I grew up in Sweden. Never heard of a "snow day", you went to school no matter what. I remember waiting for a delayed bus for an hour once. But I made it. Then, everyone is required to have winter tires.
Glad that you're back! Looking forward to what's in store for the new year.
Excellent post and agree wholeheartedly. I almost envy kids these days with their "snow days", but as you said, it's not really a snow day if they still have to do e-learning
When they closed schools in 2020, I said that it would have the effect that kids would no longer believe that going to school was required. My prediction has come true. Not only has absenteeism soared, but there are a number of kids that have quietly disappeared from the rolls completely. It will take years of concerted effort to reverse this, but no administration, so far, is willing to do it
Great article. Here in Raleigh on Friday, we had a two hour delay for what turned out to be a drizzling rain. No ice, no sleet, no snow. And today school is closed all day for an inch of snow that's forecasted to arrive at 1pm.
Two interesting observations/rules my wife and I have noticed:
1. In the hurricane / tropical storm season, if there's ever a named storm somewhere in the area, the likelihood of school delay/closure increases substantially. Even if the result is a few hours of rain no more intense (in fact often less intense) than the average summer thunderstorm. Add a name to the storm and school board action increases dramatically. We frequently have drenching, 3 inches in an hour thunderstorms right during after school bussing that get no attention even though they lead to flash flooding, yet call a storm Tropical Storm Debbie and school will close for two days. It's as if the naming creates this extra stress or pressure to do something.
2. In the winter, if the forecast at any time shows snow or wintry mix in the next 5 days - regardless if this forecast ever materializes - the probability of closure/delay increases dramatically. It feels like priming. Local citizens obsess over the forecasted snow, it enters into the parent and teacher psyche, and as the date approaches the actual arrival of the snow becomes less and less important. As the night before the event approaches, many school boards reflexively feel the influence of action bias to do something, leading to preemptive closures or delays even if by now the forecast is far milder or almost nonexistent. It becomes self-fulfilling in a way. You could probably even mathematically express it as: if snow arrives in forecast in next 5 days -> probability of delay/closure jumps immediately to 50% and will increase daily to 95% by the night prior to forecasted event (irrespective of developments or alterations to initial forecast).
One final comment that I think is worth mentioning. As we saw during Covid, this safety culture ignores other safety risks to children, specifically abuse or neglect at home. School is not merely where kids learn arithmetic - for many kids it is a safe place, with comforting and supportive adults, a good and consistent meal, and a critical part of their normal routine. There was research during Covid showing that child abuse at home increased during prolonged school closure. While I'm not aware of any research regarding snow days, it's certainly conceivable to imagine kids being home for an extra day or two with frustrated parents unable to work or earn a wage (if they don't have sick leave or PTO) experiencing more stressful/hostile/violent environments.
One of my favorite quotes is from Thomas Sowell who said that "there are no solutions, only trade-offs." It's the fatal error in safety culture. It treats the problem as if the only item to solve for is child safety getting to and from school. This isn't how thinking adults confront complex problems in a complex world. In exchange for closing school, we also seriously complicate the workdays of a large percentage of the local workforce. We also likely increase risk by some amount of kids experiencing negative events at home. You can't just solve for one variable - the real world is murky and full of nuance. And people intuitively understand this. If the top priority for schools was truly child safety at all costs, then school would just never exist - as the riskiest thing any schoolchild does every day is get in a vehicle bound for school in the morning and home in the evening.
I grew up in Sweden. Never heard of a "snow day", you went to school no matter what. I remember waiting for a delayed bus for an hour once. But I made it. Then, everyone is required to have winter tires.
Hear! Hear! Excellent posting. Thank you!
Brilliantly observed, as usual.
I hope you have resolved your health issues Steven. Wishing you and your family the best. 🌳
Glad that you're back! Looking forward to what's in store for the new year.
Excellent post and agree wholeheartedly. I almost envy kids these days with their "snow days", but as you said, it's not really a snow day if they still have to do e-learning
When they closed schools in 2020, I said that it would have the effect that kids would no longer believe that going to school was required. My prediction has come true. Not only has absenteeism soared, but there are a number of kids that have quietly disappeared from the rolls completely. It will take years of concerted effort to reverse this, but no administration, so far, is willing to do it
Great article. Here in Raleigh on Friday, we had a two hour delay for what turned out to be a drizzling rain. No ice, no sleet, no snow. And today school is closed all day for an inch of snow that's forecasted to arrive at 1pm.
Two interesting observations/rules my wife and I have noticed:
1. In the hurricane / tropical storm season, if there's ever a named storm somewhere in the area, the likelihood of school delay/closure increases substantially. Even if the result is a few hours of rain no more intense (in fact often less intense) than the average summer thunderstorm. Add a name to the storm and school board action increases dramatically. We frequently have drenching, 3 inches in an hour thunderstorms right during after school bussing that get no attention even though they lead to flash flooding, yet call a storm Tropical Storm Debbie and school will close for two days. It's as if the naming creates this extra stress or pressure to do something.
2. In the winter, if the forecast at any time shows snow or wintry mix in the next 5 days - regardless if this forecast ever materializes - the probability of closure/delay increases dramatically. It feels like priming. Local citizens obsess over the forecasted snow, it enters into the parent and teacher psyche, and as the date approaches the actual arrival of the snow becomes less and less important. As the night before the event approaches, many school boards reflexively feel the influence of action bias to do something, leading to preemptive closures or delays even if by now the forecast is far milder or almost nonexistent. It becomes self-fulfilling in a way. You could probably even mathematically express it as: if snow arrives in forecast in next 5 days -> probability of delay/closure jumps immediately to 50% and will increase daily to 95% by the night prior to forecasted event (irrespective of developments or alterations to initial forecast).
One final comment that I think is worth mentioning. As we saw during Covid, this safety culture ignores other safety risks to children, specifically abuse or neglect at home. School is not merely where kids learn arithmetic - for many kids it is a safe place, with comforting and supportive adults, a good and consistent meal, and a critical part of their normal routine. There was research during Covid showing that child abuse at home increased during prolonged school closure. While I'm not aware of any research regarding snow days, it's certainly conceivable to imagine kids being home for an extra day or two with frustrated parents unable to work or earn a wage (if they don't have sick leave or PTO) experiencing more stressful/hostile/violent environments.
One of my favorite quotes is from Thomas Sowell who said that "there are no solutions, only trade-offs." It's the fatal error in safety culture. It treats the problem as if the only item to solve for is child safety getting to and from school. This isn't how thinking adults confront complex problems in a complex world. In exchange for closing school, we also seriously complicate the workdays of a large percentage of the local workforce. We also likely increase risk by some amount of kids experiencing negative events at home. You can't just solve for one variable - the real world is murky and full of nuance. And people intuitively understand this. If the top priority for schools was truly child safety at all costs, then school would just never exist - as the riskiest thing any schoolchild does every day is get in a vehicle bound for school in the morning and home in the evening.