I helped my students get vaccinated

Posted by Anonymous on December 31, 2021

Thursday, December 30

A healthcare professional giving a shot to a patient.

I intervened to help my students get COVID vaccinations

Happy Thursday! Here's what we have:

Today's lead story is about a teacher who helped his students get COVID vaccines and ease their concerns about its potential side effects. We're also sharing a column from Connie Schultz about what she learned in 2021.

I intervened to help my students get COVID vaccinations

By Larry Strauss

Nearly every day, I hear another sad story from a student about distance learning during the pandemic.

They talk about isolation and depression, family discord, frustration, long hours of chores and childcare responsibilities that interrupted their online classes, poor internet connections that made it nearly impossible to participate in classes, sunken motivation, full-time dead-end jobs to help keep families afloat, and insomnia in the service of peace and quiet and some semblance of teenage autonomy.

So when our principal recently distributed a list of 60 kids who had not yet complied with the Los Angeles Unified School District's vaccine mandate – which for them would mean a return to distance learning in January – it felt cruel not to intervene.

Today's Editorial Cartoon

Andy Marlette, USA TODAY Network

USA TODAY Network

•	December political cartoon gallery from the USA TODAY Network

What I learned in 2021: A lot can go wrong, but humor, how-to videos help

By Connie Schultz

As a born worrier, I can't get excited about the New Year. We have no idea what's coming, but a lot of new things are bound to go wrong.

If you're silently judging me right now, I want you to know my mother always said I was the one born with the happy gene. We're all complicated, my friends.

To ease the transition and focus on the positive, I made a list of what I've learned in the year we're about to leave behind. Wow, 2021: You've made me so much wiser.

Columns on qualified immunity

We're doing a series examining the issue of qualified immunity. For more on the series read here.

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•	How the KKK Act could help protect and enforce constitutional rights for all of us.
•	Ben & Jerry: We white people need to use our power to fight police abuse.