In light of some recent threads I& #39;ve seen, and some experiences in my own life/those of colleagues, I feel the need to say:

PIs and instructors: you do not need to know the specifics of the challenges your students are going through right now, to act with compassion and care.

A lot of you on here are already doing that right, so if that& #39;s the case-- this thread is not about you. It& #39;s for the folks who lack the imagination to consider what the students in their classes, their grad students/postdocs/research assistants/whatever, are dealing with.

If those folks choose to share with you that a family member is sick, or that it& #39;s difficult for them to work from home because their younger siblings are home and being noisy in the background, or that they are immunocompromised and need to take extra care-- great.

But you should also be operating under the assumption that at least some of your students are dealing with one or more of the myriad challenges that life & work during a pandemic has presented to us all.

*Even if you don& #39;t know the specifics of their situation.*