I'm neither pro nor con, just trying to understand both sides.
I do understand the medical and scientific arguments to close sleepaway camps.
I don't understand the argument that the only two options are sleepaway camps and roaming the streets.
78 - Number of years frum children have been able to attend Camp Agudah and other sleepaway camps
3255 - Number of years since Matan Torah that frum children have NOT had that option
It's clearly not a religious requirement. And Cuomo, who grew up with orthodox Jewish neighbors is aware of that.
If children, parents, and teachers today cannot imagine a summer without sleepaway camp, that seems to be a failure of the imagination. Perhaps the more creative people out there can help them work out other options.
Give us the numbers of since when Jewish girls are attending schools which began with the advent of Bais Yakov by Sara Schneirer about 100 years ago or so. Maybe we should imagine our girls stopping to go to school because it's not necessary since they didn't have the option to attend schools for thousands of years prior to that?
And you can take it to the next level as well - how long is there a law on the books making it mandatory for a child up to age 16 to attend school? Maybe it should be nullified and we should imagine a world where ALL children (not just Jewish) age 12 and up can do as they please. Years back these children were needed to help on the farms. Well times change.
Just like we no longer need our kids to tend to the cows and chickens and thus school becomes part of our life, the same is for camp. It's part of life nowadays. Saying we should go back to living like in the early 1900s or prior is a non-starter.
I'm not saying camp is a religious requirement or a life and death matter, but a parent should have an option to send their child if they choose to do so. Coming out with a hard and strong ban was and is uncalled for. There is not a single other state that is going to such lengths to make sure camp doesn't happen by hook or by crook. It's just downright wrong to do this to people.
There is no medical or scientific reasoning to shut camps, that all fell away with the mass protests of thousands of people. And all the health protocols that camps promised to abide by have already been discussed here ad nauseam.