‘Children are not disposable’: Students in Boston and Chicago protest in-person classes amid Omicron surge

Hundreds of students in Boston and Chicago walked out of classes to protests in-person classes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the new Omicron variant.

In Chicago, the walkout came two days after in-classroom teaching resumed for students who were idled during a five-day work stoppage by unionized teachers pressing for tougher COVID-19 safeguards, reported Reuters. Protesting students said they were not satisfied with the additional health protocols the teachers union agreed to, the report added.

“Masks are disposable, children are not”, “Not another student to Covid”, and “We demand our voices to be heard”–read some of the posters held by the protesting students.

In Boston, the Boston Student Advisory Council organised the walkout. The Council posted a series of demands on Twitter, including two weeks of online instruction and more stringent COVID-19 testing for teachers and students, Reuters reported.

Besides, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said they are considering allowing the nation’s largest school district to return to some form of virtual instruction as the city weathers a wave of coronavirus cases, a reversal from his pledge a week ago to keep children in schools.

Adams said at a news conference on Thursday that he still believes the safest place for children to be is in school, “but we do have to be honest that there’s a substantial number of children, for whatever reason, parents are not bringing them to school.”