Kids in School: 3 Feet Apart or 6 Feet?

Mar 29, 2021

2 min

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published updated guidelines for elementary schools, "now [recommending] that, with universal masking, students should maintain a distance of at least 3 feet in classroom settings" as opposed to the previous recommendation of 6 feet.


While many have had strong reactions for and against this updated guidance, immunologist Joseph Comber, PhD, an associate teaching professor of biology at Villanova University, wants to add nuance to the conversation.


On the one hand, Dr. Comber notes, when the CDC updates health and safety guidelines, the public can trust that as more information and data become available, the science behind the updates becomes more accurate. He stresses that studies "showed no difference in transmission between kids kept 3 feet apart or 6 feet apart in schools."


Plus, Comber says, "we already know that kids younger than 10 and 11 are less likely to spread the virus than older kids and adults."


However, Dr. Comber cautions that the subjects of the study followed "strict mask guidance and adherence to masking. We don't know what happens if schools enforce 3 feet of distance but are not strict with masking."


He also points out that where the study was done can have an impact on the results. Comber emphasizes that "community spread is most important to the specific community and, as we've seen so far, different states and regions can spike with infections at different times." He wonders "if this is especially true in areas that have higher virus circulation than others."


Dr. Comber notes that these guidelines are for elementary schools only, with one rather large caveat: "children are increasingly being infected."


Another concern with these shifting regulations is whether they will impact public trust. Villanova professor Jie Xu, PhD, is an expert on science and health communications. Her concern about this change is minimal "because science is evolving." She emphasizes that "we need to be able to revise conclusions when new evidence comes in," and she sees the country's "highly politicized environment" as something to be taken more seriously, when it comes to public health.


Dr. Xu cites "rising distrust in authorities and institutions (which has been going on for quite some time)" and notes that, when it comes to the nation’s children, in-person versus virtual schooling is a "highly charged issue."


In the end, according to Dr. Comber, "it remains to be seen what happens when kids are packed 3 feet into classrooms on a broad scale."

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4 min

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But while making it as easy to unsubscribe as to subscribe sounds great – we all like even playing fields and symmetry – it might be better to also make subscribing a little more burdensome, so people understand what they are getting themselves into in the first place.” This idea is the focus of Frischmann’s recent paper, titled “Better Digital Contracts with Prosocial Friction-in-Design,” the publication of which coincides with public dissatisfaction over digital contracting processes. In August, Disney attempted to have a wrongful death lawsuit blocked, citing print in terms and conditions from a one-month Disney+ free trial the plaintiff signed up for in 2019. Since then, other companies have succeeded in recently blocking the commencement of similar lawsuits. In the research, Frischmann and his co-author, Rice University computer scientist Moshe Vardi, describe these contracts as “dehumanizing” and that they “undermine human autonomy and sociality, by design,” citing how they elicit behavior in a pre-determined manner (such as clicking on cue) and often include side agreements with other entities, unbeknownst to the users. “One-click” contracts rely on legal fictions, such as presuming that clicking an “I have read the terms and conditions” button actually means that they have. They are structured this way intentionally. “The idea behind digital contracting is ‘Let’s make the contract as quick as possible before people leave or change their mind,” Frischmann said. “They only want to do the minimum that the law requires, and all the law requires is notice of terms and action that says, ‘I agree.’” For these reasons, he argues, modern digital contracting contradicts the purpose of contract law in the first place; enabling people to reach genuine agreements and cooperate. “It’s antithetical to the underlying values of a contract,” Frischmann said. “Autonomy is undermined because people are not able to exercise autonomy in a meaningful way when they are not actually capable of deliberating about the terms to which they are agreeing. As for being cooperative, there is no relationship. Digital contracts are completely one-sided.” So what can be done to combat this? “Speedbumps,” Frischmann says, referring to measures that can cause friction in the contracting process to better protect the user. Physical road speedbumps represent a useful analogy, because while they make things slightly more inconvenient for the user, they are deployed strategically where other values are at stake, like the safety of children playing outside. “People tolerate speedbumps,” Frischmann says, “because they serve a social purpose. Friction in digital contracts is similar.” With respect to improving digital contracting, there are multiple measures that can be taken that inherently have such friction, but not all of them are always appropriate. 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3 min

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