Hear Dave Grohl weigh in on the debate of schools reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic in this important first audio episode of Dave's True Stories.
We've been enjoying Dave Grohl's fantastic, insightful and hilarious autobiographical snippets in written form via his Dave's True Stories Instagram account for many months since its launch in March – and now the Foo Fighters frontman has just unveiled his first audio episode of the show.
As well as having an unexpectedly soothing voice in this format (anyone else agree? Or is that just us?!), Dave tackles the important subject of teachers and educators in an eight-minute episode aptly titled In Defense Of Our Teachers. Explaining his upbringing and how his mother was a public school teacher, the musician praises Virginia for the fact that she “tirelessly devoted her life to the service of others, both at home and at work”.
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As such, Dave explains how both his and his mother have concerns regarding the “daunting and evermore politicised question of reopening our schools in the coronavirus pandemic”, despite the fact that people likely expect that this whole debate “wouldn’t register so much as a blip on my rock'n'roll radar”.
Detailing a conversation between the pair regarding this matter, Dave says, “Now 82 and retired, she runs down a list of concerns based on her 35 years of experience: Masks and distancing, temperature checks, crowded bussing, crowded hallways, sports, air-conditioning systems, lunchrooms, public restrooms, janitorial staff. Most schools already struggle from a lack of resources. How can they possibly afford the mountain of safety measures that will need to be in place?”
The possible – if only brief – answer here?
“Remote learning is an inconvenient and hopefully temporary solution,” begins Dave, “but as much as Donald Trump’s conductor-less orchestra would love to see the country prematurely open schools in the name of rosy optics, ask a science teacher what they think about White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s comment that, ‘Science should not stand in the way.’ It would be foolish to do so at the expense of our students, teachers and schools.”
Listen to the full episode below:
