Editorial: Seniors’ house party should have real consequences

The Island Now

Roslyn High School Principal Scott Andrews had it exactly right last week when he slammed a seniors party attended by more than 100 students “gathered in large groups, not wearing masks, and sharing beverages.”

“This is both devastating and disrespectful to each other and every one of our administrators and teachers and staff who have done everything humanly possible to safely open our schools this fall,” Andrews said. “The district has spent a lot of time and a lot of money to pave the way for the return of our students, and events such as these jeopardize not just our schools but our entire community.”

Andrews went on to say that if similar behavior were to occur during the year from the senior class, the district would not hold traditional events and “parents should expect school closings to be an inevitability.”

He also said Roslyn School Superintendent Allison Brown had been made aware of the behavior and is “evaluating the circumstances as actions have consequences.”

We hope those consequences match the seriousness of the students’ actions.

More than 6.4 million people have been infected by COVID-19 in the United States with the death toll at more than 190,000. So far.

A recent study found that 400,000 people in this country could die by the end of this year as scientists raise alarms of a second wave mixed in with the flu.

We are all too familiar with the toll taken by COVID-19 in Nassau County and the rest of New York state. As of Sept. 1, more than 44,761 people have been infected and 2,198 people have died.

After leading the nation in deaths and infections, New York state now has among the lowest rates of infection in the country.

How? First by shutting down – a measure that forced the closing of schools and devastated local businesses. Then by ensuring that people wore masks and practiced social distancing.

Exactly what the more than 100 students didn’t do.

So what should the Roslyn school district do?

The first thing is to identify everyone who was at the party.

This, incredibly, should not be too difficult as pictures of the gathering were “posted all over social media,” according to Andrews.

Students who have been identified should be expected to name other students attending the party – with any student who fails to cooperate facing additional “consequences.”

Taking a hard line, Northeastern University expelled 11 first-year students last week – and did not refund tuition payments of up to $36,500 – after they were found together in a hotel room in Boston.

We think this is too severe, but perhaps a two-week suspension requiring the students to be quarantined is in order.

Besides, it is hard to imagine that any teacher, administrator or school worker wants to be exposed to the students who attended the party.

Nor would we expect the parents of students who didn’t attend the party to want their children in the same classroom as a partygoer – or even his siblings.

So perhaps the quarantine order should apply to the siblings of students who attended the party for the same reason.

Sounds extreme? A wedding in upstate New York has already been linked to more than 100 infections and three deaths.

Outbreaks on college campuses in the first weeks of school have already forced schools to cancel in-person learning for the first semester, including the State University of New York in Oneonta.

How would parents feel if, as Andrews warned, in-person learning came to an end.

We know that remote learning is not nearly as good for college students and worse for high school, middle school and elementary school students. We also know that not permitting in-person learning can take a very heavy toll on family finances, often forcing one parent to stop working.

As Andrews said, actions have consequences and we are in the midst of a pandemic.

The investigation into the identity of the partygoers also should not stop with the students.

The owners of the home in which the party was held must also be identified as well as any other adults who might have attended the party.

Were the owners of the home aware of the party? Did they participate in the party’s planning? And what should be the consequences if they did?

Owners face legal liability if someone drinks to excess at their home and then gets into an auto accident.

Shouldn’t someone who hosts a party in which more than 100 teens are exposed to COVID-19, and then their families, face similar consequences? We might get that answer in a civil action.

We recognize that there are many adults in this country who believe that wearing a mask and social distancing violates their personal freedom and is unnecessary. The evening news is often full of these images.

Sadly, this effort has been led by a president of the United States who has repeatedly minimized the threat of COVID-19, promoted crazy remedies such as injecting bleach and mocked those who wear masks.

This was on full display at President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention just a week or so before the house party.

In a nationally broadcast speech, Trump spoke before more than 1,000 people on the White House lawn seated within six inches of each other, most of whom did not wear masks.

To which we note that the United States with 4 percent of the world’s population has had 24 percent of the deaths due to COVID-19.

We also remember when the rate of infection and death was at its peak in Nassau County.

There will be some who say that we should go easy on the partygoers because they are young. Which is true.

But they are not that much younger than soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy, waded through rice paddies in Vietnam, served in Iraq and Afghanistan or survived the Holocaust. Some of whom may live in Roslyn.

We understand times have changed. But is it really too much to ask high school seniors living in an affluent suburb like Roslyn during a pandemic to follow social protocols that will keep them, their family and the community safe?

Actions should have consequences. This would be a good lesson for the Roslyn students to learn.

 

 

 

 

 

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