Yes, Your Kids Can Go Outside During a Solar Eclipse
A friend of mine, a third grade teacher, told me that her school is in a panic today. The Superintendent sent out a letter saying that all children should stay at home during the entire solar eclipse, and if for any reason they need to go through the campus (we are in California, so not everything is covered by corridors), they need to be accompanied. an adult holding an umbrella. “God, this is so serious,” she says.
Many schoolchildren are kept inside with the curtains drawn until the “danger” is over – but is it really necessary? Today is a fucking solar eclipse day! If there is a day when kids have to go outside to experience something historical, educational, and just really cool, then it’s today, right?
Charles Fulko, an instructor at NASA and AAS 2017 US Eclipse Educator, is trying to alleviate the fears of parents and teachers by discussing some common misconceptions about eclipses . Today he is passionate about taking children out into nature. In fact, he says, “I owe my scientific career and love of astronomy in large part to the eclipse I saw when I was 8-1 / 2 years old.”
He’s writing:
“The sun is more dangerous during an eclipse.” This is complete nonsense and for some reason survived until the 21st century. The eclipsed Sun is no more dangerous than the “normal” Sun, but for some reason in some areas teachers and students still remain in their rooms with closed curtains, watching the eclipse on the screen, not outdoors, safe and under supervised by a professional teacher. I believe that their fear of nature is transmitted to their students: if an adult says that an eclipse is scary and dangerous, then it must be!
So yes, let’s go. GO, GO, GO and experience the heavenly spectacle. Of course, make sure the kids know how to safely observe an eclipse – with a pinhole camera , pasta colander, or certified safety sunglasses . And then GO. Who knows? Your family may also have a budding NASA scientist.
Solar Eclipse Myth Debunked: It’s Perfectly Safe for Children to Be Outside During an Eclipse | Kottke