school cancels field trip due to SARS concern

[luvflorida]

I've read posts about schools cancelling field trips because of safety and security concerns due to the war, and it made me sad, but I didn't really think too much about it because my daughter's school didn't have any trips that were affected. Well, her seventh grade class was due to go on a field trip to Chinatown in Boston next week, (it goes along with a Global Studies unit they are sudying), and yesterday it was announced that the trip was cancelled due to concerns over the SARS virus. All money was promptly refunded.

Personally, I think it was the right decision. The thought had actually crossed my mind a few times, but I figured it would probably be okay to go. As they say, better safe than sorry. Anyone else have similar trips cancelled for this reason?

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

We haven't had trips canceled, but then again we aren't going to any "hot spots" just local stuff. BUT, I did want to say that it is great they refunded your money, because I have heard that many were not able to get their monies/deposits back. I know that isn't the important stuff, the health of the kids is, but see I would use that money on the kids and do a family vacation or family night out.

 

[grinningghost]

All field trips to Canada were canceled in our school district. DD was supposed to go to Quebec City. She was bummed. Many schools here take their kids to see the Lion King in Toronto. Most, if not all, of those trips have been canceled. It's sad.

 

[MaryAnn B]

My DD's friend was going to Hawaii right after school was out. It was a school trip and it was cancelled. The kids are bummed and were looking forward to this for a year.

 

[CarolA]

I may be in the minority, but that was not a good reason to cancel! There have been 7 cases of SARS in the US and there is NO eveidence that China Town is dangerous.

I think this just reinforces some of the rumors going around and school systems should make decisions based on facts not rumours!

 

[luvflorida]

I actually think it is a valid reason. Yes, chances are nothing would happen and nobody would contract any virus, but there is a very real possibility that someone living in Chinatown has recently been to China or the possibility that someone living in Chinatown has relatives or friends visiting from China. I think it's sad that things like this happen, but the school has every right to err on the side of caution. Can you imagine the trouble the school would get into if someone got sick?

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by CarolA
There have been 7 cases of SARS in the US and there is NO eveidence that China Town is dangerous.

This morning I heard it's now 11 cases.

 

[CarolA]

Actually there was a discussion on the China Town issue on the news and they basically said there was no more danger there than anyplace else. The discussion I watched also made a point that the spread in the US has been much slower and they felt that a lot of that was due to the enhanced sanitary conditions put into place in US hospitals during the start of the HIV crisis. They indicated that in some places the medical community was getting infected and spreading it which was not happening here.

My theory is that it is up to a parent to decide on the safety of their children. I have worked with lots of youth groups and always respect the parents decisions. But I have never cancelled a trip due to terrorism or other concerns. We have had kids not go for those reasons.

 

[PamOKW]

I agree that targeting Chinatowns specifically is overkill. Yes, people there may have traveled to China recently. So, have many American executives. In fact, the people in our area suspected of having SARS are white women in their 50s' who have been on vacation. Singling out a Chinatown trip does nothing but hurt their business. It's a real blow to NYC's Chinatown which has been struggling since September 11.

Deciding not to travel anywhere as a precaution is a perogative for the schools. Singling out Chinatowns borders on discrimination.

 

[Michelle]

Wow, count me among those who think this is a huge overreaction.

 

[snoopy]

You can count me as another person who also thinks this is an overreaction.

Although I have to say I think its great that the school refunded your money. Our school has basically spelled it out very clearly to us - if we put our money down on field trips, and then it is decided due to world events that they will be cancelled, we lose our money.

 

[northernmouse]

You can add me to the 'overreaction' list! One has to wonder what kind of a message it sends to the kids about avoiding 'Chinatown' -- or Asians elsewhere.

 

[wld]

Another overreaction here. As of April 10th at 6am there was one possible case of secondary transmission here in the us. No one has died and 1 person has been on a vent. The suspected number of cases is over 100 in the us but we are using a much broader definition of SARS then some other nations. For real information and not news media hype or rumor go to cdc.gov.

 

[one_cat]

Wow - serious overreaction in my estimation. If they think that the only people who travel to china are those that live in and never leave Chinatown they are not only mistaken but seriously smacking of racism. I'll bet if they looked around in the school they would find that there are parents of students who had recently been to the far east. You have just as good a chance of bumping into someone who has been to the far east in a mall as you do in chinatown.

A coworker of mine just returned from Taiwan 1 week ago. She was there for two weeks. I work 3 feet from her for eight hours every day. I did not quit my job or take an extended leave of absence. Even in the far east the chance of catching the virus is remote.

People need to get over it and realize you cannot hide forever under your bed.

 

[CarolA]

I found this article on CNN which pretty much says that Health Depts in major cities don't seem to think SARs is a big China Town risk


False rumors of SARS hurting Chinatowns

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/04/08/SARS.chinatown.ap/index.html

 

[C.Ann]

This is from MSNBC - as of today..
-------------------------

IN U.S., WORKPLACE SARS

The United States has reported its first SARS case suspected to have spread in a workplace. The United States has had no deaths, but 166 suspected cases, most of them people falling ill after travel in Asia.

------------------------

People have been advised not to travel to Asian countries due to this illness and to avoid contact (as much as resonably possible anyhow) with people who have recently returned from that region (at least until the incubation period has passed).. I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume you would find more people in Chinatown who have recently been in that region of the world than you would in Bowling Green, Kentucky - or some such place.. Based on those recommendations, my child wouldn't be going on a field trip to Chinatown at this point in time even if the field trip wasn't cancelled by the school district.. I think the recent suspicions that SARS was spread through the workplace - as opposed to the previous assumption that it required close contact - sheds a little different light on the situation.

Hopefully it will turn out to be a disease that runs a quick, seasonal course - but meanwhile, the school district has to respond in a manner that not only protects the children, but protects their own liabilites as well..

 

[disney1990]

Yes, everybody should be concerned about SARS, especially if they are travelling to a country where the infection appears to be out of control. But, people should not be paniced over this.

How many of you would get a SARS vacination if it were available tomorrow?

How many of you got a flu shot this past winter?

36,000 people in the United States alone dies from the flu last year.

Just something to think about.


__________________

 

[luvflorida]

Originally posted by C.Ann
This is from MSNBC - as of today..
-------------------------

IN U.S., WORKPLACE SARS

The United States has reported its first SARS case suspected to have spread in a workplace. The United States has had no deaths, but 166 suspected cases, most of them people falling ill after travel in Asia.

------------------------

People have been advised not to travel to Asian countries due to this illness and to avoid contact (as much as resonably possible anyhow) with people who have recently returned from that region (at least until the incubation period has passed).. I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume you would find more people in Chinatown who have recently been in that region of the world than you would in Bowling Green, Kentucky - or some such place.. Based on those recommendations, my child wouldn't be going on a field trip to Chinatown at this point in time even if the field trip wasn't cancelled by the school district.. I think the recent suspicions that SARS was spread through the workplace - as opposed to the previous assumption that it required close contact - sheds a little different light on the situation.

Hopefully it will turn out to be a disease that runs a quick, seasonal course - but meanwhile, the school district has to respond in a manner that not only protects the children, but protects their own liabilites as well..

 

[luvflorida]

Sorry about that previous reply. I was trying to highlight a quote, but obviously I don't know what I'm doing! I wanted to point out that the school system was thinking along the lines of the post that said it isn't a stretch to believe that there probably would be more people living in Chinatown who have been to China or have relatives who have traveled there recently.

The comment about smacking of racism is way off target. The decision to cancel the field trip was NOT a racist one, but one that was made for safety and health reasons. The vast majority of parents felt that the school made the right decision. The field trip was a small part of a much larger unit on China. The students continue to work hard on projects to be presented on China Connections Night, an evening when parents and community members are invited to the middle school to gain knowledge about many aspects of China.

 

[one_cat]

LuvFlorida, I'm sure the school officials didn't make the decision based on racism and I'm sure they made what they thought was a rational decision however I truly believe that the message that is being conveyed to the students and the community at large is: "don't get around people of Chinese origin because they may carry SARS." Will students start to avoid chinese restaurants, avoid chinese people at the mall, avoid their chinese friends in case their family members might have "travelled home" recently? Imagine if the disease had had it's start in Israel. Would students be told to stay away from Jews - to cancel trips to synogogues? What if it had come from Africa as AIDS did? Would African Americans be shunned? Unfortunately in our our culture it would be impossible to stay away from European culture and if the disease had originated there, nobody would be saying - "stay away from any European-looking people, they may have visited their relatives in Europe lately." Fortunately or unfortunately it is easy to stay away from Chinese because they resemble their background. You may not agree, but I stand by my statement that it smacks of racism.