If you are sending your child to school, you are contributing to the spread of COVID no matter how careful we are

I am an American living in South Korea. South Korea, being a country that has dealt with MERS, SARS, and various other viruses, had strict measures in place. Our school had thermometers at every entrance, we were required to sanitize as we walked in the door, we had hand sanitizer available in every classroom, social distancing signs everywhere, people in the grocery stores and on public transit were required to wear masks, our school cafeteria had strict three person tables for social distancing, we were required to keep the kids six feet apart for lunch. All the students and teachers were required to wear masks at school. We were allowed to take them off during recess and lunch and sometimes students would play close together. <br><br>However, when we went into lockdown, the rate of transmission in our city did not change.<br><br>We went into lockdown, all extracurriculars cancelled, no leaving school until 5. Students still in the classrooms together. Still went to lunch together. The only difference is that they were not going home and potentially interacting with other people. <br><br>And the rate of transmission did not change. <br><br>If you are sending your child to school, they are interacting with 20 other students and three teachers in one room. They are on the bus with 20 students and a bus driver. They are in a cafeteria with hundreds of other students and eating mere feet away from dozens more. <br><br>It does not matter how careful we are. It does not matter how many precautions we take. When you are in a room with 20 other people, no amount of hand sanitizer will make it safe. <br><br>This is not the teachers fault. This is not because we are not following instructions. This is because of basic math. No amount of sanitizing can make a room with 23 people in it safe. If one of us gets it, most of us will get it. There is no way around it. <br><br>There is no way that schools should be open right now. I understand the alternative is hard - it is nearly impossible to keep kids off of the internet and you have to teach them. It is hard and I understand why people want a break. But if you send your kids to school, understand you are potentially sentencing someone to death. <br><br>And understand that you have no idea how careful a classroom actually is. As a former substitute, I can tell you that most teachers do not follow anywhere near the amount of sanitation that my school requires. Most teachers do not have the time or the energy or the training to sanitize everything. And even if they did, it would not matter. Six feet is six feet. If you breathe on someone, and you have COVID, they very well may get it. <br><br>Sending your kids to school right now is putting people in danger, and it will not make a difference in slowing the transmission of COVID.