Cheaters Hurt Schools’ Risk Mitigation Plans

We encounter people who break rules all the time. Sometimes it results in innovation. More often, it’s just a jerk cutting a line or taking up two parking spots.

Some cheating can be fairly harmless, like taking extra napkins at the fast-food counter. Or it can kill, like a server not checking to see if a customer with an allergy really can safely eat a menu item.

The Washington Post reported on a newly published, survey taken in 2021, that showed many parents lied about their child’s illness, positive test or quarantine completion during the coronavirus pandemic. They put other children at risk, often so their own children could participate in activities or attend school—and in doing so, possibly sent infections home to classmates’ relatives.

This falls at the more dangerous end of the cheating spectrum.

Researchers concluded that people need a better support system in a health crisis, because some parents couldn’t take time off from work. That’s true.

People also need to be truthful for the benefit of their community. Even now, with new COVID-19 deaths totaling from 2,000 to 3,000 people every week in the U.S., it doesn’t account for there are more deaths in 2022 and 2023 than would be expected in pre-pandemic years. Since many officials want COVID-19 to seem less risky, under-reporting may be common—more cheating.

Reliable information makes good decisions possible. Information uncertainty caused more infections and more deaths than would have otherwise happened, because people doubted the risk. Many still do, despite a million-plus deaths in the U.S.

Rebuilding trust in our medical institutions is critical. Most people say they trust their primary caregiver. That might be a good place to start rebuilding trust in the medical profession. Maybe then, people will abide by the rules.

COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS: In the U.S., 2,290 people died from a coronavirus infection during the week that ended March 1, per the CDC, with 226,618 new confirmed infections. The percentage of Americans who received an updated booster ticked up slightly to 16.2% of eligible people.

   Amanda Schleede is founder and CEO of Attend Safe, which helps people to attend to life with sensible safety protocols. Visit Attend Safe online at AttendSafe.com.