Follow the Science. Back to the Classroom

Dale R. Wagner.  "Follow the Science. Back to the Classroom." Salt Lake Tribune, July 22, 2020.  https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2020/07/22/dale-r-wagner-follow/

     There is no shortage of legitimate peer-reviewed research on the topic. Combining the search terms “COVID-19” with “children” and “school closure” resulted in 143 articles in PubMed, a database of the National Library of Medicine. The journal citations that accompany my statements are “open access,” meaning that anyone can view the article online in its entirety without a fee or journal subscription.

     

 COMMENT

     In this editorial the author is using open-access articles in scholarly journals to consider COVID-19 studies.  Many journals have made COVID-19 research publicly available, at least temporarily.  The National Library of Medicine maintains the database that makes these articles easy to find. 

On Moral Injury

Janine di Giovanni, "On Moral Injury," Harper's Magazine, August 2020, pp. 65-69.

     He knew that soldiers returning from active combat suffered from PTSD, but he'd never heard of a conflict reporter suffering similar symptoms. He asked his research team to compile studies that might provide precedents, but they came back empty-handed.

     They told me there was nothing published on the topic," Feinstein recalled  "I didn't believe them. Because in medicine there is always something that comes before you."

     But the University of Toronto's medical library did not have a single study on the subject.  Feinstein was baffled: there was extensive scientific data on firefighters, police officers, soldiers, and victims of sexual assault, but a void when it came to reporters. 

COMMENT

    Psychiatrist Anthony Feinstein is looking for studies that link war journalism to PTSD.  The search turns up a void which guides his research into "moral injury" caused by witnessing a situation where people are in trouble and failing to help. It seems like a failure when there is nothing the library because patrons want to find an answer, but librarians know that a gap in research is also an opportunity for a PhD or scholarly publication.   The trick is to be good enough at searching to feel confident that the knowledge gap is real and not an artifact of sloppy information research. 

     

The Chekhov of Suburban Connecticut

Gal Beckerman, "The Chekhov of Suburban Connecticut," New York Times Book Review, July 12, 2020 p. 14.

     So deep is my remembered shame that men now, sitting at my keyboard at the age of 43, I'm blushing.  I know that times have changed, that today boys can like whatever they like, are even applauded for it.  But in the 1980's, when it seemed the only real option s for me were "The Hobbit" or the Hardy Boys or choose Your Own Adventure books, stories that as I recall all involved dragons and trap doors and motorcycle chases, sneaking home one of Ann Martin's books about a group of 12-year-old girls from fictional Stoneybrook, Conn., felt like a crime.  I mean, all of the covers were pastel. 

     It was a moment.  I think I read the first 15 books in the series over the course of fourth grade; whatever was in my school's library-- and I certainly didn't share my enthusiasm then with another soul.

 

 COMMENT

     The division between "boy books" and "girl books" is remembered as a shameful enthusiasm for books in "The Babysitters Club" series.  Luckily, these books were available from the school library.  How a 9-year-old boy worked up the nerve to check them out, the author does not say.