Cleveland Reporter

Susan Packer of Avon Lake is not too concerned about her children going back to public school and college from a health standpoint.

The mother of four told the Cleveland Reporter that she’s read a lot about COVID-19.

“And I just I think that the kids need to go back. They need the structure and they need to learn. You know, what a novel idea,” Packer told the Cleveland Reporter. “So I don't have any concerns at all.”

She remains skeptical about the teachers’ union saying it’s too soon to go back to in-person learning.

“I feel like there's an ulterior motive behind that. And, you know, I just really think that the benefits outweigh the risk,” she said.

Many people are having to go back to work, but at some point people need to move on and get back to some normalcy, she said.

“So I am absolutely not OK with that argument. I think that they need to teach,” she told the Cleveland Reporter.

If they can’t teach, they might need to find somebody to take their job. But she thinks kids need their teachers to be on board with face-to-face learning.

“But do we ever win against the unions?” she asked.

If the unions prevail and her children have to continue with remote learning, she said it’s not conducive to education. Packer said she feels lucky that she can stay at home with her three children who are enrolled in public school.

“A lot of my friends are working at home full time and managing their kids. And to be honest with you, I think that the work comes first, and the education comes second because you only have so much time in the day,” she told the Cleveland Reporter.

Even as a stay-at-home mom, it’s not conducive to their learning and mental stimulation and socialization.

She thinks some people share her feelings, while others aren’t ready for kids to be back in school.

“But they're conflicted because there's so many mixed messages out there that they're scared and they don't know what to think. And they don't know what to believe,” she said.

Parents need to educate themselves, she said, but it does take time to go out and read up on COVID-19, “not necessarily the TV on because God knows where going to see on the TV.”

“I think people are confused as to what to think. But I think for the most part, they know their kids need to be in school and so they're just hoping that people make it happen,” she told the Cleveland Reporter.

Her son, who is on campus at Ohio State, has all but one class online. If all classes were online, the Packers would get a tuition discount. She finds it convenient that only a single class remains in person.

Thinking that the college administration can control the massive student body with health safety measures is not realistic.

For school sports, Packer has seen some parents being hypocritical. On the one hand they don’t want their children back in school. But they do want them going to sports practices. You can’t have it both ways, she said.

“But I don't blame them, because sometimes you just get mixed messages,” she told the Cleveland Reporter. “But the kids need the exercise. They need the discipline. They need to socialize.”

Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine waited too long to make a decision on allowing fall sports to proceed, she said. A lot of schools already made the decision not to go back. To her it sounds like the governor just passed the buck.

COVID-19 has become too politicized and is affecting children, even weaponizing them in the fight to get what people want.

At any moment parents could get a notice that for the rest of the school year students would be in online learning, she said. Is that the time to launch a big protest, because kids are losing so much by not being in the classroom?

“Is it just unspeakable, unthinkable to think you could be out for another seven, eight months now out of the classroom?” Packer asked.

She feels that people have lost their voice with the public officials on this issue, with even the superintendent of schools lacking authority with the Lorain County Board of Health possibly shutting everything down.

Packer said she’s OK with her younger children wearing masks because she wants them back in school and has no choice about it.

“If I had a choice, I would not send my kids with masks because I feel like it's my choice,” she told the Cleveland Reporter.

She said her kids tell her they are OK with wearing a mask because they want to go back to school. She doesn’t expect it to work out, but she’s waiting to see what happens.