Families’ plans for Thanksgiving may be heavily influenced by the current COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the third spike of new cases in the U.S..
A survey was sent out to BHS students and teachers, and the data reflected 20% of the total number of BHS students, and 28 of the teachers on their plans for Thanksgiving. This survey asked the student and staff about their original plans, and whether it was going to change because of the pandemic.
Students:
When asked for their original plans for Thanksgiving, 71.2% of students said that they were planning on getting together with friends and/or family that were not quarantining. 18.3% said they were planning a Thanksgiving dinner with only the people they were quarantining with, and 6.5% did not have anything planned out. The final 4.2% were planning something other than those options, which mostly included traveling. 50.3% were going to have to change their plans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andino Caminiti ‘22, commented, “Seeing as Covid cases are trending upwards at an alarmingly rapid pace, it would be irresponsible and dangerous to host or attend a large Thanksgiving celebration.” Many students said similar things, seeing that it would not be a good idea to potentially spread COVID-19 and increase the rate of new cases.
“If we had gone into lockdown again, we would probably have a chance for a safe holiday season, but right now things don’t look great in NJ. Especially traveling in and out of states,” added Claudia Volk, ‘21. Many states are now enforcing a 14-day quarantine upon out-of-state travelers again.
Another 30.1% were not going to change their plans.
“In my opinion the government should not be allowed to regulate Thanksgiving Gatherings in private households. It should be up to the people to decide what is best for them and their families,” John Tober, ‘24, replied.
“I think everyone you plan on seeing this year for thanksgiving should be tested for COVID-19 before you see them,” said Logan Connolly, ‘24.
And 19.6% of students were not sure what was going to happen.
Teachers:
When asked for their original plans this Thanksgiving, 75% of the teachers were planning on getting together with people that were not living with them. 18% of them were planning on a Thanksgiving dinner with the people they were already living with. 3.6% were planning on traveling out of the US, and 3.6% were just going to wait and see what was going to happen. Now, with the spike in COVID-19 cases, 60.7% were going to change their plans. 28.6% were not going to, and 10.7% were not sure.
Many teachers were sad about not being able to see their family, as this was one of few times a year to see all their loved ones. “It is hard with loved ones getting older and not being able to be with them for the holidays. It has been a long rough year missing everyone during the holidays,” Ms. Pottheiser said.
“We decided months ago not to risk exposing our elderly relatives to any potential risk by gathering for Thanksgiving. Even though we will all miss our traditional family dinner, protecting our loved ones is more important,” replied Mrs. Gruters.
Other teachers preferred this new Thanksgiving, as it gave them a lot less work. “Eh, I’m okay without the stress of having to bundle and package to kids and tour half of South Jersey. At this point, I say scrap the whole thing and order a pizza,” said Mr. Pair.
Whatever your Thanksgiving plans are, and whether they’re going to be heavily affected or not, make sure you are making responsible decisions. This year has already been rough, but make sure to take into consideration the pandemic, and how it is effecting everybody now.
