Southern Ontario and the Sudden Day of Darkness
More fear mongering from our educational and government institutions to convince us that we can't possibly make it without their help.
TRIGGER WARNING: Truth, opinions, and objective facts. Please consume responsibly.
One of the coolest things I've ever seen was probably the total solar eclipse of 1979. It was quite a long time ago, and I don’t really remember much about it other than the fact that we all got these cool silver glasses from school so that we could watch it without burning our eyeballs out.
This was 1979 which means I would have been 9 years old. This also means I would’ve been living in a small town just north of Winnipeg at the time.
I seem to recall it was a huge event. They were hyping it for weeks in school and I was pretty excited to go out and watch it. I’m pretty sure there was lots of instruction on what was causing the eclipse, and on how looking at the sun without eye protection is really bad. Sadly, I don’t remember much about the eclipse itself, apart from the glasses. I don't remember hearing anything on the news about it at the time either (I was probably busy watching Sesame Street or something), but according to my Mom, my brothers and I ended up watching it at home with our parents in the back yard. So, I'm not sure if that's because the school was closed or because my parents just wanted to make sure we saw it. At any rate, 45 years later I still don't know of a single person who went blind on that day because of the eclipse.
Fast-forward 45 years to this article from the CBC:
2 teachers' unions ask school boards to ensure safety for staff ahead of total solar eclipse
And my initial reaction: Are you fucking kidding me!?
They say there's something about a full moon that brings out the crazies. Evidently having that same moon (I guess it would technically be a new moon in this instance) completely blocking the sun has an even greater effect.
The article mentions that several schools in southern Ontario will be shut on that day “for the safety of the kids,” of course, but also that apparently the teachers are also terribly concerned for their own safety. The most bizarre line in the above article is this one:
“If it's not safe for children, then it's not safe for adults," Jeff Sorensen, Hamilton-Wentworth Elementary Teachers' Local union president, said.
Well, if your teachers have the mentality of a six-year-old, then I would probably agree.
This is just one more example of how cowardly leadership is being modeled to our kids through the school system.
I can only hope that our kids will learn how to somehow navigate this world in spite of the chicken-littles running their schools.
I can't say this strongly enough: FIRE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE, AND DO IT NOW.
There are a bunch of schools in southern Ontario that will be shut down because of the solar eclipse - evidently for safety reasons. It's about the children, after all. This may prompt one to ask: What else should the schools be doing to protect our kids? Should they be encasing them in bubble wrap when they arrive? Should they maybe have sunblock at every exit? Perhaps the teachers should be monitoring their lunches to make sure there's not too much sugar. And remember, If it's not safe for children, then it's not safe for adults, so maybe there should be a lunch monitor in the Faculty lounge as well.
As concerned as they are about safety and adult supervision, they seem to have no problem shirking that responsibility and sending these kids back to their homes early - homes which are likely empty because both parents are out working so their taxes can pay these teachers for taking the day off.
It's not that it’s just a couple of schools, and it's not about the headline, it's about the nanny state that is being foisted on us by cowardly leaders who think they need to control every aspect of our lives, as if we have no concept of how to survive in this world without their expertise.
Thankfully, there exists the odd rational voice that’s not afraid to let itself be known. Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s Minister of Education had one word for this: Outrageous.
He said while he could handle school divisions moving their PD days (Professional Development days) to coincide with the eclipse, what he can’t abide is “indiscriminately closing schools”. This is an apparent reference to the York Region District School Board’s decision to close their schools early on the day of the eclipse because they had run out of PD days for the year and yet still felt it necessary to protect the children and staff from the effects of the eclipse.
Then, he had a bunch of other words as well:
On that day it’s an opportunity for educators to use it to inspire interest in science.
. . . the unilateral closure of schools . . . really sets back working parents, particularly the most vulnerable families, single parents, who don't have the luxury of a child-care space. I find it very unfair on them to close schools. When we have a (professional activity day) with notice, we can tolerate that. What I won't tolerate is indiscriminately closing schools, affecting working families and frankly, reducing the ability of a child to learn in a dynamic way about science and astronomy and exciting things that are happening.
Every citizen on earth will be showing up to work … every front-line worker from transit to nurses will be going to work and I expect the same for our educators.
I've expressed a great deal of concern that the instinct of that local union is to try to keep their teachers home when every single person in the economy is going to work.
Ontario MPP, John Fraser was more blunt:
We’ve had solar eclipses before - it’s not the end times.
It seems like this attitude exists mainly in North America, for some reason. And yes, it's more than just our schools. It's a pervading culture of weakness in almost every area, but whereas corporate and government institutions are forcing it on their people, our schools are actively teaching it to kids who might not know any better.
In Manitoba where I am, we will experience a partial eclipse with about 60% totality. We got this email from our daughter’s school:
This is an awe-inspiring event that will draw the gaze of people; however, there is a risk of permanent vision damage if proper precautions are not taken. Even a brief look at the partially eclipsed Sun can result in permanent damage. As a result of this safety concern, we will be keeping students indoors for the afternoon on April 8th. You are welcome to sign your child out from school to more fully experience the eclipse under parental supervision.
This is what we’ll be doing, provided the sun is visible on that day. It's such a rare event that I will insist on my kids at least having the opportunity to see it.
As always, it's the parents who are going to save this - or not. This is just one more example of where the schools have consistently been on the wrong side of the average Canadian parent over the last few years. Maybe if these people would just do the jobs they trained for and what they’re being paid to do, there wouldn’t be this crazy disconnect between them and “normal people”. More to the point, if the millions of normal people would just stop allowing this lunatic behavior on their dime, it would probably end tomorrow.
As I said: the parents are the ones who are going to set this right. If they don't do it, it's quite evident that it will continue to go further off the rails, because for all the talk of safety for the children, while violent crime in schools skyrockets, along with a culture of silence around this violence, what we've seen is that these leaders and policy-makers really care much more about themselves. This fact is the very reason why parents who demand accountability will eventually succeed if these people wish to keep their jobs.
As ridiculous as all this sounds, it’s supposedly all about the kids. So, I guess that makes it okay. I mean, better safe than sorry, right?
Well hold on there just one second - what’s this…?
This article is dated March 28th, and the state of emergency is effective immediately. Yes, that’s right - it’s not just a state of emergency, but a preemptive one. So, Niagara is currently in a state of emergency which will last at least until next Tuesday, but really, who knows how long? This, because they have calculated that there may be up to a million visitors in a region that gets a substantial amount of its income (the majority?) from (wait for it…) - tourism. Wow, you’d almost think that this would be viewed as a boon for the area.
Here's what “emergency” means according to the Province of Ontario's website:
An emergency is defined as a situation or an impending situation that constitutes a danger of major proportions that could result in serious harm to persons or substantial damage to property and that is caused by the forces of nature, a disease or other health risk, an accident or an act whether intentional or otherwise.
If an eclipse in the beginning of spring in an area that is very accustomed to managing huge crowds as part of its yearly business practices constitutes an emergency, then what else would meet that designation? New Years Eve? A protest? Well, evidently a protest does constitute an emergency according to our drama-teacher Prime Minister, but that’s a pretty low bar if that’s your measure.
Clearly, two minutes of total darkness does not come anywhere near Ontario’s definition of an emergency. And yet, here we are. If you really want to, you can check out this list of closures in the region for April 8th. It is staggering. And yes, it includes public health and dental offices, and many, if not most (maybe all?) of the child care centres as well, so too bad if you happen to be a parent with an actual job that requires you to be at work on a normal Monday in April.
Is this now part of our “new normal”? Are we just to accept the fact that literally anything could be deemed an emergency if the powers that be call it that? And are we to believe that a region whose lifeblood relies on huge crowds from spring until fall every single year really can’t handle a few extra visitors for something as benign as a solar eclipse? Really?
This kind of thing would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic. But this is what I mean when I talk about this Culture of Weakness pervading every level of our society. But in a land where words are violence, and women have penises, what else would one expect? There’s a reason we’re seeing so much pushback on this sort of thing, and it’s not because people are bigoted, or gullible, or ignorant. It’s because they are finally seeing this for what it is: grandstanding, virtue-signaling, and just plain selfishness.
The state needs to try much harder to mind their own business, and trust the rest of us to mind ours. I’m quite sure we would do it much more effectively and efficiently than they ever could.
Leave it to bumpkin Ken to find something to be outraged in even an eclipse. Give it a rest pal, nobody cares about your whining.
A possible case of toxic nostalgia? “Back in my day there were no airbags or seatbelts, we drove our lead-gasoline cars to the bar (built from asbestos), got drunk, and drove home again. I’m still alive. This generation is soft”.
Could it be that people are so litigious nowadays that schools and teachers are simply terrified of being sued by parents? (The same reason we can’t do anything fun anymore) Shouldn’t we lay the blame with the legal and the insurance industries for this, rather than using it as another opportunity to berate the underpaid and overworked teachers who would probably much rather be doing fun stuff with their students as well?