Toronto Schools Don't Want Children Harmed by the Solar Eclipse

More like total eclipse of the fun.

School's out on April 8 for many kids in the U.S. and Canada. On that date, a full solar eclipse will be visible from Texas to Ontario.

This has prompted some Canadian schools to take action.

"There are risks associated with viewing a solar eclipse," announced Toronto-area school boards.

These schools are moving their May 17 kid-free professional development day to April 8 "to ensure that students will not be outdoors during the total solar eclipse."

This seems like a missed opportunity.

"I am baffled, dismayed, and hugely disappointed by this decision," says one Toronto-area school administrator, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It is misguided to keep children inside when they could be seeing this event. However, risk-aversion and groupthink are leading the process."

It does sound that way, at least in Canada. Elsewhere on the eclipse's path, schools are closing for seemingly the opposite reason: In order to make sure kids do in fact go outside to witness the gods' displeasure. (Eclipse comes from the Greek word for abandonment.)

"Buffalo Public Schools students will have the day off to view the total solar eclipse," reports KTLA.

Buffalo is also expecting an influx of tourists who will be watching the late afternoon eclipse at just about the time kids would be getting out of school, so the day off is a traffic-calming measure too.

Many Ohio schools in the eclipse's path are also closing, or letting kids out early to make sure they get a chance to see it. A better idea might have been to keep school as usual but send all the kids to the playground with pinhole projectors or solar glasses in order to enjoy the eclipse. Someone could even announce it's time and the kids could look up— because, according to the National Park Service, you actually can look at an eclipse safely with your naked eyes during the two-to-four minutes the eclipse is total. (Who knew?)

But in Canada, the rationale is simply that kids shouldn't be outside when the eclipse makes it dark and also tempting to look up. As the school boards announced: "Looking directly at the sun, without appropriate protection can lead to severe eye damage or loss of eyesight, even during an eclipse." Perhaps the gods of fun and learning are looking down upon Toronto with displeasure.

Comments

[defaultdotxbe]

When I was a kid “don’t look directly at the sun” was one of the first things I was taught, before I even started school. I guess Canadian education leaves much to be desired if they haven’t gotten to that lesson yet.

[Don't look at me!]

Think of the children!

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

You mean the school boards or whoever it is making this decision?

[gah87]

Bob and Doug McKenzie, it seems.

[Super Scary]

"because, according to the National Park Service, you actually can look at an eclipse safely with your naked eyes during the two-to-four minutes the eclipse is total. (Who knew?)"

Funny flashback: https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/21/politics/trump-solar-eclipse/index.html

[Mickey Rat]

It is just risky because you need to look away before the moon moves past the sun.

[Public Entelectual]

Dark adaption determines how big the corona looks The patient will be rewarded if they wear welders goggles or close their eyes at two minutes on the countdown, and start looking seconds after they hear the collective “Oooooh ! that signals the sun going black

It's no riskier than looking at the ordinary sun- its the same one.

[A Cynical Asshole]

That's what I did during the one in 2017, and will be doing again on April 8th. You wear the eye protection until the moon fully covers the sun, at which point you won't be able to see anything. Then, you can take off the eye protection and look up until the moon starts to move away, at which point you put the eye protection back on. At the viewing I was at they even told you when you could take the glasses off and when you need to put them back on. They did a countdown and everything. Not a big deal.

I thought that was the common procedure for safely viewing an eclipse, but apparently not if you're a moron who works for CNN.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Even retard journalists have to work somewhere.

[n00bdragon]

An accidental second or two of glancing at 1% of the sun's power is not going to immediately melt your eyeballs out of their sockets. A little common sense goes a long way here. If the thing is too bright to look at, don't look at it.

[Trollificus]

Chris Cillizza, huh?
Ridiculing Trump because he was looking at the eclipse.
Is he aware of what an "eclipse" IS?

[A Cynical Asshole]

He probably just thought it was a sporty coupe made by Mitsubishi.

[Dillinger]

harmed enough by Toronto schools.

[Mickey Rat]

School won't be in session because they are ti prevent kids from being outside during the eclipse. I expect it is because they do not want kid's staring at the eclipse while they are the school's responsibility, thereby avoiding liability. If ackid blinds himself, it will be the parent's problem.

[Public Entelectual]

Instead of locking the kids in a dark closet, the Teacher’s Union numbskulloons should be organizing Toronto school busses to drive them as close as possible to the eclipse centerline, where the sky gets perfectly dark and the stars come out, with the whole solar system sitting in a straight line.

Besides the spectacular solar max corona, it’s the only time Mercury is easy to see.

You also get a far longer total eclipse than at the edges of the sixty mile wide path

[CE]

Are you serious? Don't tell the teachers that Mercury is visible, they'll be worried about the kids getting poisoned while they're going blind.

[A Thinking Mind]

They should just let the kids destroy their eyes and then encourage them to use MAID afterward.

[mad.casual]

Transitioning below the age of consent, superstitious fear of eclipses.... I told you guys, they're rolling The Science! back to the days of virgin sacrifice cults.

[Flaco]

I briefly glanced at an eclipse years ago, and suffered no harm.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone anywhere having their eyes harmed by looking at an eclipse? I think the danger is overblown.

[Trollificus]

Sure, if you look at it for too long while the sun is only partially eclipsed. But the "danger" from looking at a partial eclipse is no greater (actually less) than that posed by the sun every single day of forever, just hangin' up there, eager to get at your poor exposed retina.

Maybe Toronto is just full of 'cognitively-reverse-gifted' induhviduals with their white canes and eclipse-viewing dogs.

[A Cynical Asshole]

... you actually can look at an eclipse safely with your naked eyes during the two-to-four minutes the eclipse is total. (Who knew?)

Anyone who's not a complete moron, which rules out public school administrators.

[Nominalis]

Solar is the gateway eclipse.

[BradA]

They should try a political solution.
Simple outlaw solar eclipses.
Problem solved !
Note: to enact this a virgin sacrifice may be required.

[A Cynical Asshole]

Note: to enact this a virgin sacrifice may be required.

Good luck finding one of those in Toronto.

[gah87]

Good one eh!

[Eeyore]

This seems slightly more real than the risks of getting pot gummies while trick or treating.

[Mike Siedlecki]

Why not keep them inside any day that's not overcast, just to be "safe"?

[rbike]

The schools I attended wanted us to damage our eyes during eclipses. Just sayin'.

[mad.casual]

Yeah, Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" never really resonated with me either.

[CE]

Somehow I think the risk is overblown. How many of our caveman ancestors went blind from staring at the sun during an eclipse? Trump can still see, can't he?

[Dan S.]

Regardless of the stated rationale for closing the schools, parents can still take their kids outside, with appropriate eye protection, during the eclipse, and let them experience the rare event. It should be both enjoyable and educational.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Uh, no. If it's a school day, they should be at school. In class.

[AT]

When I was a kid, the warning was, "Don't miss the eclipse today!"

We all just kinda knew not to stare directly at the sun.

[dirtydog67]

Looking directly at a solar eclipse is much less harmful than looking at a transsexual woman with a beard, a drag queen or Sloe Joe drooling all the place as he delivers a speech.

[BenMK]

Ok, so maybe I'm reading this wrong but it sounds like what they're ACTUALLY doing is giving kids a day off, which they can use to watch the eclipse, while SAYING that it's "to protect them from having to be exposed to it". As always, ignore words and pay attention to deeds.

[Hugo S. Cunningham]

(1) In *partial* defense of the Toronto school officials, it should be noted that Toronto will only get a *partial* eclipse. (Making kids miss a total eclipse would indeed be criminal.)

(2) Google "2024 April eclipse map" and you can check the route. Indianapolis IN, Buffalo NY, and Burlington VT are lined up for direct hits, but Toronto is just a bit too far north. Toronto schoolkids could get a decent view from a day trip to Niagara Falls, but that would be a 90 minute drive even if conditions were good.

(3) Unsupervised kids going out to stare at the sliver of live sun in an almost-eclipse could damage their eyes. But supervised kids taught beforehand to poke a pinhole in paper to project a crescent shape image on the ground would get a valuable experience.