A 'Pandemic Amnesty'? How People See Forgiveness for COVID-19 Missteps

With new data about how math and reading scores dropped nationwide in the past year, many continue to reflect on decisions around COVID-19 restrictions and whether some did more harm than good. How do we rectify those mistakes as a society?

What the Writers Said: It's time to "declare a pandemic amnesty," said economist Emily Oster in The Atlantic (Left bias). Oster acknowledged overbearing COVID-19 restrictions, such as keeping schools closed for too long, implementing restrictions on outdoor activities, and other "important choices we had to make under conditions of tremendous uncertainty," and encouraged forgiveness. "No, thank you," responded writer Michael Brendan Dougherty for National Review (Right bias), who instead called for "more forensic accountability for our institutions" and "much better reflection from journalists, experts, and the public."

Anthony LaMesa, who writes frequently about pandemic-related school closures, said in response to Oster's piece that "If your aunt refused to invite you to Thanksgiving, because you couldn’t quarantine for a week before dinner, consider forgiveness. If your children missed nearly 1.5 years of formal schooling, because of decisions made by powerful politicians and institutions, consider demanding accountability." Overall, the center and right paid more attention to Oster's article than the left did.

For Context: U.S. schools recorded significant nationwide drops in reading and math scores in the past year, and sources across the spectrum blamed COVID-19 school closures.