As millions of Americans prepare to gaze up towards the heavens to watch a spectacular total eclipse on Monday, down on the ground, thousands of schools have closed as a result of the celestial phenomenon.
The path of totality will begin in Mexico and will then extend across vast swathes of the United States which will fall into complete shadow for several minutes. Authorities in many states, from Texas to Ohio to Vermont, took the decision to shut their schools on Monday, release children early, or have an e-learning day to keep the students at home. And new polling conducted on behalf of Newsweek suggests that a slim majority of Americans support the decision to close schools on Eclipse Day.
The states due to be affected by the eclipse are Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, according to NASA. The eclipse will then enter Canada before exiting North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland. However, amid all the excitement, there are fears that the eclipse could prove dangerous as the day suddenly plummets into darkness for several minutes.
Authorities have issued warnings that looking directly at the sun could lead to permanent eye damage, while city authorities and police chiefs across the country have said the eclipse has created a logistical nightmare—with fears of distracted drivers on the roads, gridlocked traffic, cell phone outages, large crowds, and increased demand for food, water, and fuel as towns' populations swell astronomically as sky-gazers head to prime viewing spots.
It's not just schools that decided to close for their students' safety; a large number of colleges have shut their doors for the day too.
And polling suggests the decision may have been correct one, as a total of 53 percent of respondents said they support the decision taken by schools to close or finish early for the eclipse. Only 13 percent in total said they opposed, or strongly opposed, the plan.
A breakdown of the numbers shows that 25 percent said they strongly supported the initiative to close schools for the day, while a further 28 percent said they supported it. On the other side of the spectrum, 7 percent said they strongly opposed the move, and 6 percent merely opposed it.
Meanwhile, 29 percent said they neither supported nor opposed the measures, while 4 percent said they didn't know how they felt. The percentage calculations have been rounded to the nearest full number, so they do not all add up to 100 percent.
The poll was conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek over April 6-7. Some 4,000 people were questioned, who are all eligible voters in the U.S. and have a range of ages, genders, ethnicities, and education levels.
Other questions about the eclipse revealed that 92 percent were aware it was taking place, with 8 percent saying they hadn't heard it was happening.
Most Americans were not worried about "the impact of the solar eclipse," with 66 percent saying they were "not at all concerned," while 13 percent were "slightly concerned," 12 percent were "fairly concerned," with just 9 percent "very concerned."
Some 12 percent of respondents were planning to travel elsewhere to get a better view of the eclipse, they revealed, while 83 percent said they'd be staying put. Some 5 percent had not yet made up their minds.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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