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Reassessing the Impact of School Closures During the Pandemic
Readers should brace themselves: parents of school-age children during the Covid-19 pandemic may find David Zweig’s new book both insightful and unsettling. The work offers a meticulously researched, in-depth analysis of the misguided decisions surrounding extended school closures and the difficulties faced by public officials in rectifying these choices.
Zweig contends that while caution is typically regarded as a virtue, during the pandemic, it became a tool for misguidance. He critiques the reliance on the phrase “an abundance of caution” as justification for unprecedented school shutdowns, despite growing evidence suggesting that schools could reopen safely. Concurrently, he highlights the neglect of warnings about the detrimental effects of these closures on the educational, mental, and emotional health of children. Dissenting voices were often labeled as “anti-science” or attributed to a dangerous readiness to accept “human sacrifice.”
A journalist by profession, Zweig began writing this book driven by a personal experience: observing his two young children “slowly wilting” as schools closed in the spring of 2020. This prompted him to question the necessity and duration of distancing measures for children. Through interviews with experts and analyses of international reports, he arrived at the conclusion that a significant narrative regarding the impacts of school closures was not being adequately reported.
Far from merely defending these practices as understandable responses to chaos or blaming teacher unions for undue influence, Zweig presents a broader indictment. He argues that numerous actors—including politicians, health officials, parts of the medical community, and the media—actively misled the public, leading to policies rooted in subjective beliefs masquerading as objective science.
An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions
by David Zweig
The MIT Press, 2025, $39.95; 464 pages.
Zweig’s conclusions paint a grim picture of a nation that struggled to respond pragmatically under pressure. He details a saga of profound systemic failures, including faulty predictive models, the unsubstantiated advocacy for extended closures, ineffective remote learning experiences, and a reopening debate that morphed into a political battleground influenced by partisan dynamics. His research reveals the misleading narratives presented by the media and the consequences faced by children as a result of these decisions.
Initially, officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, dismissed the idea of lockdowns. Early in January 2020, Fauci suggested that closing down would not have a significant impact, and by late February, the director of the CDC was merely suggesting parents consider their options in the event of school closures. However, the situation quickly changed, influenced by admiration for China’s strict lockdown measures, leading to a nationwide rush to close schools, with some remaining shut for an entire year or longer. Zweig mentions that children as young as two were required to wear masks for extended periods—a decision that faced little scrutiny from mainstream media and public health authorities.
The book offers a thorough critique of the educational policies enacted during the pandemic. Officials cited Covid-19’s novelty as a rationale for closures, yet it was already known that children typically exhibit milder symptoms than adults and are less likely to transmit the virus. To support the case for aggressive school closures, a dramatic graph illustrating infection data from the 1918 influenza pandemic was frequently referenced. However, subsequent analyses suggested that school closures had no significant long-term impact on mortality rates.
By mid-2020, numerous countries worldwide had effectively reopened schools, demonstrating minimal risk to public health. In Europe, schools successfully resumed operations as early as April and reported no associated problems, even in nations with higher infection rates than the U.S. Despite concerns regarding Italy’s early pandemic response, remarkably few cases were reported among youths, and even fewer fatalities occurred within that demographic. The risks tied to returning to in-person education were comparable to everyday activities.
According to data from April 2020, school-age children constituted less than 1 percent of hospitalizations in the U.S. during times when educational institutions were open sans masking or other mitigation measures. Reports from the European Union revealed similar trends, with no evidence of increased Covid-19 transmission following the return to school operations. Nonetheless, mainstream media maintained a narrative filled with alarming headlines that perpetuated fear, overshadowing the positive developments reported in studies from credible medical publications.
In his analysis, Zweig positions teacher unions in context, suggesting they did not play as central a role in driving school closures as often depicted. While union actions are acknowledged, the emphasis of Zweig’s narrative is on the broader responsibilities of public health authorities, journalists, and policymakers. This perspective implies that accountability for the closures extends beyond unions, encompassing a collective failure among many stakeholders in the education and health sectors.
Source
www.educationnext.org