Describing children as feral

[FollowingFlitwick]

Seeing a lot of posts on social media where parents are describing their children as feral due to spending all their time at home, home schooling during lockdown. Why? And where has this come from? Does this mean the sole responsibility for creating well-rounded children falls to schools?

Feral means wild and free. Such as spending all day out of the house with or without your siblings. Searching for interesting things to do, in woods. Building dens, swinging from tree to tree. Coming home covered in mud and twigs. When the light starts fading , coming home to a mother who believed in kids problem solving, making decisions for themselves. Having tea ready or cooking for us, warm bath and off to bed exhausted. Never woke in night, and had 9 to 10 hours sleep. We were definitely feral. Thank you mum. lol

I dont really want to engage with you anymore

You mean ‘try to’ engage with me! 🙄

@lydia2021

Feral means wild and free. Such as spending all day out of the house with or without your siblings. Searching for interesting things to do, in woods. Building dens, swinging from tree to tree. Coming home covered in mud and twigs. When the light starts fading , coming home to a mother who believed in kids problem solving, making decisions for themselves. Having tea ready or cooking for us, warm bath and off to bed exhausted. Never woke in night, and had 9 to 10 hours sleep. We were definitely feral. Thank you mum. lol

I wish the same could be said now! You’ve just summed up my childhood too!

@HeathIns

It’s definitely lighthearted but lockdown has also highlighted how much some parents rely on schools for ‘childcare’ 🙄

Most people's work patterns are linked to school hours, its unavoidable and has been like this for so long it's ingrained. What would you rather happen, work hours outside of school hours so everyone either doesn't work or pays for childcare and children rarely see their parents?

For many, work hours are somewhere between 8-5 and fits in around school with wrap around care. This isn't the fault of the parents, when that is suddenly taken away and there are no other options it's a struggle. It's almost impossible to work with young dc around. School is a fundamental part of family life (home schoolers aside).

OP the lack of boundaries and normal social interaction has lead to a big shift in behaviours, 'feral' is meant as a joke but it's definitely a real problem.

@HeathIns

It’s definitely lighthearted but lockdown has also highlighted how much some parents rely on schools for ‘childcare’ 🙄

Oh FFS. No, it shows how much some parents rely on 'paid work' for 'money'.

None of us took jobs and sorted childcare with a pandemic in mind. Without family to help, school and wraparound care, and desperately trying to keep jobs that are needed to keep roofs over people's heads, there's not always much of a choice but to let standards slip a little or a lot.

Or alternatively, why not picket the government to give us benefits enough to stay home until our kids are done with primary school, on the off chance we need to homeschool full time at some point.

It just pisses me off as I have been calling mine feral for years.

Bloody lockdowner normally good parents stealing my word

So sick of posters sneering at parents for needing childcare! No one fucking life plans around having back up childcare for while school is open, it'd be mad! So are you saying only those who are sahms of school age children are responsible parents? Sick of this attitude. Funnily enough most of the teachers I know irl are also reliant on schools as childcare, go figure!

Lots of frothing from people who haven’t read my posts upthread.
Not every parent. Not everyone. Not every parent that works. Not every parent that doesn’t work.

I don't think it means that children are living in unheated outhouses and trapping rats which they then have to cook on an open fire .

Too much screen-time, too much junk food, not enough exercise. Hence worse behaviour. Mostly because the parents, like responsible people, are trying to work to pay the bills and keep a roof over their kids' heads.

Bet the parents wish they could go feral. It would make life a lot easier.

Frothing= nice way to dismiss anyone who objects to your crappy sneery judgemental posts.

@longestlurkerever

Frothing= nice way to dismiss anyone who objects to your crappy sneery judgemental posts.

Have you even read my posts?

Out of interest @HeathIns do you work?

mine are feral, one not too bad, the other im considering taking her to the vets for a rabies jab.....

@ceeveebee

Out of interest *@HeathIns* do you work?

Yes! I also have school aged DC!

Yes I have Heathins. And I'm not the only one to have objected to their tone.

And when DC are normally at school, do you not normally work during those hours?

So what makes your set up so superior HeathIns? I do know people who have nannies and governesses at the moment. great for them but it's not possible for everyone.

Mine aren't actually climbing the walls. Be good if they could though it would make a change from being merely being feral on the floors

@longestlurkerever

Yes I have Heathins. And I'm not the only one to have objected to their tone.

You’re also not the only one who missed that I gave a very specific example which explained who I was talking about.

@longestlurkerever

So what makes your set up so superior HeathIns? I do know people who have nannies and governesses at the moment. great for them but it's not possible for everyone.

Not sure what Nannies have got to do with parents who show distain and contempt for teachers and schools.

I didn't miss it. I don't buy that that the fact you have decided your comment was directed to a certain type of person makes it any less sneery and judgemental. I have never understood the "school isn't childcare line" . It makes no sense when parents struggle with an unexpected term time closure and it makes even less sense when schools have been closed for months. Schools provide a safe learning environment for DC during set hours of the day. This is a social good that is very much missed.

I use it when I'm implying that my dd is losing structure in her life, starts to act wild!

You obviously have your own agenda here
longestlurkerever and have said far more than I have. You’re filling in a lot of gaps with all this projecting.

I don't have any agenda other than saying I object to the line "schools aren't childcare". The fact they are still open for keyworker childcare shows that this is a secondary and very valuable function they serve.

It’s definitely lighthearted but lockdown has also highlighted how much some parents rely on schools for ‘childcare’

No, I rely on paid employment to pay the bills and feed my family.

I relied on paid childcare before my kids were at school. I rely on paid childcare for the third of the year schools aren’t open, and for the quarter of my working day that schools aren’t open. If schools weren’t there, I would rely on paid childcare for that time too.

Unfortunately none of those things are available to my kids at the moment.

Prize fuckwittery statement of the day. Take your insular eyerolls elsewhere.