In the Same Towns, Private Schools Are Reopening While Public Schools Are Not
Evolution
leads species to evolve traits that enhance their ability to survive and pass
on their genes. We are accustomed to this idea when it comes to physical
traits. Fish develop fins so they can swim; birds develop wings and feathers so
they can fly; snakes lose their legs so they can slither. (That last one may
not be exactly accurate, but you get the idea.)
Evolution also
has lead some species to develop traits that are mental rather than physical.
For example, primates’ sense of fairness is an evolved trait. Both monkey and
human children, at very young ages, exhibit the sense of fairness. They object
when others receive more than their fair share.
These
conclusions are well accepted in the scientific community. My additional sense
is that the sense of fairness trait exists on a spectrum. Some people have a
highly developed sense of fairness; others have little or no sense of fairness.
We can easily identify people at the extreme ends of this spectrum. Mother
Teresa has a developed sense of fairness; Trump has little or none.
Although I
understand parents’ desire to give their children the best care and education,
it seems clear that this article raises serious issues of fairness. Is it fair
that the good fortune that wealthy parents have enjoyed leads to their kids
having profoundly better educations than everyone else? It’s one thing, in
normal times, for children from wealthy families to get a somewhat better
education. It’s another thing during a pandemic, when most people have to
delay a year or two of schooling likely causing developmental impairments and even
risk exposure to infections that can cause permanent damage or death, for
children of wealthy families to be able to forge ahead untouched by the
catastrophe unfolding around them.