They Say / I Blog

Privacy and public health: Sidney Fussell on smartphone surveillance

How do we balance protecting individual rights and safeguarding public health? This question is at the heart of the current response to the COVID-19 global health crisis. In his March 21, 2020 WIRED article, Sidney Fussell asks whether using people’s smartphone data to track the virus is an infringement on privacy or a necessity to secure collective health and safety.

Sidney Fussell, "How Surveillance Could Save Lives Amid a Public Health Crisis," WIRED, 21 March 2020

 

Calling in sick: Amanda Mull on protecting everyone with paid sick leave

Wash your hands. Stop touching your face. Avoid large crowds. This past week, we’ve been inundated with advice for stopping the spread of COVID-19. In her February 28, 2020 essay, Amanda Mull argues that pandemics like this one could be contained more easily if we addressed an underlying structural issue inherent in the American workplace: the lack of paid sick leave.

Amanda Mull, "The Problem with Telling Sick Workers to Stay Home," The Atlantic, 28 February 2020

 

Keeping kids safe: Jaclyn Schildkraut on school lockdown drills

Active shooter lockdown drills are now common in U.S. schools, in response to recent deadly school shootings. In 2019, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers worked with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund to issue a report calling for the end of these drills. Jaclyn Schildkraut, a researcher who investigates school shootings, argues back and makes her case for why lockdown drills are necessary in this February 12, 2020 essay.

Jaclyn Schildkraut, "Schools Should Heed Calls to Do Lockdown Drills without Traumatizing Kids Instead of Abolishing Them,"The Conversation, 12 February 2020