Why I’m glad my child is going to school in Canada
A comment from an editor for a financial newspaper in Zurich, Switzerland – and a frequent reader of the online newspaper Times Colonist.
My daughter will be graduating from a small private school in Oak Bay this summer. I’m glad she lives on Vancouver Island, far away from her home in Switzerland, during the difficult COVID-19 times.
As far as the fight against the virus is concerned, the discussions in British Columbia are nothing compared to the madness that is going on in our small alpine country in the middle of Europe and is causing immense damage to the community here.
Let’s start with a few numbers for comparison: In Switzerland, with its population of just eight million, more than 40,000 people were infected with COVID-19 every day last week, and the trend is rising. That brings the number of confirmed infections per 100,000 population to 382 per day, compared to 32 across Canada as of January 26.
Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest infection rate in Europe. We also have a very low vaccination rate of 68 percent.
It’s not the hope that my daughter will be safe and possibly not contract COVID-19 in Canada that makes me glad she’s in Victoria. Rather, it is our country-specific attitude to COVID measures that is killing me and digging into society like a nasty thorn.
Opponents of vaccination, teacher organizations, parent representatives and other affected professional groups dominate the pandemic thinking in Switzerland much more than in Canada.
Only instead of worrying about the health of the community, there is carelessness here. Many people, restaurants and tourism businesses are ignoring social distancing rules, and many find simply wearing a medical face mask an unreasonable requirement.
Even in crowds, for example in pedestrian zones or shops, the Swiss wear the mask under their chin at best. On train journeys, even a small M&Ms bag is eaten up so slowly that the one-hour journey between Zurich and Bern can easily be completed without the annoying cloth on your face.
And if a neighboring canton (province) relaxes the measures for gastronomy, clubs or retail only slightly, then people shop or celebrate there.
I have visited France, Germany and Austria during these COVID-19 years, but only in Switzerland have I found so much individual energy to circumvent even the simplest rules of conduct.
When the government decided in January to make masks compulsory in primary schools from class 1 in view of the increasing number of infections, the next stage was ignited. So far, masks were only compulsory from the fifth grade.
What is a matter of course in many countries mobilized worried parents. Many immediately removed their children from class or sued teachers.
The face masks, an argument often heard, would restrict the freedom of the little ones and lead to developmental disorders. Many proceedings against the new wearing of masks in primary schools are pending in administrative courts in several federal states.
Parents have also threatened school administrators with lawyers and, in some cases, sought legal advice to waive their children’s mask requirement.
Some simply presented the teachers with a so-called declaration of liability. The teachers should sign and thus assume full liability for the obligation to wear a mask if the child concerned suffers physical or mental damage as a result of the mask.
These include compensation for pain and suffering, costs in the event of illness and costs that could arise in the event of death.
It is probably only a matter of time before the discussion spreads to higher classrooms. I cannot say where this lack of judgment comes from, combined with an almost cynical aggressiveness towards the state, educational institutions and ultimately also those who think differently.
I stopped having sensible conversations here a long time ago. I’m just glad my daughter is going to school in Canada.
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