabled to make it easier for sick kids to stay home and still learn.

These are all things that could be replicated, if the government were able to run things properly and make good decisions based on data.

In my home state of Kentucky, Christian Academy of Louisville has reopened for its 2,000-plus students, with remarkably similar results — only one current, school-based case and quarantine.

We are also seeing that while there are many positive cases as colleges return, even that age group is remaining resilient against the disease itself — out of nearly 15,000 positive cases for returning college students, there have been exactly zero hospitalizations.

Let me state clearly: I am not denying this disease is bad. I had it. I have friends and family who had it. I went to my local hospital to volunteer to treat very sick patients who had it, some of whom died. Many Americans have lost their battles with this and lost their lives. We should take it seriously.

But we should take the rest of our society seriously, too, and take appropriate measures that allow us to get back to school, to work, and to resurrecting our economy.

Every closed school puts at-risk kids more at risk.

Every closed school that is closed out of fear and not reality is a tragedy we should avoid.

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More Than 10,000 Academics and Scholars Sign 'The Philadelphia Statement' Against Cancel Culture

There is an organized and growing effort to push back against the cancel culture on college campuses. Thousands of conservative and libertarian scholars and academics are standing up and issuing a ringing endorsement of academic freedom.

It’s called “The Philadelphia Statement on Civil Discourse and the Strengthening of Liberal Democracy” and has been signed by such luminaries as Robert George, Christina Hoff Sommers, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and more.

The statement embodies concepts that all can embrace — at least, those whose minds haven’t been poisoned by the radical left.

Tragically, we are losing these defining features of our democracy. Common decency and free speech are being dismantled through the stigmatizing practice of blacklisting ideological opponents, which has taken on the conspicuous form of “hate” labeling. Responsible organizations are castigated as “hate groups.” Honest people of good faith are branded “hate agents.” Even mainstream ideas are marginalized as “hate speech.” This threatens our ability to listen, discuss, debate, and grow.

Blacklisting is spreading. Corporations are enacting “hate-speech” policies to protect people from “wrong” and “harmful” content. Similarly, colleges and universities are imposing speech regulations to make students “safe,” not from physical harm, but from challenges to campus orthodoxy. These policies and regulations assume that we as citizens are unable to think for ourselves and to make independent judgments. Instead of teaching us to engage, they foster conformism (“groupthink”) and train us to respond to intellectual challenges with one or another form of censorship.

This is the country we are well on our way to becoming. But is that really the way it should be?

We must ask ourselves: Is this the country we want? Surely not. We want—and to be true to ourselves we need—to be a nation in which we and our fellow citizens of many different faiths, philosophies, and persuasions can speak their minds and honor their deepest convictions without fear of punishment and retaliation.

Indeed, that fear has driven people to practice self-censorship rather than run afoul of the mob.

A society that lacks comity and allows people to be shamed or intimidated into self-censorship of their ideas and considered judgments will not survive for long. As Americans, we desire a flourishing, open marketplace of ideas, knowing that it is the fairest and most effective way to separate falsehood from truth. Accordingly, dissenting and unpopular voices—be they of the left or the right—must be afforded the opportunity to be heard. They have often guided our society toward more just positions, which is why Frederick Douglass said freedom of speech is the “great moral renovator of society and government.”

These are all noble sentiments and it’s gratifying to see so many stand up for free expression. But the statement falls short in offering a way forward. Right now, it’s an all-out war between the right and left. There is a bright, red line between the two ideologies with no room for nuance or any kind of negotiations. It’s kill or be killed and no quarter is asked or given.

In truth, society has lacked “comity” for decades. Professional agitators on both sides know what buttons to push to start a Twitter scrum or a social media meltdown by framing an issue so provocatively as to provoke anger, fear, or even hate. How can reasonableness and logic break through and begin to turn around the death spiral that American democracy is experiencing now?

It will take leadership at all levels of society, especially in the schools where children are being taught to hate those who disagree with them as being “evil.” Given how entrenched liberal academia is in the educational system, it will be a long slow process to change it.

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Trigger Warning: The American Flag is 'Sensitive Content' at Baylor University In Texas

Every September 11, the Young Conservatives of Texas place a flag memorial in a prominent place on campus as a way to remember the victims of 9/11.

But this year, the YCT ran afoul of the mob who forced school authorities to place a warning sign in front of the display.  The sign cautioned the easily triggered of “sensitive” content.

Daily Caller:

“The Young Conservatives of Texas at Baylor are highly disappointed in Baylor’s conduct in this matter. We have consistently proven that we are dedicated to conducting a respectful and apolitical 9/11 memorial and have never even asked to put our name with this event,” Baylor YCT Chair Jake Neidert told the DCNF.

“At the end of the day, Young Conservatives of Texas stands for Principles over Party, and today Baylor made a 9/11 memorial out to be a sensitive partisan and political event. Memorializing 9/11 isn’t political or sensitive, it’s distinctly American,” Neidert added.

Ah, my precious children. The fact that it’s “American” is the reason it’s “sensitive.”

I’ve never been able to understand the mindset that simply seeing the American flag or anything “American” should trigger anyone. It’s simple-minded to be triggered in the first place and we should expect more from people attending an institution of higher learning.

Of course, no one is “triggered” in the sense that they become emotionally crippled. But it’s trendy and hip to say you’re triggered. And if mommy and daddy are paying more than $60,000 a year at the top end to send you to be “educated,” school officials will facilitate your trendiness and hipsterness and give you what you want.

Meanwhile, the university pled ignorance.

“Baylor University fully supports the 9/11 display of American flags depicting the thousands of lives lost as a result of the attacks that took place 19 years ago,” Baylor told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Out of reverence for the exhibit of flags and in knowing that its moving symbolism could evoke a wide range of emotions, signage was placed near the display notifying those who passed by of its potential impact.”

“We regret that the signage we used has taken away from the intent of the display and apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused,” the statement continued.

Are they scared they’ll get sued by some snowflake because they got emotional seeing the display and thinking about 9/11? Earth to Baylor: The whole point of the display was to evoke an emotional response. And yet, any such response is ruined by the jarring “warning label” that the officials unnecessarily erected.

If someone is so sensitive that they could be emotionally injured by a display of American flags, they need to be institutionalized.

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Students at Expensive, Private Skidmore College Demand Art Professor Be Fired For Watching Pro-Cop Demonstration

An art professor at Skidmore College in upstate New York wanted to see how the unrest in America is affecting his community. So he attended a “Back the Blue” rally to see what was happening. He didn’t go to the rally as a participant. He went as an observer. He was there for about 20 minutes.

“Given the painful events that continue to unfold across this nation, I guess we just felt compelled to see first-hand how all of this was playing out in our own community,” the professor said.

But do you think that mattered to the mob now calling for his head?

The art professor, David Peterson, was apparently observed at the rally, which immediately triggered the triggerable snowflakes. They demanded he be fired for “engaging in hateful conduct that threatens Black Skidmore students.”

Reason.com:

“The Petersons weren’t wearing pro-police T-shirts,” notes Churchill. “They weren’t carrying a banner, holding a sign or waving a black-and-blue flag. They appear to just be listening. But merely listening to an opinion that some Skidmore students find objectionable is apparently enough to get a professor in hot water.”

See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil, right?

Students have circulated their demands on social media, and even taped a note to the door of Peterson’s classroom advising his students that they are “crossing a campus-wide picket line and breaking the boycott against Professor David Peterson.” Peterson has attempted to make it clear that his presence at the rally did not constitute an endorsement of it; this matters very little to the students. An opinion piece in the student newspaper included his explanation, but still accused him of failing to “reconcile with his behavior.” That piece also claimed that “there have been many claims of Mr. Peterson making students of color and queer students feel uncomfortable and unheard in his art classes prior to this,” but did not elaborate.

“I still have no indication of how [David and Andrea Peterson] plan to take accountability for their actions and make their classrooms a safe space for our communities of color,” wrote the student.

Peterson’s wife Andrea is not employed by the university. But in the game of “guilt by association,” she immediately becomes suspected of harboring racist views. And being suspected of wrong-think is as bad as actually thinking “wrong.”

Will no one stand up for Professor Peterson? Will no one defend his right to hold any views he wishes? Certainly not the president of the college, Marc C. Connor.

We are in conversation with Saratoga Springs city leadership to learn more about the events and how we can support our entire community. Skidmore College is steadfast in our support for peaceful gathering, peaceful protest, the right to hold and express different views, and the safety of all members of our community. In these challenging times, we all need to work in partnership to preserve these fundamental principles while pursuing fair and just treatment of all members of our community.

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is firm and we will continue to articulate and uphold those values. In addition, I have been very clear about my and the College’s commitment to the principle that Black Lives Matter. This is consistent with our core values as a higher education institution, and we will continue to assert that commitment in all our actions.

Connor is all for “the right to hold and express different views” as long as those views don’t run afoul of the mob. Otherwise…not so much.

The cost to attend Skidmore College was more than $53,000 per year in the 2018/19 academic year for its 2600 students.

I fear that sometime in the very near future, being perceived as insufficiently enthusiastic about racial justice or fighting “fascism” will lead to being canceled. To be accused of making his classroom “unsafe” for people of color because he observed a rally in support of anything tells us we’re getting close to peak stupidity on campus.

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