Virus

"A bunch of germs were whooping it up
In the Bronchial Saloon.
The bacillus handling the larynx
Was jazzing a gag-time tune,
While back of the tongue in a solo game
Sat Dangerous Ah Kerchoo.
And watching his luck was his light of love
The malady known as Flu." -Cal Beacock

The gift that keeps on giving: one (or more) of our children has shared a virus with me, thankfully a cold and not the flu.

Although I'm a veteran teacher, I do occasionally fall victim to the germs that are sprayed, wiped, and sneezed on us daily. In a K-12 Library, you can't even assume that it's the little ones who are the culprits, since none of the students seem to be inhibited when it comes to distributing viral largesse.

Coincidentally, three eighth grade science classes have begun doing research on viruses. The teacher conferred with me beforehand and we decided on some appropriate medical sources. Friday was their day in the reference section of the LMC. Today, we all headed to the computer lab to continue searching on some sites that the teacher and I had pre-selected. Neither the adults nor the students were pleased to find that many of the web links were blocked by our district filter. The IT tells us that we can request specific addresses be temporarily unblocked, but that teachers do not and will not have override privileges. In some instances, I resorted to using Google cached information to get some facts or statics for the increasingly frustrated researchers.

The experience was as unpleasant as having the flu; and none of the students were "infected" with a desire to participate in similar projects in the future.

What are we trying to protect them from? And what are they losing in the process?


“You can protect your liberties in this world only by protecting the other man's freedom. You can be free only if I am free.” -Clarence Darrow

"influenza_virus" by changturtle