Rick Chen ‘24
Xinxin Fang ‘24
By now everyone in the EA community has integrated the “Green Screen” into their morning preparations for the day. Using the safety app to prove a student’s COVID-19 free status is a key part of EA’s safety plan. But does it really prove anything? The “Green Screen” is entirely dependent on the honesty of EA families. Shouldn’t we have more measures than this?
Beyond the physical partitions and stickers that keep people socially distant, the EA administration puts their faith in the “Green Screen” which all students, faculty, and staff must complete in order to step onto campus. While this seems to be a good solution to combating COVID-19 on the surface, the health screenings rely too heavily on the honesty of EA families in answering questions related to symptoms of the virus, such as student’s temperature or shortness of breath, and recent travels outside of the state. To keep the virus from spreading like wildfire inside the EA community, we must instill trust and confidence within the student body to be safe and think about those around them, which unfortunately, may be too much to ask.
Joe Shanahan, Director of Facilities at EA, says, “[Green screens] rely on people being honest and answering the questions honestly. The welfare of everyone else in the EA community depends on everyone being honest and obeying the rules.” This issue poses a gap between the effectiveness of the screenings and the honesty behind the answers being submitted. As a result, Shanahan is trying to relay to the student body that keeping the school open requires a “team effort.” Andrea Yu, Upper School librarian, one of many checkers of the green screens in the morning, shares that “maybe I am being optimistic, but I hope everyone understands that this is a community effort, and most people want to stay in school, most people don’t want to go back to virtual school. So if we’re all honest then it all works out.”
The debate over the effectiveness of the green screen has also sparked conversations between students across campus these past few weeks. Eliza Aldridge ‘21 states, “I think that although it’s not 100% effective because not everyone tells the whole truth, it is our best option right now. Somehow, we have to ask students the questions that are on the app for liability reasons, so ultimately the effectiveness of the app comes down the integrity and honesty of each student and parent.” While most students agree that the green screen is a good start, Sarah Groark ‘21 offers an alternate interpretation, saying, “It is very easy to go through and click no to all of them without reading or thinking about the accurate answer.” In addition, busy mornings pose a problem for parents, when they may simply let their children fill out the app. Beyond the fact that this does not follow protocol, allowing students to fill out their own survey leaves room open for dishonesty, putting the campus at risk.
Shanahan says that the answer to the green screen problem lies in self-awareness, adding, “I think it’s a good thing, out of precautionary reasons, if you’re not feeling quite right, stay at home and keep your classes virtually. In the long run, it’s going to protect everyone here and help us stay open which is so very important.” While self-awareness should be emphasized, a COVID-19 outbreak threatens our campus every day, as green screens are simply not enough to protect our community.
As cases continue to rise in Delaware County and within the community, the EA administration should consider building upon the safety app with methods such as random coronavirus testing, more-in depth screenings with temperature checks in school, and constant check-ins on students. While these screenings can be a base layer of protection for EA’s students, they cannot act as our sole safety measure for continuously keeping students and faculty out of harm’s way; we must implement stronger, more effective solutions.