How can anyone say schools/ unis should shut ???

[lu00]

I don’t know how to explain it properly but everyone posting on here on previous threads saying ‘#closetheschools’ who is an adult is posting from their home that they chose, in the life that they were able to create or themselves. You all had the freedom to do that, to be who you want to be, live how you want to live. You met your lifelong friends, met your partners, fell in love, studied, picked careers, whatever.

When you argue to close the universities and schools, what you have to see is that you are asking to take that away from us. These are our developmental years and we’re not going to get the chance to make anything of our lives !!!

Forced isolation at 18, in your parents house is different to forced isolation at 45 surrounded by your family, in your home (I’m aware not all adults have this, but the vast vast majority of Mumsnetters do) Working from home is different to studying from home, because at work, you’re goal is to do that work and if you can get that task done from home then so be it, you’ll still get your wage. But studying online when your chance at a future is being taken away is a pointless exercise, and it’s depressing.

I don’t know how anyone can expect this of us ?? You ALL got your youths. You ALL got your childhoods. You ALL got your twenties.

Don’t ask this of us, please. We can’t take it.

[BenchHench]

Given that up to w/e Oct 25th, the number one place where people are catching the virus is schools then, er, very easily.

[BenchHench]

These are our developmental years and we’re not going to get the chance to make anything of our lives !!!

Don't be silly!

[noblegiraffe]

Because if you don’t close schools you are arguing for a prolonged or less effective lockdown which may be more damaging for the economy.

Some people don’t want that, they want a short, sharp lockdown, and that is a perfectly reasonable viewpoint to hold.

[Fedup21]

Stop catastrophising. A 2/3 week lockdown including schools would be a far better idea than locking down everything else till Christmas and probably beyond which is looking increasingly like what we’ll get.

It would have been even more effective it had been done the week before and including half term.

[lu00]

@noblegiraffe

Because if you don’t close schools you are arguing for a prolonged or less effective lockdown which may be more damaging for the economy.

Some people don’t want that, they want a short, sharp lockdown, and that is a perfectly reasonable viewpoint to hold.

Oh like the last one ? That worked well !!

[BenchHench]

Oh like the last one ? That worked well !!

Well, yes, it did actually.

[NotAKaren]

Working parents cannot work effectively from home in the presence of their children. End of.

[cologne4711]

@BenchHench

Oh like the last one ? That worked well !!

Well, yes, it did actually.

Yes so well that we need another one

[Fedup21]

Oh like the last one? That worked well!!

Of course it did. What an odd thing to say

[Barbie222]

Yes, unfortunately, it did and it's likely to be what we are stuck with again. The point is, it could have likely been avoided with a shorter, sharper lockdown. Sometimes you need to look a few months ahead.

[cologne4711]

@NotAKaren

Working parents cannot work effectively from home in the presence of their children. End of.

It's not even about that - we need a well educated workforce and we also need to be competitive. Other countries are with few exceptions keeping their schools open, so so should we. The virus does not affect out children and teachers differently to other countries.

[hammeringinmyhead]

Yes, it did, and then we opened the schools and here we are.

It's not exactly sunshine and roses trying to parent a toddler in a pandemic when both parents work, even if I did choose my own house, so I would rather nurseries don't close, but now we can use family childcare it is a little more doable.

[StatisticalSense]

Parents like this piss me off. Everything is about how hard it is for them to have to look after the children they themselves chose to have, and seem to expect special rules 'for the good of the children' whilst thinking it is perfectly acceptable to expect young adults to be stuck in one room for months on end working on their bed (or if they are lucky sofa).

[BenchHench]

@cologne4711 Yes so well that we need another one angry

Well, yes, because lockdown ended. Cases went up again. So we need another one. It's quite simple really!

[RigaBalsam]

I am 40 staying with my parents who are high risk. I spent lockdown in my bedroom.

It's not easy. I don't fall into the loads of space life of luxury. I am a teacher though and can see the risks and I feel sick. I also have a y8 child.

I still think a shorter lockdown with schools is better than a longer one without.

[lu00]

@StatisticalSense

Parents like this piss me off. Everything is about how hard it is for them to have to look after the children they themselves chose to have, and seem to expect special rules 'for the good of the children' whilst thinking it is perfectly acceptable to expect young adults to be stuck in one room for months on end working on their bed (or if they are lucky sofa).

And then it’s always those same parents that will break the rules when it suits them to see their friends or travel or something, but talk about them evil students’ breaking the rules, expecting us to be able to manage with no social contact

[hammeringinmyhead]

Guess all the Drs, nurses, civil servants who are writing all the legislation, supermarket managers, delivery drivers and bus drivers should be at home with the children they chose to have. That'll go well.

[lu00]

[quote BenchHench]**@cologne4711* Yes so well that we need another one angry*

Well, yes, because lockdown ended. Cases went up again. So we need another one. It's quite simple really! [/quote]
So your willing to go in and out of lockdown for years ?

[SparklyOwl]

If you want to really minimise covid cases then schools do need to close. However, I would rather we have a hugely restricted life for longer and schools stay open.

It’s not a coincidence that cases and deaths are on the increase after schools and universities reopened.

[rorosemary]

Where I live (NL) it's the people who are in their teens and twenties that are spreading the virus because they will not comply with anything. If they want the schools/uni to stay open they need to stop partying in their hundreds. It's not fair that the rest of us are going broke or dying because they "need" a party plus needed a drunken spain disco holiday plus need to not distance plus won't wear masks plus still meet up lots. If they would comply more, the spread would be less. Also, it doesn't help your job prospects if you make the economy even worse than necessary.

Your choice. If you want schools/ uni to stay open, then take the virus more seriously.

[NoMoreFlowers]

I’m sorry, but my honest opinion is that you’re being ridiculous and selfish.

You “can’t take it”? Of course you bloody well can. I understand that you don’t want to, but nobody else does either. You are not more special than anybody else . Why don’t you start thinking about the impact on other people and stop thinking about yourself.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

I agree OP.
People of school and university age are at a vanishingly low risk of dying from Covid. The schools are operating safely with social distancing, masks in common areas, hand washing /sanitiser. It is better to continue this than to shut them. This is because shutting them will result in what we saw last lockdown- parents having grandparents provide childcare while they WFH or outside the home. This then creates a vector for Covid to spread to these many many grandparents, who usually being 65+ are at the absolute highest risk of dying from Covid. Even children’s parents and school staff are likely to be under 65 and therefore of lower risk than a grandparent.

And the MH impact should not be dismissed to children shut up in a home for a month or more with their education being suspended or derailed.

In addition, poorer families may not have internet access, so no school meanwhile richer families will have full school days online with each child at their own laptop and each in their own bedroom. This will (has already) widened the gap between rich and poor students. The poorer parents are then more likely to lose their job or have to take reduced hours so they can do childcare or home tutoring.

[PostItJoyWeek]

Hyperbole OP. Nevertheless I agree that schools and unis should stay open. Let the young get infected then recover this month in one go while the vulnerable are shielding. Upon unlock the youth will be a natural firebreak.

[lu00]

@rorosemary

Where I live (NL) it's the people who are in their teens and twenties that are spreading the virus because they will not comply with anything. If they want the schools/uni to stay open they need to stop partying in their hundreds. It's not fair that the rest of us are going broke or dying because they "need" a party plus needed a drunken spain disco holiday plus need to not distance plus won't wear masks plus still meet up lots. If they would comply more, the spread would be less. Also, it doesn't help your job prospects if you make the economy even worse than necessary.

Your choice. If you want schools/ uni to stay open, then take the virus more seriously.

Lots of young people are breaking the rules. Lots are also sticking to them. Likewise, lots of adults are breaking the rules while lots are sticking to them.

What an unfair generalisation you have made... especially saying young people won’t where masks when it is NOT the young that have been resisting masks, - it’s overwhelmingly the elderly and adults !!!

[MiniTheMinx]

No one is trying to take anything away from young people.

As I see it, the elderly have lived much of their lives already, but no life is more or less valuable than another. The young have their whole lives ahead of them, and one day this will be just a small blip. The parents, and those in their 30s, 40s and 50s have more than anyone to lose. Redundancy at 50 may mean for many that they will never work again, coupled with mortgages, debts, teenagers still dependent and elderly parents to care for. Long covid for others may mean they have a life limited to just scraping by because we don't know if all of these people will recover. For younger parents starting out, they are juggling work, or no work, with childcare, trying desperately to pay their mortgage or rent, and some facing homelessness with children to care for. For mothers with small children or babies struggling without support, all normal support networks and social activities ground to a halt, suffering from isolation and poor mental health. Single mums shouldering work, childcare and elder care without reprieve or support.

So, with respect, I do not agree with you.