Re: youth protection (?)
John Pannell (PANNELLJ@DELPHI.COM)
Tue, 10 May 1994 20:36:43 -0400
re: Annular Eclipse, bureaucrats, fear, and school principals...
>A parent called the principal and told him that he had heard that even a
>brief glimpse of the sun would be enough to cause permanent eye damage, so
>to prevent anyone from accidentally being injured, and the school being
>sued, the entire school is required to stay indoors during the entirety
>of the eclipse with the shades drawn, missing recesses and everything else.
*** SOAPBOX MODE ON ***
And we wonder what's going wrong with our country (USA)....
Unfounded irrational fear -- of dangers real or imagined, of lawsuits, etc...
Here was an opportunity for the kids to view a (nearly) once in a lifetime
event, to see science in action, to give life to the lessons they learn in
class and some ignorant little parent decides that it's too dangerous. Then
the little bureaucrats that run the school liberally apply the "cya
princple" to protect themselves against lawsuits (which admittedly they
would likely lose). The closed-minded little people and lawyers win and the
children, the future of our society, lose. That sickens me.
Ancient societies feared eclipses because they knew no better. I thought we
had progressed beyond that. For some, apparently not.
*** SOAPBOX MODE OFF***
What should have been done was allow the kids to go out and view the eclipse
should they choose. Any fearful parents who were afraid of the eclipse, or
that their children might be blinded by being outside during it, could have
been given the opportunity to take their kids out of school during the hours
of the eclipse. A simple solution to a trivial problem...
Oh well, maybe next time...
John
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
