Covid And The Trolley Problem by Margaret Delahunty

Who’s familiar with the Trolley Problem? It’s a philosophical hypothetical that posits the following: an uncontrolled trolley is speeding down the tracks, about to hit 5 people. However, you can pull a lever and it will only hit 1 person. What do you do?

The majority of people say, “Pull the lever. Save the 5; sacrifice the 1.” But there’s an added complication: you know that 1 person. They are a member of your family. What now? The majority of people change their answer. “Save my family member, of course.” And that’s what the school debate is like - the worst possible version of the Trolley Problem, only we are living it in real time. People are assuming they won’t know the children or teachers that get sick and possibly die when they should be assuming the opposite. You will know children and teachers that get sick and possibly die.

“But my child’s mental health is suffering,” they yell. Yes, it is, I agree with you. My child is having tantrums and acting out, too. Hell, I’m having tantrums and acting out! But what is worse for your child’s mental health: one more semester of remote learning or sitting your child down and explaining to them that their best friend is dead, their beloved teacher is dead, their aunt/uncle who is a teacher is dead, their parent is dead....or maybe they’ll be dead and the mental health issue will expand and compound itself across your entire family.

Corporations and government officials have allowed the problem of the economy to become a teachers’ problem, and it’s not. Corporations took billions of dollars in government bailouts and instead of using it to set up company child care options or using it to create options for working families, they padded their pockets. Government officials have used the school debate as a political football rather than funding schools so they could make it safe to return and/or giving them funds to beef up technology and remote learning programs. They have pitted working people against each other rather than taking on the responsibility that actually belongs to them.

Restarting the economy is not a problem for schools to solve: it’s a problem for government and business to solve, but they’ve fooled you into thinking otherwise. So before you blame teachers for their very valid concerns about the health of their students, their families, and themselves, please think of all the teachers you know and all the K-12 students you know and ask yourself, “If they were in the path of the trolley, what would I do?”

If the answer is, “Everything in my power to save them,” then you already know the truth: we cannot open schools.