Would you do it?

[jennylouisaa]

This is taken from the government guidance on returning to school.

The majority of staff in education settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, even if they are not always able to maintain a distance of 2 metres from others.

I'm not interested in 'oh but they're being paid so they need to be working' comments. Genuinely, would YOU be happy to return to teach a classroom of 15 four year olds with no protection, no social distancing and having to rely on hand washing alone?

As a teacher I honestly cannot fathom why the government has made the decision it has.

Yes children have a right to education - but with the amount of hand washing, attempted social distancing, high anxiety levels and staff shortage due to shielding - there is going to be very little 'educating' going on.

Children won't be able to hug their teachers or friends if they're scared, they won't be allowed to hold hands or play their usual games on the playground, they won't be able to play with toys together and they won't be getting the education they deserve. So I also want to know what the point is?

So AIBU to think it's putting teachers at risk and AIBU to think the children aren't going to benefit anyway?

[DontStandSoCloseToMe]

Do you not realise that police, children's social care, prison and probation staff amongst many many others have been working face to face in cost contact with cohorts of people who generally aren't rule abiding and sometimes spit at us, with no PPE since this started. Why are teachers different? You're a lot less likely to contact something from the regular group of children you would interact with.

[Hingeandbracket]

Would you do it?
Yes, I would.

[unchienandalusia]

How are people supposed to go back to work if children aren't in school. What did you think would happen? So many people have to go back to work otherwise there will be catastrophic suffering. Children aren't super spreaders. I'm afraid you, and everyone, has to accept this. Risk if you are young and healthy is minuscule.

[vanillandhoney]

Yes.

Lots of people are working in close contact with others without PPE. Supermarket staff, pharmacists, shop assistants, prison workers - even care workers and nurses are struggling with PPE, and you don't see them refusing to go to work.

I wish I could go back to work. But because everyone is at home, nobody needs my services and so I've had zero income since March. My DH is lucky he still has a job and has gone to work throughout lockdown - he also doesn't have any PPE.

Where do you think all this PPE is going to come from when people on the front line are asking members of the public to volunteer their time to make scrubs and masks for them?

[Macncheeseballs]

Yes i would but I would make sure my immune system was in peak condition

[gruffalo28]

Yes but I am fit and healthy and have no vulnerable people that I am in contact with. I would happily and I would volunteer tomorrow to go in and help the school look after the children if there weren't enough teachers.

[Nicknacky]

So what, you think kids just shouldn’t go back? The virus isn’t going away soon and in the real world thousands upon thousands of people have been getting on with work and life without making a drama of it.

[Backtoreality1]

Yes

[Ponoka7]

Four year olds aren't showing as spreaders or getting it. For the majority of people this will be a cold like illness. The car journey to and from work is statistically more dangerous.

We need to get perspective on this. We've all been subjected to a fear campaign to keep it under control. Now is the time to look at transmission routes, the dangers of being infected, the actual risk and to carry on as best we can.

I say that as someone whose DD's have stayed working (one who has a heart problem) and I provide childcare and travel on public transport. I technically should be shielding. So I'm not advocating others putting themselves at risk, while me and mine sit at home.

[Waveysnail]

Kids are going to have to return to school at some point 🤷‍♀️

[DahliaDay]

My workplace has sourced plenty of PPE.... we closed until we had it. We had to throw a bit of money at the situation to get it. We have too much now if anything......it’s available just costly

Teachers should be able to wear it. The basics should be provided. Take the kids out of the equation the teachers come into contact with plenty of adults

Teachers should have the option of wearing protection

[Oysterbabe]

Yes I would do it. As a healthy under 40 the chance of me being infected by a child and getting seriously ill is very small indeed.

[WobblingMyWigglyBits]

Honestly, no I wouldn't

[vanillandhoney]

Teachers should have the option of wearing protection

They do have that option - just like everyone else does.

Plenty of people have had to go out and buy their own PPE - masks and gloves are both available on Amazon and Etsy and you can buy reusable masks so you only need to buy a couple and wash them each day. There are also loads of free online tutorials showing people how to make their own from old clothes etc. You don't even need a sewing machine for most of them.

The guidance doesn't say teachers can't wear PPE - it just says it's not recommended therefore the government won't be supplying it. Plenty of other people have to supply their own, why should teachers be any different?

[RoscoePColtrane]

I would and I am.

[bluebeck]

No I wouldn't.

[Wewearpinkonwednesdays]

There are millions of people still going to work without PPE. My dp is back at work this week. He had to travel to London to get work on a site because in Scotland there was none and we are both self employed.
I'm a childminder, I reckon I'll be able to take kids back in the next 3 weeks. I would do it the now if the insurers would let us. Why wouldn't teachers go back to work?

[HerbieHerr]

You can’t just keep the world on hold indefinitely.
Lots of people are still working at the moment.
I’m working in a lab in which there is 0% chance of social distancing due to the layout (plus the fact that we work as teams and need to train colleagues), opening hundreds of containers of bodily fluids a day (do not fill the urine containers to the top it goes everywhere when you open them), and transporting and repackaging coronavirus samples (which occasionally leak).
All my vulnerable (not shielding) colleagues are being made to come in and do paperwork, but they can’t social distance either as there’s no space.

[MorganKitten]

I’m terrified of going back, I do wrap around care and no PPE... so if a child needs first aid I need to keep 2m? A crying child that wants a hug?

Those saying oh if you’re healthy, kids don’t spread it, you’re getting paid.
Some of us are furloughed, healthy people have caught covid and there are children who have been hospitalised - were allowed to be worried.

[Pippa12]

But these children cannot stay at home forever, we need to move forward. As a profession, you need to unite and find a way to work alongside this virus. There may never be a vaccine, and even if there is, it is likely years before it is widely used.

Most professions including hairdressers, hospitality and leisure are finding ways to go back to work... I’m afraid teachers will have to do the same.

I’m an icu nurse, I come into contact with the virus daily.

[vanillandhoney]

The thing is, the people saying they're terrified and have no PPE - if there's no vaccine for a year/two years, what do you think should happen?

Should children just miss a year or more of school? And if so, how are parents going to go back to work? The economy can't stop forever.

[Dg556f]

I've had to work all the way through this.

No PPE, no social distancing in my office of staff in a hospital. All my colleagues are having to go on and off various wards, then come back to the office, as is the nature of the job.

I'm pregnant, and my children are going to school whilst I work.

We need to realise that risk is still minimal. We don't think of taking our kids out in the car normally, or crossing the road? And yet we choose to do it.

[Ponoka7]

If it's a matter of affording PPE, then I'm sure parents will happily buy it .

If the teachers themselves buy it, then they should get a tax rebate on it, as people do with uniforms.

[VladmirsPoutine]

It's truly shit OP. I think a lot of parents would happily jeopardise your health as a teacher and those around them to get their kids back to school even if there is still a huge risk. Kids are the worst at respecting social distancing - they're pretty gross at the best of times so I can't imagine a 4yo happily washing their hands every time they do something or respecting 2m distance. Going by some of the threads on here some parents are really resenting being at home with their kids. :/

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

Teachers seem to think they’re the only ones. There are dozens of professions that have been carrying on throughout, with no Ppe (or very little).

I’m a childminder and I’m going to be going back on 1st June too. The difference being I won’t get paid if I don’t!