Closing schools due to cold weather is wrong in Atlanta-here’s why

I live in Atlanta.  Atlanta doesn’t get too cold, it’s one of those cities where the schools close when we get an inch of snow under the shade tree in the middle of a field and TV news is covering it.  During the recent Polar Vortex, like many other cities in the country school was cancelled.  What Atlanta shared with some cities is that school was cancelled simply due to the cold.   What about the children who don’t have winter coats was the rallying cry on social media supporting the decision.

The chatter on social media continued to be divided along political lines for the most part about the decision.  The entire thing bothered me, but it didn’t really resonate with me until after the brutal cold left as to why it angered me so much.

Before I state why cancelling school in Atlanta simply due to cold weather is wrong, here is some housekeeping.  Yes it was cold-it was the coldest in 24 years.  No-I don’t think school  is simply daycare for children.  Yes-I care about children, even those that I don’t know.   I know that diesel fueled busses are more difficult to start in the cold.

However, back to the point at hand, I understand that the school system had the welfare of the children at heart.  So did the comments that I read on social media, they were all concerned about kids that didn’t have good quality winter coats or that lived in the back of the subdivision.  I get that.*

Having said that, wear layers, lots of layers, a hat and put your hands in your pockets.  Snow days are fun, I loved them as a kid.  However, a cold day because your school system is erring on the side of caution is less of a fun day and more of a chink against your education armor.

I would guess that a majority of these same parents are the ones who have their children in extracurricular sports.  Do a quick online search for ‘student deaths due to football practice’ and ‘student deaths due to cold’.  You can even tweak the search a bit if you want to.

Obviously more students die during football practice.  Is it the school system’s responsibility to also cancel athletic practice when it gets too hot?  Absolutely-and they do cancel it occasionally.  The news channels run stories about how it’s too hot for high school football practice just the way they do when the tree in the middle of the field gets an inch of snow.

I would suggest that there is something wrong with our students when the mere distant possibility of them succeeding professionally in sports is greater than their education.  Playing sports for money is so much more of a long shot, yet kids (and some parents) set their hopes and expectations on the long shot, rather than the safe bet.   It’s good to dream and have hopes; but to have a child believe that they have a better shot at being an athlete than being an entrepreneur is unrealistic.

Did you see the article on CNN about student athletes at Chapel Hill that were playing basketball but reading at a 5^th grade level?  Those are the same parents that were saying it’s too cold to go to school.

Did you hear about the massive address fraud at Grady High School that was done in order to put students on their foot ball team?  Those are the same parents who don’t read to their kids, don’t encourage  their educational goals and inflate their athletic abilities.

If parents took as much passion and interest in their child’s education as they did in what they can do athletically the schools would be much better off.  Many of the parents I know put education first, which is the way it should be.

Sports can teach out kids much about life and certainly has a place in their school. However, if they cancelled sports practice as much as they needed to due to the heat, some parents would be up in arms.  They wouldn’t state the reason out loud, but they would know that the real reason was that they played the athletic card instead of the education card.

For proof of that you can revisit the CNN report or simply listen to most professional athletes speak.  All of these points are also great arguments for school choice or letting your real estate taxes be flexible in where they go to school.  But there again, people will read into that only the political angles and excuse or discount the fraud, cheating and ignorance happening with their own kids.

* Side note:  fast forward a couple of weeks and every other politician will be having winter coat drives.