With just a few more weeks of summer, Canadian parents are left with a tough decision: send their kids back to school during the coronavirus pandemic or attempt to homeschool.
Although the latter may not be economically feasible for all families, some parents are exploring taking homeschooling one step further by creating “pandemic pods.”
The idea is to have a small group of children — a pod — learning together. The parents, on rotation, can educate the children, or they can pool together funds to hire a tutor or teacher.
Rachael Marmer lives in Toronto with her husband and four children. She started the Learning Pods Ontario Facebook group to find like-minded families who may not be comfortable sending their children to school and are looking for other options.
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“I started this group because I was looking for alternative learning arrangements for my kids in September,” Marmer said. “There are so many unknowns, and I wanted to create stability for my children and their education. But that’s me, personally — everyone has their reasons.
1:57 B.C. teachers still concerned about back to school
B.C. teachers still concerned about back to school
“The response has been insane. I’ve received hundreds of messages of parents interested in it, and have had so much positive feedback.”
Marmer is still trying to iron out the details but explained the group hopes to pair children by matching families in the same neighbourhood, and then grouping by age.
The planning of the pods is still in the early stages, Marmer explained, adding that she’s been in discussions with parents, teachers and homeschoolers to ensure the group creates a “sensible and reasonable plan for families.”
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“We hope to be able to structure it so that each pod can be customized to best suit the individuals within it,” she said. “There is, however, still some groundwork to lay, and details we are sorting out.”
Schools across Canada closed when the pandemic started and offered online learning instead. But as schools get set to reopen, educators, parents and school boards have to figure out ways to safely let kids back into the classrooms.
Most provinces and territories have released plans for reopening schools that include safety measures like physically distanced desks, face masks or shields for staff and staggered pickup and drop-off times.
For parents who choose not to send their child back, some school boards offer remote education.
But the idea is not without criticism, as the solution is only for families that can afford it.
Why are pandemic pods sparking debate?
“What is particularly troubling about these pandemic pods is what it means for public education more broadly. It’s a shift away from the public to the private,” said Agata Soroko, a professor in the faculty of education at the University of Ottawa.
“Public schools are one of the few places where students can learn in a socioeconomically and racially diverse context … There is more chance of encountering people who are not like you in the public school system. So when you create these types of pods, certainly you are going to end up with a more similar socioeconomic status, if not race. This is the opposite of what should be happening in a healthy democracy.”
Soroko explained that although the idea of “opportunity hoarding” in the education system is nothing new, the coronavirus has exacerbated existing inequalities.
She said that even before COVID-19, affluent families have been in the position to buy more of an education, whether it’s extra tutoring or extracurricular activities, while low-income families may not have the financial means.
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“The pandemic is highlighting that not all families are struggling the same way. Learning pods can contribute to larger inequities and people need to be aware of the social and ethical implications,” she said.
Marmer said she acknowledges that having the option of a “homeschooling pod” is a privilege. She and her husband pulled their kids out of school because it was the best option for her family, but she also wants to help families who may not be able to afford this option.
1:04 Will school closures impact my child’s development?
Will school closures impact my child’s development?
“I put together a survey for parents, and in the survey, I put in the option of, ‘Are you willing to help another family,’ and I have been hearing from quite a few people who are willing to help financially with other families,” she said.
“It was important for me to include that in the survey as I know there are those who cannot afford it.”
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Marmer said once the organization of the pods takes shape, she plans to offer a spot to families who cannot afford it.
“For some families, it could mean paying nothing at all, for others it could mean paying on a sliding scale to suit their monetary restrictions,” she said.
Are pandemic pods effective?
Pandemic pods are only as safe as their weakest link, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
“The smaller the congregation, the less the risk. That means that if COVID turns up in a pod, it’s unlikely to spread beyond and, of course, the pod is less likely to become infected because of fewer contacts,” he said.
But Furness warned that the safety of these pods depends on the group’s vigilance. If families stay within their bubbles and keep their social interaction to a minimum, then there is less chance of contracting coronavirus.
“For the 18 hours per day that children aren’t in school, what is the effective bubble? Are parents being careful? Are kids playing with others outside the bubble? How many people are coming to the house/apartment?” he said, adding that it’s important for parents to be mindful of these questions.
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3:52 Helping kids ‘spread their wings’ to social-distance
Helping kids ‘spread their wings’ to social-distance
Furness stressed the importance of opening public schools, as children need social development. There is also emerging evidence that children under the age of 10 are not particularly contagious when it comes to COVID-19, he said.
“But I am also in favour of giving parents choice and supporting home or pod schooling as best as we can,” he said. “That will reduce parental stress where it is needed, and it will also reduce crowding in schools.”
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
