Hmm I don't get it. They were a bit flippant, but they were just venting frustrations. Based on context, it seems they want to keep schools closed for safety reasons and got a lot of push back from parents.
Here's Paul Graham saying almost the same thing in 2003:
> And as for the schools, they were just holding pens within this fake world. Officially the purpose of schools is to teach kids. In fact their primary purpose is to keep kids locked up in one place for a big chunk of the day so adults can get things done. And I have no problem with this: in a specialized industrial society, it would be a disaster to have kids running around loose.
Here's Paul Graham saying almost the same thing in 2003:
> And as for the schools, they were just holding pens within this fake world. Officially the purpose of schools is to teach kids. In fact their primary purpose is to keep kids locked up in one place for a big chunk of the day so adults can get things done. And I have no problem with this: in a specialized industrial society, it would be a disaster to have kids running around loose.
http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html