Just overheard a conversation from a teacher on school closings during the pandemic

[Redleg]

17. Hindsight is 20/20

This is a good example of the hindsight bias. Perhaps these assholes have forgotten a few facts.
1. This version of COVID was new and could be lethal.
2. Covid-19 spread very fast.
3. We had incomplete information on the virus including how to prevent or reduce infection and how to treat infection.
4. Our health care administration decided to quickly recommend measures that had been used successfully in the past- namely masking and social distancing combined with hygiene measures. These are fairly innocuous precautions to take.
5. They ultimately recommended closing schools and some businesses but that was left to the local authorities to determine.
6. While it is true that young people were less likely to become seriously ill from the virus, they could still transmit the virus to other people with greater risk of serious illness or death. Furthermore, the teachers at these schools were likely at greater risk than the kids.
7. At least one million Americans died from Covid-19 related causes. The excess death rate suggest that many more died. Plus many Americans are still dealing with long-Covid symptoms.

The key point is that the situation was evolving rapidly and with dire consequences. The experts had imperfect and incomplete information about the virus and thus made recommendations that favored public health over personal preferences.