A few days ago, a video circulated on American social media. In the video, students at a los Angeles school complained that they had been denied the right to attend school and had been quarantined by the school with a cordon because they had not been vaccinated.
With more and more related videos, this matter has attracted the attention of American netizens. Many criticized the school's practice as "unacceptable" and even called it "child abuse." But it has also been pointed out that this kind of thing does not happen when students are vaccinated.
According to the incident school response, the school informed parents last year that the school requires students to be vaccinated, and if students are not willing to be vaccinated, they can choose to take online courses after the start of school.
A student at a school in Los Angeles complained of being quarantined for not being vaccinated and denied classes
According to the Washington Observer reported on January 19, the relevant video of this matter began to circulate on social media on the 18th local time. During this period, the twitter account of the event organization "Let Them Breathe" continued to follow up on the matter and interviewed witnesses near the school.
According to one of the videos, a girl who identified herself as a student at the New West Charter School in Los Angeles complained that she and five other girls were cordoned off by the school and were not allowed to attend classes because they were not vaccinated.
"We were threatened with suspension, we were denied the right to go to school, and we were blocked by this cordon-like thing..."
The footage shows a girl standing next to the girl who made the sound, while the other 4 girls are squatting aside, and the 6 girls are being isolated by the yellow cordon. Let Them Breathe added that they wanted chairs but were turned away by the school, which even did not allow them to use the restroom. "Let Them Breathe" also said Los Angeles police were at the scene but did not intervene.
Another video showed that Los Angeles police officers in police uniforms were indeed present at the scene. One of the police officers reminded the photographers to "not cross the line" and introduced a statement from a school representative on the matter.
The representative, who is said to be sharon Weir, the school's executive director, said the school wanted the children and parents who disrupted the school's activities to leave the school peacefully, and if the students did not want to leave, the school would have to suspend them for disrupting the school order.
With the continuous appearance of related videos, the matter has aroused the attention and controversy of netizens on American social media.
Many have accused the school of "unacceptable" isolation of unvaccinated students, believing that such practices would cause psychological harm to students, and some even called the school "abusing children." In addition, some argue that students have the right to education, which is a "human right" and not based on whether they are vaccinated or not.
"It's bad enough to isolate these students, and putting them behind a cordon becomes a spectacle." These students are going through the most fragile period of their young lives and it is psychologically unacceptable to be shown like this! ”
"This is a big mistake! How can they treat children like this? ”
"Vaccine superstitions really annoy me right now... This is child abuse! ”
"You have the right to education, it's a human right, not based on your vaccine status."
In addition to the criticism, some netizens pointed out that this kind of thing will not happen when students are vaccinated. In addition, in response to the view that schools infringe on students' right to education, some people have countered that if unvaccinated students are infected with the virus, it also violates the right to education of other students to some extent.
"It's good to get a vaccine."
"You can't violate the right of other students to education by transmitting the virus to other students."
"If they refuse to be vaccinated and refuse to care for others in the community, why should I risk my life to care for these students?" Taxes are imposed on unvaccinated people: no travel, no going to restaurants, no shopping, no movies, no health care. ”
In the face of controversy on the Internet, the Washington Observer contacted the New West Charter School in Los Angeles, which confirmed on the 18th that there was indeed a group of unvaccinated students "sit-in" on campus that day and refused to leave the school.
In a statement to the Washington Observer, the New West Charter School said it imposed a restriction on students requiring vaccinations after the winter break. 96 percent of students complied with this requirement, but "6 students who did not comply with the new policy still tried to attend the class." ”
The school said they asked the students and their parents to "leave campus," but the students refused the request and "staged a sit-in demonstration" behind the designated PCR testing area. Subsequently, the school administration notified the local police station, and the police came to the campus to "help alleviate the chaos."
The New Western Charter School in Los Angeles also said parents were informed in October that the school was about to implement the requirement. In addition, the school also informed that students who have not been vaccinated can sign up for online courses.
"Parents who choose not to vaccinate their children know that they have other options than to return to school," New Western Charter School los Angeles said, "And while we respect the right of parents to make choices for their children, we have obligations to the entire school community." We will keep that promise when we commit to implementing a policy to assure parents that the campus is safe for students. ”
It is worth mentioning that new western charter schools are not the first school in Los Angeles to require students to be vaccinated. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Public School System, once required students to be fully vaccinated within a set period of time so they could continue classes after winter break. ABC 7 has reported that students who don't comply with the rules either drop out of Los Angeles public schools or take classes online.
However, since more than 30,000 students were not fully vaccinated within the deadline, on December 14 last year, the Los Angeles United School District could only announce a postponement of the implementation of the order, and the deadline for full vaccination of students was extended until the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.