#YouthCanGetIt2: How Rockland County Students Are Fighting Fake News About COVID-19

Written on 08/12/2020
Volunteer New York!


The country is gearing up for the new school year, but there's one teeny little problem: coronavirus hasn't actually gone anywhere. And as parents and school board members battle over whether it's safe to return to class—and what that return would even look like—students are getting caught in the crossfire. This photo of unmasked students in one crowded Georgia hallway gained so much negative attention that school administrators threatened to suspend students who called out the school for its lax personal protective equipment rules. Yikes.

Whether you're in favor of returning to class this fall or you're doing just fine with Zoom, there's one fact you simply can't ignore: youth can catch—and spread—this virus just as much as our parents and grandparents.

That's why the United Way of Rockland joined forces with the Rockland County Health Department to launch its own Coronavirus Youth Committee. The team—which is comprised of teens and youth from local organizations such as the Haverstraw Center, Martin Luther King Center, BRIDGES, Spring Valley NAACP, and the Rockland County Youth Bureau—aims to raise awareness about coronavirus's effect on young people by creating messages and sharing important information with their peers. 

The Committee has been focused on dispelling the rumors about youth and the coronavirus with its #YouthCanGetIt2 campaign. The Center for Disease Control states that 25% of people infected with the coronavirus don't present any symptoms or fall ill, but can still transmit the illness to others. At best, that's a surefire way to be kicked out of the group chat; at worst, you could be putting yourself and your loved ones at a huge risk.

It's easy to join the #YouthCanGetIt2 movement. Simply select one of these informative messages provided by United Way of Rockland along with the #YouthCanGetIt2 hashtag and post it to your social media accounts. Let's help spread the word—not the virus.



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