I have been MIA on Twitter (& publishing), in large part b/c I am a single mom who is trying to both work and homeschool 3 kids, one w/ autism.

Our local district is offering online-only ed at least through Oct & that doesn't work for our fam. So I'm figuring it out..

(1/14)

...We are fortunate. We have a safe home, ample food, reliable transportation, and supportive friends...and we are still struggling.

All 4 of my girls (one is in college) are stressed, anxious, moody, & tearful. They want to know when this will end & I can't tell them..

(2/14)

It's difficult to combat the message that they'll kill someone if they get too close & that their mere presence in public threatens ppl.

Things they've looked forward to for so long: friends, sports, parties, proms, graduation have evaporated & been replaced by a life...

(3/14)

...where the only morally acceptable activity is 'not infecting other people'.

My HS student (15) has lost almost all of her friends. And not due to distancing, but because we live in a well-off island inside a socioeconomically stressed area & her friends...

(4/14)

...were already impacted by their varying degrees of impoverishment.

Now they are home all day unsupervised and while their parents work whatever jobs they can find, they attend "class" with their cameras off, getting high & self-medicating.

Of course, they do...

(5/14)

...These kids were doing okay last year. Now I'd be surprised if half of them don't drop out. They're just trying to cope.

My college kid took a leave of absence this fall.
Not b/c she was scared of Covid, but b/c of the restrictions imposed in the name of "safety"...

(6/14)

She was scared of losing her 75K/yr scholarship if she accidentally hugged a friend in public.

She wasn't okay being subjected to invasive mandatory testing and arbitrary rules and quarantine when she wasn't sick. She didn't want to live in a pseudo-community...

(7/14)

...which treated its members like vectors, not people, and told them it was their moral obligation to narc on their friends.

And it was the right choice. Going away to college isn't about being locked in a dorm room alone, eating alone, and doing homework online alone...

(8/14)

It's about being independent for the first time, making mistakes, building relationships, & learning to navigate the world.

None of that is happening.

My autistic daughter (12) is missing crucial, in-person experiences that are the only reason she's so functional...

(9/14)

She is missing her therapies. She is missing the aides who redirected her & kept her on task. She is missing her social skills group. And she has regressed.

As for my little one (10), she's just lost and lonely and confused...

(10/14)

It feels like her spirit dims a little every day. There are no sports or social programs available that don't require distancing and masks.

And I am just ONE mom--with pretty decent circumstances--doing the best I can & it's not enough. I am struggling, too.

(11/14)

So my point is this:

Shut downs have consequences & the ones carrying the lion's share of the burden are the ones least equipped to do so.

And we're being told that it's an immoral position to push back against unnecessary restrictions...

(12/14)

...and play along with calling them "safe"--as if COVID is the only threat to everyone's life or well-being. As if sacrificing the development, education, and well being of a generation is a justifiable cost.

I refuse. None of this is "safe" or warranted.

(13/14)

People--most importantly, children--are suffering harm and I think pushing back IS the moral position.

(14/14)