Being afraid of your shadow

For millennia, eclipses have terrorized humans. For them, darkness in broad daylight heralded the end of the world. They believed that their gods had abandoned them. The word eclipse comes from the Greek ekleípō, which means “abandonment”.

Fortunately, the world has moved on. For several centuries now, we have understood that a total solar eclipse is a rare, but relatively simple, astronomical phenomenon. Basically: the moon passes in front of the sun. No reason to sacrifice a cat in the hope of appeasing the anger of the gods.

“Even if reason has prevailed, at the time of an eclipse, emotions remain,” we read in Eclipse – When the Sun does its circusa short scientific essay which has just been released in bookstores, in time for the solar eclipse on April 8.

Authors Joël Leblanc and Julie Bolduc-Duval are right about one thing: eclipses always retain the power to provoke emotions. For the triumph of reason, on the other hand, I am less convinced.

There is reason to doubt these days, seeing panic gripping certain school service centers (CSS) in Quebec. As if the apocalypse was upon us, many have decided to make April 8 an educational day, just to save students from a terrible danger.

In Montreal, Laval and elsewhere, CSS will close their schools, even if the Minister of Education advises keeping them open. They will close their schools because of a solar eclipse. In 2024.

These managers are not afraid of the shadow of the moon, like our distant ancestors.

They are afraid of their shadow.

“We don’t just observe an eclipse: we live it! The changing brightness, the falling temperature, the birds that stop singing, the astonishing spectacle in the sky, the stars that briefly reappear in broad daylight… all the senses are engaged,” write the authors ofEclipse. It’s an exciting experience that only happens once in a lifetime, and again: the next total solar eclipse in Quebec is planned… in 2106.

On April 8, all students would have had the chance to live this experience together, at school, in a safe manner.

The school environment was ready. The teachers had prepared their classes. Schools had stockpiled hundreds of thousands of pairs of protective glasses. Almost everywhere, the day had been planned with enthusiasm.

And now panicked managers are announcing that, in their territory, this will not happen. Children will stay at home, noses in their screens while their parents work. Or, they will be in childcare, but well sheltered: the three French-speaking CSSs in Montreal ensure that educators will not offer outside activities on this sinister day…

When an exceptional phenomenon occurs outside, the children will therefore be confined within the four walls of the school. With a little luck, the daycare educators will show them live the images of the eclipse that they could have seen with their own eyes, in the schoolyard!

What a terrible missed opportunity.

True, it is dangerous to watch a solar eclipse with the naked eye. The sun’s rays can damage the retina and cause permanent vision problems. That said, with certified protective glasses, there is no danger.

Even young students would have been able to follow this simple instruction from their teacher: wear your glasses at all times. It wouldn’t have been rocket science.

Managers say that the problem is not the eclipse, but the fact that it will take place when school is out. Many students will then find themselves on sidewalks or on school buses, without supervision.

These managers claim that it was IM-POS-SI-BLE to extend classes by half an hour to allow students to have this experience as a group. Reorganizing the bus drivers’ schedules was too complicated. Ask parents to come pick up their children, too. Better to close the schools for the day.

The directors of the CSS defend themselves well, but I have the impression that what terrifies them more than anything is not the eclipse, but the risk of prosecution.

“The school has a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of students,” said Caroline Dupré, president and CEO of the Fédération des centers de services scolaire du Québec, on Radio-Canada. All is said.

To avoid ending up with a lawsuit on their backs, these managers renounce their primary mission: that of educating children, stimulating their curiosity and enriching their scientific culture.

This fear pushed the CSS de Laval to to forbid schools to distribute 35,000 pairs of protective glasses that had been intended for children. “I do not want to skimp on the eye health of our students,” insisted the director general, Yves-Michel Volcy, on Radio-Canada radio.

So, to protect students, we send them home without providing them with protective glasses?

Mr. Volcy explained that he would take the time to check whether the glasses complied with standards. If necessary, he could distribute them to students, but not without also transmitting “all the protocol to ensure that there is no unfortunate incident”.

Because obviously, in these cold times, it takes a protocol to wear glasses.