Public Health Decisions

Georgia currently has no statewide mask mandate.  The governor, Brian Kemp, as corrupt as they come in regards to science-denial, racist/racism and Trump surrogate, wants the good people of Georgia to make up their own minds about whether or not they need to wear a face mask.

Prior to becoming Georgia's governor, Brian was the Secretary of State there, in charge of voting and little things like denying voting rights and access to ballots to blacks, gerrymandering, and so on.  

So, yeah, he's a real stand-up guy.

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In Some Cases, Such As A Public Health Crisis/Pandemic, You Have To Give Up Some Personal Liberties For The Good Of Everyone.

A national health emergency, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, needs to be addressed by public health and government officials.  And YES, some of the decisions those groups or individuals make WILL EFFECT the population… such as wearing a protective face covering like a mask, covering the nose and mouth.

When that same government official (governor, deputy governor, assistant governor, and so on) mandates something like a mask, YES, we the people of that state have to abide by those directives.  Again, for public health safety.

So, when a high school principal makes a remark like, “Class changes at the high school level are a challenge when maintaining a specific schedule.  It is an area we are continuing to work on in this new environment to find practicable ways to further limit students from congregating.  Students are in this hallway environment for just a brief period as they move to their next class. … There is no question that the photo does not look good. ... Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them."

Read that last line again, slowly.

Astonishing, right?

NO. You have to GIVE UP that “personal choice” in order to keep yourself and others safe.  Period.  FULL STOP.

There is no personal choice involved here, but there most definitely should be discipline or punishment for not adhering to the state mandates. 

Maybe that’s where a lack of leadership comes in.  Maybe the governor doesn’t believe in science and public health over public safety.  In that case, heck, it’s an easy decision.  Go back to school or lose funding. 

Sure put the lives of these young people at risk.  They’re expendable, right?  You betcha, they are!

Here’s the picture, which clearly shows most of the students not wearing masks or other face coverings.   

Yes, teenagers do have many rights and are afforded many personal choices and liberties, even in a school setting.  They have rights and responsibilities, as well, and among those are being educated in a safe environment.

This is a situation where, try and weasel out of it as they may, the district and school board will be hard pressed to come up with a logical explanation as to how they can 1) Justify suspending a student for pointing out gross negligence on the part of the school and its board members, 2) How not wearing a mask is personal choice and not a requirement.  (Not to mention, appropriate social distancing.), and 3) How this is not a public health emergency situation.

We've seen time and again as businesses reopen after months of closures, that because this is so important to them and they desperately want to get it right, many are going above and beyond state guidelines and mandates to protect not only their staffs but their potential customers as well. 

They need to be thanked graciously and applauded for their efforts.

Schools, as we've seen,  have to go above and beyond.  

Our children's lives are on the line.