Aibu to want to homeschool my child with everything going on

If that is your attitude then you’re obviously sending your children to the wrong school. Like anything there are good and bad ones.

You're joking right? Schools are exam factories, not places to socialise and make friends. You get detention for speaking or having your skirt the wrong length. Kids leave school with more mental illnesses, than GCSEs

I think you’re getting a really hard time here OP. There’s a world of difference in feeling like you want to protect your 9 month old from the horrors of the world and actually preventing them from leaving the house. I suffered with anxiety after the birth of my first and had some fairly irrational fears at the time. None of which I would ever have acted on in reality. I did have that feeling of wanting to keep her away from anything that could possibly harm her.

It will pass as they get older and getting treatment for anxiety will help. Just wanted to say that you won’t be the only parent of a small child feeling anxious about what happened.

So will you risk the shops, library, park? It is still a rare event which is why it makes the news you can't live in fear crossing the road is far more risky.

I do understand OP - it might be worth asking MN to take the thread down as you now see the error in your thoughts.

Children should mix with other children and adults and away from their parents - anything else seems very unhealthy and limiting

You risk protecting from one form of harm ( very rare) and exposing your children to a much greater risk of harm

"Of course I'm not like that"

Who says? You?

You sound like you want to lock her up? Because of the works we live in.

Everyone who love their children, wants to keep them safe? What sets you aside that it's more important that you go to extreme lengths?

How will you prepare her for navigating the world once she's ready to break free?

What happened is awful beyond measure, but we cannot and must not react in such a way that exacerbates our children's anxiety. They need resilience to deal with the cruel world they will eventually have to exist in.

I think you are having an understandable, albeit illogical, response to a truly terrible happening OP.
When awful things happen it is not surprising that we feel anxious but you have to keep things in perspective. There are risks in the world, always have been and always will be, but in reality the probability of being stabbed is still thankfully a very small one. You can take reasonable precautions to keep your child safe such as ensuring they are adequately supervised, avoiding places where you know crime rates are higher if possible, educating them about risks as they grow up and so on but you can't mitigate for everything. And you can't live your life afraid of every possible disaster.
Professionally, I have seen and been involved in some horrific things, including several major incidents, one terrorist related others not. Yes, it shakes you up and you do think "what if that was me/my loved one" but we cannot live our lives in continual fear.
It's not unusual to feel like you do now but if this level of anxiety is a persistent problem I agree with those who have suggested that you talk to your GP.
I think part of the issue is that news coverage is now so unrelenting that we can get the impression that these kind of things are commoner than they really are. Yes, knife crime is a problem, that is undeniable and we shouldn't minimise that. But nor should we see bogey men around every corner and be afraid to live our lives.

100% this

If you think that school is too dangerous for her then this reasoning would suggest that you shouldn’t be taking her out to events, busy public places etc either? That is no way for a child to live OP. Please get help for your own anxiety before it hits your DD too.

DD has a friend with a parent like you. She is the only 18 year old that I’ve ever known who is afraid to go abroad or fly due to the risk of terrorists. It’s ridiculous.

So tell me how home schooling will totally protect her?

I don't think they literally mean locking her up.

But if you don't want her to go to school because of what happened yesterday I think people are assuming you won't be taking her to any group activities with other children for the same reason.

And that would result in a very isolated and sheltered life for your child, which could be damaging in the long-term.

Of course YABU. If that is your attitude towards things then you may as well lock your child at home forever. What happened is awful but you cannot let it control your life - the actual risk to your DD (or any of us) is minuscule. You’d be doing her a massive injustice by needlessly depriving her of the social opportunities that school brings.

I am also in NI - I’ve never felt that my DD is unsafe at school. Don’t let your own anxieties project upon your DD’s childhood.

@x2boys yes and is now on the whole a peaceful place. Unfortunately the British press make lots of money reporting the shit bits as they do on their own land.
If your not stupid enough to get involved in nonsense here your very safe. It's statistically and culturally safer than the main land.

“It happens everywhere”

Youre being VERY melodramatic, it doesn’t happen everywhere or even often. Such attacks are random and rare and it didn’t happen at a school anyway. What are you going to do ? Stop her leaving the house until she’s 11? 16? 21? Never?

There are things to worry about when bringing up children and these lightning strikes aren’t amongst them.

I don't think you're being unreasonable as the world is a scary place, however, you can't live in fear and hide away. It can be downright scary being a mum (especially when your baby is an actual baby) seeing all the badness in the world and having anxiety. Those intrusive thoughts are something else and I wouldn't minimise the damage they can do if left unsupported.

Reach out for help and support and remember that these are not everyday things and there is lots of goodness out there and positive things for your wee one to learn especially when they go to school … and that is coming from someone who has fought the school system for seven years. I'd still recommend parents at least try a school system before going to home-schooling.

Cheer up, cuddle the wee one, eat a wee biscuit and think positive where you can.

Your child lives in a world, and a place in that world, where very very occasionally unspeakable things happen that you are powerless to prevent. But that is the world she lives in and she is entitled to access all the joyous, positive and enriching things it offers, which are far more numerous than the atrocities. If you think home schooling is the best choice for her educationally then that's one thing, but to use it as a means to keep her away from a world that can be dangerous, but for the vast majority of us, is not, is allowing your fear to restrict her in a way that isn't fair or sustainable. If its any consolation, your initial panic will fade with time. I brought my children up in the aftermath of Dunblane and 9/11 and remember vowing never to take them on a plane and being terrified when they went to school. It passes and you gain perspective.

Yes, I am definitely older than you. I know that's a hanging offence on MN these days, getting old.

I know where you are coming, the 7/7 bombings happened three weeks after DS was born, the realisation the world can be scary and you can’t always protect your child is hard. But I remember reading that parenting, from the moment your child leaves your womb, is a process of you letting go and them becoming independent and it has to be done. Doesn’t stop me worrying though (someone else with anxiety here!).

The simple answer is no, people won’t be tempted to home school their children because of Southport.

A rational parent will risk assess every situation and thankfully realise that school should be a relatively safe space.

You’re a new parent and obviously want to protect your child, however, you need to get some treatment/coping mechanism for your anxiety.

You will see a plane crash and decide you can’t go on holiday. Hear of a relative abusing a child so no longer send your child to their grandparents. Read how a child got run over no never allow your child to go out.

Sad things happen but in life you have to deal with them.

I understand. I've seen my DH have moments where his thoughts run away with him. It looks like that might have happened to you here? Sometimes having a new baby makes you wake up more to just what can happen in the world. Of course we want to protect them. It's a harsh reality that we can't guarantee anything, we just have to keep the risk in perspective. It's highly unlikely you will personally experience any of those awful events. If they were normal and common, they wouldn't get so much attention.