Published in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, July 19, 2020.
As have peers in higher education leadership, my colleagues at the University of Dubuque and I have been trying to manage the safety, health, contingency planning and financial ramifications of COVID-19.
We have learned a lot in five months. This virus is catastrophic to higher education. Colleges and universities will close. Thousands of professionals — faculty and staff — have lost or will lose their jobs.
And students will remain relatively healthy.
Did you say “healthy?” Yes — I said healthy.
Unlike the mid-20th century battle with polio, which was particularly virulent on the young, we are fortunate that the probability of a high school or college-age student dying from COVID-19 is extremely low. According to the Centers for Disease Control, to date, there have been 142 COVID-19 deaths for this demographic nationally, while there have been 90,360 COVID-19-related deaths for those who are over 65.
Thus, COVID-19 is only a minimal threat to high school and college students — unlike suicide, drug and alcohol addiction. A recent study found the impact of this extended period of isolation has increased the death-by-suicide rate among high school and college students by over 350%.
So, given this empirical evidence, let us inoculate ourselves with a dose of common sense as we await an effective and safe vaccine.
Here are a few thoughts:
1. 15-24-year-olds need to be together. Their brains require socialization, and the impact of extended periods of isolation is as deadly to them as exposure to COVID-19 is to the 65+ demographic. So, please, policy makers, for their health, let these young people participate in class, athletics, band, choir, debate and student government with appropriate PPE and social distancing (see below). Let them play football, soccer and their trumpets. I, and others like me, will observe social distancing and wear a face covering in order for them be together.
2. Let teachers and coaches teach. There are steps they can implement to safeguard themselves while protecting the brain health of their 15-24-year-old students. We who teach and profess can exercise, eat a well-balanced diet and take vitamins to maintain a healthy immune system.
Every student can disinfect their personal space before beginning class. We can continue to improve our synchronous learning platforms to increase our physical distancing, when appropriate. As a non-negotiable, every person in each classroom can wear a face covering out of consideration for the vulnerable, whether that be an older teacher/professor or a classmate who is managing diabetes, kidney disease, COPD, sickle cell or some other health condition.
3. Let’s not forget that the original goal of public health officials was to “mitigate and flatten the curve” to keep emergency rooms and hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. While we must remain vigilant to understand the impact of COVID-19 spread in our state and communities, the goal of curve flattening has been accomplished in many (but not all) states so successfully that some hospitals are now in serious financial peril. The goal has never been to eliminate the spread of the virus but to temper it. Students will get the virus, and most will not notice it. Which brings me back to No. 1.
4. The 15-24-year-old demographic is dying — not because of the COVID-19, but because of the deleterious effects of extended isolation. It’s called suicide and addiction. Their brains require social stimulation to keep them healthy as much as my under-active thyroid requires Synthroid to keep me moving. Our current policies are inadvertently killing them.
Everyone has a job to do. Let’s all be smart and adopt the following mantra: Practice common sense — good hygiene, social distancing and wear a face covering for yourself and others.
And I look forward to seeing you — from six feet away — under the Friday night lights! And if you don’t feel safe being out in public, please stay home. For your health, and for the health of our children.
UPDATE: On Aug. 10, 2020, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled; “Coronavirus Turmoil Raises Depression Risks in Young Adults“, providing analysis around those social isolation risks our young people face today. The article also quotes Da’Trevion Moss, one of our amazing students at the University of Dubuque.
Curious about the numbers of positive cases you have had on campus.
Martha,
Thanks for reading the blog.
I can’t comment on specific numbers but, to date, the overall numbers are small. Of course, the issues now have to do with the accuracy of the tests, testing, and state-backlog of contact tracing. We have been advised 4-6 weeks.
Hope this helps.
Great read, Jeff. It’s reassuring to know my leader has logical, lucid, and sane thoughts about this pandemics underreported impact on schools and children. I simply wish my national-and local-media outlets would read your blog, too. Thanks for your sanity!
Thank you, Eric. And thank you for reading the blog.
An excellent piece.
There are many, many institutions, establishments, and jobs- that will be lost due to the pandemic, and our various societal responses to it. Like much in life, there are unintended consequences, whose costs must now be weighed against the desired, sought after benefit.
Overall we, nationally, as a whole, have flattened the curve- or at least, the first wave of the curve. And, yes, the goal was to not overwhelm certain aspects of our healthcare system. Most of the country has been able to do so; some parts of the country were in dire straights, early on; and other areas are facing that kind of health-care crisis now. What may not have been understood, at the time- was that ‘flattening the curve’ inherently meant extending the curve. Trying to keep the peak below a certain level was solely to be able to maintain sufficient care capabilities for those who became ill. As it has been said recently, “while we may be sick of the virus, the virus is not sick of us” (yet).
Yes, also as a generality- the young, and the healthy are certainly less likely to suffer the worst of this disease. And, there has been report of a study, based on grade school students in Europe and Australia, which seems to indicate that younger students do not pass the virus amongst themselves at the same rate they would a ‘normal’ flu virus. The argument against the statistics goes something along these lines: the infection rate among children and young adults is lower because the first thing we did was shut down school, and isolate them from the possibility of infection; and we did it so well, we cannot be sure exactly how they would fair in a more open environment. I cannot count how many times I have been told by, or about, someone under the age of thirty that they did not believe they could catch COVID 19.
While we are looking at the beginning of a new scholastic year, at all levels, I fully believe everyone is trying their best, and has the safety of the students as their first concern, and their development as a close second. Agreed, young minds need socialization to develop. Older minds need socialization to stay healthy. I believe it should all come down to personal choice (but in as completely as possible, an informed decision)- so there will be those- students, parents and guardians, who are just not ready yet.
I also believe that there should be personal responsibility for your actions; and an acceptance that there will be consequences. If you engage in unsafe behavior, you can expect the virus will be a cruel judge. Unfortunately, the young mind does not come fully equipped with common sense. More than a few of us older people (myself included) show surprising lack of judgement, at times.
So, I agree with the University’s position. I am sure the guidelines Dr Bullock put out are but a fraction of the safety, health, and contingency planning that has been done over the passed four months. I wish the school- its students, educators, staff and administration only the best for 2020-2021 and beyond.
Matthew,
Thank you for your thoughtful and engaged response.
And thank you for reading the blog.
Jeff
Jeff, Well done. Excellent points. Boy it is sure nice to read something that actually makes sense today
Being in the productivity field for more than 30 years, I have studied the isolating effects of the use of technology on the kids of today–it has isolated them way too much. An adult touches, in some manner, shape, or form, a digital device, over 2,600 times a day. Kids are connected hour upon hour every day to a digital device. Keeping kids out of school would create devastating effects on their socialization process. They need much more face time, much more interaction, not less. Breaking up with your girl fiend by texting her is a perfect example of this craziness. The last thing we need are more kids staring mindlessly at a screen in a comatose state. Experiential learning is the most effective way to learn.
If students stay at home, don’t their parents have to stay with them? What happens to the economy with the loss of those jobs? Everyone can’t be with their kids and work from home. Thank God our economy was at its zenith when this occurred. Can you imagine where we would be if it hadn’t been?
I have government agencies as clients such as the CDC, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, EPA, etc. It is extremely hard to believe what they say as being totally true. Most are bureaucrats with nothing of theirs invested in the game. The information and statistics that are filtered to the public through the biased media are only slightly true. You don’t know what to believe. As a professional speaker, there is a joke in our community. After we cite a statistic, we then joke that 87% of all statistics are made up on the spot. Of course none of mine are. Well maybe 10% are.
The generally accepted approach to medicine today is a Western one rather than an Eastern one that has been around for 3,000 years. It wasn’t that long ago that medical doctors were practicing Trephining and blood-letting. Holistic medicine covers sub clinical medicine–something that typical medicine seems not to want to recognize. Fortunately we have both. Unfortunately little credence is given to the later due to the strong AMA lobby against it.
If we keep most businesses shut down, our economy will be devastated. I shudder to think about what is happening to small businesses. I have had two. The first one, I got my file cabinet from my apartment’s dumpster pad and used it for years. No silver spoon in most entrepreneur’s mouth from what I have seen.
Notice that Congress is still getting paid so they can dictate whatever asinine policies they politically chose to without it hurting their pocketbook. If the US goes into a depression, the world will surely follow. This period of time will seem like a picnic compared to what the world will look like with nations at war for food and water.
I remember as a child the fear of ending up in an iron lung due to polio. That was a scary time to be a child in the Fifties. And then there were the bomb shelters. Fortunately, I only know one person who has had this and no one who has died from it. Ironically I won a sales contest in 1984 to Hawaii with the grand-daughter of Jonas Salk. Small world. Here’s to sugar cubes.
Greg,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and for your insightful analysis.
Jeffrey
Sounds like a lot of bullshit if you ask me. Good thing those 15-24 yr olds only interact with other 15-24 yr olds and not their parents, teachers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, those with underlying health issues, etc. I mean really? This is a stupid argument. Of course isolation is horrible but you know what else is, death. Kids cannot learn if they are dead nor can their parents help them if they are dead. Those who are lucky enough to survive this virus don’t just get back to normal. Many of the survivors have health issues weeks and months after they “recovered”. So don’t put everybody’s health at risk just so kids can play sports and hang.
Jamie,
Thank you for sharing you thoughts. However, you’ve misconstrued my argument which, of course, is your right to do.
My concern is the lack of ability (or willingness) to invest in consistent testing availability. There is mounting evidence that individuals who are asymptomatic (have the virus and will never develop symptoms) or are pre-symptomatic (will eventually develop symptoms) are just as infectious as a person with active clinical symptoms. In fact, there is some evidence to show that people are most infectious in the 48 hours prior to showing symptoms (if they do at all).
In addition, there are reports from the UK are showing that many children who test positive have either never shown symptoms or are so mild in nature that they went almost unnoticed. It is my fear that we are putting many lives at risk for the desire to get back to ‘normal’. A ‘normal’ that will likely never be again.
Unless local governments are ready to invest in consistent testing and are willing to actively promote it (which I don’t see our local government doing because they’ve cut back the available tests for undisclosed ‘process’ reasons), I am fearful that come October and November, students will be forced to go back to online learning because there are too many outbreaks resulting in staffing issues and student absences. Not to mention, many districts are not willing to provide adequate cleaning supplies and PPE for teachers and students. I sincerely hope that I am wrong and things go well and we’re able to muddle through, but with cases rising daily in the country, I’m not convinced that’s true.
Allison,
Thank you for engaging the blog, and for sharing your well-thought out concerns.
Jeffrey
Like others who have previously stated, I too am rarely but surprisingly reassured when I read a concerned statement about this complex issue involving students and educational systems. To me, this clarion call is not a political statement and it makes me take notice when a college president does not enter this conversation with convenient, often political, rationalizations. There is no simple solution here. But when students test positive, as they will, I hope that shaming students for their risky behaviors will not become a public-health strategy. It can be the first thought out – by faculty and administrators – but it would, clearly, be ineffective and counterproductive. As I’ve observed student behaviors over the years (all non-pandemic of course), the more that students are castigated/shamed for having house parties or going to bars or congregating inappropriately, the more reluctant they will be to amend the situation. And in this case, we need those students (acting as they do) to disclose potentially stigmatizing information to contact tracers in the event of an outbreak. We will be measured, surely, not only our commitment and our preparation but also by our reactions. Thank you for bringing notice to the complete student.
Alan,
Again, thank you for engaging the blog, and for your thoughtful insights. You are exactly: the character of an organization is best revealed, not in contingency planning, but in how it responds to the inevitable unaccounted for moments. Thank you for what you do!
Jeffrey
It’s odd that we talk about deaths concerning covid-19 and how we need to flatten the curve to see
improvement. But every few days I read that counting the deaths from covid are very confusing. A guy is in
a motorcycle accident and is killed but because he tested positive for covid it’s attributed to the covid
numbers and the accident is coincidental. A person recently divorced commits suicide and is tested positive
for covid and, his death is attributed to covid Many more cases like this are reported and no one sees any
problem in this counting. Then I read that hospitals and doctors are rewarded(big bucks) by the government when they count covid deaths like this. Apparently there is no difference with people dying With covid as to dying Of covid-19. Even Dr. Robert Redfield of the CDC HAS VAGUELY MENTIONED THIS. How can we really
flatten the curve when we are being hoodwinked by the government.
Art,
Thank you for your comments and responding to the blog. I’m not really following the argument you’re trying to make, but I want to thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks.
Jeffrey
your site is bogus. i’m not sure, but i think you are bogus. all your commentators are favorable to you. i don’t
think you even read my comments. if you truly are a college president-you sure don’t consider any other
thoughts. you didn’t even respond to why you didn’t show my comments.