Let me start by saying that your understanding of my mindset overall is pretty accurate...so that you're assessing my concerns in a way that is congruent with how I am viewing things...so that is good.
Overall, your perspective is balanced. But, I saw one statement that just threw me for a loop... "Children and teens are not significant vectors of COVID spread comparatively..."
Here in Middle Tennessee, we have empirically seen a difference in case upticks
within several school districts that suggest that children are, in fact, vectors in the true sense of the word. Many of the quarantined cases are because a child attends school before a parent tests or finds out they have Covid. Then other children catch the Covid (symptomatic or asymptomatic) from the child that was exposed without knowing it.
Just weeks after Metro Nashville schools opened, several had to go virtual because of a sudden increase in Covid cases.
This seems to be the case with schools that are completely indoors or are densely populated. So, they are thrust into being unintentional vectors because of the fact that it's almost impossible for children to distance themselves in schools that were never built for distancing.
I sense this is similar in most states that have cold weather.
Before schools opened, the case count among children was extremely low, suggesting that children only started transmitting the virus to other people when around other children because during the summer, parents may have been positive but the children rarely were. I say people because teachers only started getting Covid once they were back in school.
The other point I disagree on is the value of a senior. I work with kids and I love to see children thrive. But our 80 year olds were the Vietnam generation. Many of the soldiers who survived were exposed to chemical warfare and memories of tragedies nobody should have to see...but they did. In fact, a few of our mid-80s seniors fought in Korea. It would likely break their hearts to know that their service and sacrifice no longer is worth it because the kids need to be saved.
But, the suicide route could be slightly better mitigated if parents helped their children understand the pandemic and how doing their part will help later. Right now, a good portion of the parents are in the throes of massive angst. Possibly understandable angst, but still angst.
Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington with Kurt Cobain years before them should teach us the sad path of angst.
But parents have a choice to be constructive or destructive. I think a change in parental behavior would be in good order.
But, either way, we have to stop treating our seniors like they are expendable.