Letter: High school sports should be canceled before it’s too late

Herriman cheerleaders wear masks as they carry the flag off the field after the national anthem in Herriman on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Davis School District has decided that the education of 70,000-plus students is worth sacrificing on the altar of the pigskin and the pompom.

As public schools begin to reopen, there is much uncertainty — but one thing is sure: There is no possible way for football players, basketball players, wrestlers, cheerleaders and all the other athletic programs to maintain social distancing.

In the Davis School District, teachers are going to school full time but their students are going to school half time. Within the four walls of their classrooms, teachers can maintain proper social distancing with a high degree of effectiveness. Is it perfect? Will there be times were students are less than 6 feet? Will there be exceptions for hallways and parking lots where teachers can’t always maintain social distancing guidelines? Of course.

But pandemic reduction is about percentages, not about perfection. Students can be socially distanced in classrooms, and if they are all wearing masks and 6 feet apart, the percentages look good and the reduction, or at least the maintenance of the status quo, can occur.

There is absolutely no way to socially distance while playing athletics — at all. The idea is absolutely absurd. What essentially is happening is this: The Davis School District has decided that the education of 70,000-plus students is worth sacrificing on the altar of the pigskin and the pompom.

If we are going to get this right, we have to do this right. Cancel all high school and junior high athletics while there’s still time to save a year’s worth of education for 70,000 students; otherwise, it’s online learning for all within a month.

Sam Dixon

Salt Lake City

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