Making kids eat lunch outside in freezing weather is one of those things parents appreciate, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Last month, New York City schools were still forcing students to eat outside as a social distancing measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to the New York Post.
“It’s getting a little ridiculous at this point,” said one mother whose name was not used. “They’ve eaten outdoors every day this week. It’s cold.”
CHILD ABUSE: Kindergartners are forced to eat lunch outside in 40 degree weather at Capitol Hill Elementary School in Portland, Oregon.
They sit on buckets to social distance from their classmates. pic.twitter.com/KqFcliTFYf
— Katie Daviscourt?? (@KatieDaviscourt) December 8, 2021
“It’s already hard enough for a little kid to eat outside while sitting on concrete with a mask on,” said a Brooklyn mom. “What does the weather have to be to go inside? How low does it have to go?”
“The problem is that there is no hard metric for when the kids can go inside,” another parent explained. “It’s just up to the principal, whatever they decide goes. Hopefully we’re not out here in February.”
Psaki, however, said Friday that schools parking students outside in all kinds of weather are doing the right thing.
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“I will tell you, I have a three-year-old who goes to school, sits outside for snacks and lunch, wears a mask inside, and it’s no big deal to him,” she claimed.
“I’m not saying that’s the case for everybody, but these are steps that schools are taking to keep kids safe. And I think the vast majority of parents appreciate that,” Psaki said in her media briefing according to a White House transcript.
“Obviously, we want to get to a point where we’re turning to a version of normalcy for everybody, right? Where you’re not sending your kid’s backpack with seven extra masks, right? Where you’re not adding two hats, so that they’re warm outside for a snack. There’s no question that’s the case. But we also think the most important thing should be safety — the safety of kids, keeping kids in school, which the President is very focused on. And some of these steps — creative steps that schools have taken — have enabled that to be possible,” she concluded.
School kids are eating lunch outside in December, sitting on buckets. In America. https://t.co/KrWfZauqLm
— LCPS Can Do Better (@LCPSDoBetter) December 11, 2021
I have an idea: everyone in the White House should also commit to lunch outside all winter long. They should show solidarity with the kids. When the kids can go inside, they can too. https://t.co/4kpHEBkQji
— Madame Kempe (@MadameKempe) December 10, 2021
That’s not how parents in Springfield, Missouri, see it, according to KOZL-TV.
On Friday, parents and students protested at Pershing School over the whole caboodle of mandates enacted by Springfield Public Schools.
“Basically, they’ve been forced to wear masks for almost two years now,” parent Miranda Dusenberry said.
“We don’t really see the point in it anymore. It’s causing a lot of distraction for the students, a lot of stress for the students, trauma. Ultimately what we want is for these masking mandates, for the quarantine mandates, for the vaccine mandates to be dropped within our schools. There’s no place for health mandates whatsoever.”
WATCH: A Pershing (Springfield) School Administrator walks away from a parent in the middle of a conversation while kids and parents protest mandates in the background. #NoMoreMandates pic.twitter.com/AtFpkHWFBZ
— Attorney General Eric Schmitt (@AGEricSchmitt) December 10, 2021
“I think our point is really clear here,” Dusenberry continued. “Our point is to drop the mandates that are illegally in place right now. SPS has no right to have these mandates going on, especially since our attorney general made it illegal for them to do so. As far as I understand, he does have a lot of authority in the matter.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.