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AIBU?

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Original poster

Should education be suspended?

134 replies

Cantteach · 09/04/2020 14:41

I honestly believe that the most important area we can invest in is education. The ripple effect that a good education system has on every other area is immeasurable.

However, I am seeing increasingly on social media and through various conversations that parents are struggling with the home schooling set up. For many families their worlds are upside down. They are dealing with lockdown trying to protect their household while worrying about the health and safety of family and friends. Many families are also dealing with unexpected redundancy or wage cuts, while others attempt to work from home and look after their children. And as for the key workers who are doing an amazing job, picking up their children and then having to start school work, I don't know how they are coping.

We all know that there are some children who right now will still be receiving excellent education, while some are receiving none. For most in the middle it's a daily battle of feeling you should try, arguing with your child, tears, failing and promising yourself you'll do better tomorrow.

As the government needs to create a recovery plan for this missing term (please, please only be one term!) and virtually everything will need doing again anyway, aibu to ask that the government drop the pretence of home schooling?

No- the mental health of many children and carers would be improved if we accept we can't replace teachers and we all start a fresh when this is over.

Yes- even 10 minutes a day is better than nothing. Allowing parents to stop will make the issue so much worse.

OP posts:
SabineSchmetterling · 09/04/2020 22:11

I only teach KS4 and 5. Engagement in year 11 and 13 is very patchy. “Attendance” and work hand in from year 12 has been 100% so far. Year 10 “attendance” has been a little bit patchier but still 70% + for each lesson. All but 2 students handed in the last bit of work I set... although not all on time.
When we go back I’ll catch them up as best I can with interventions but there is no way I could lose up to a term of content teaching with the class and still finish the course. It is tight. Luckily we loan every student a set of textbooks that they take home which helps to level the playing field a bit.

Iateallthecookies000 · 09/04/2020 22:11

There isn’t the time to catch up on missed terms which is why kids have to work at home. If you don’t do it your kids will be at a disadvantage.

Nooch · 09/04/2020 22:13

How can you do it of you are at work?

Iateallthecookies000 · 09/04/2020 22:14

It’s unfortunate but the kids always do better when their parents push them to do their work. It’s the ones that are too busy or don’t care which results in kids not doing so well.

Nooch · 09/04/2020 22:17

I have always engaged in my children's education but I work FT and I chose not to home school for that reason, I have to continue to work now, so what is the answer? Why should my children's education suffer because I work for the NHS?!

Iateallthecookies000 · 09/04/2020 22:21

You still need to ensure they do their work. Sorry but it doesn’t matter what job you do, your kids need to know they have to complete their work. If they don’t then their education will suffer. There’s simply not enough time to teach all the work that has been missed especially if this drags on till September.

canigooutyet · 09/04/2020 22:22

Repercussions from the false narrative that it’s all compulsory. Parents and students are stressing themselves out trying to support a school day. My older ones when they were teens would be extremely disgruntled finding out all this time they could have done independent work.

My 14 year old is learning nothing. The school is not equipped to support online learning. Many parents don’t have sufficient equipment to do this.

I understand BBC will be offering education programs. It’s something they used to do years ago. However, considering a license is required to access a lot bbc online content, will it be needed now or will it be massively hiked up to pay for this.

Nooch · 09/04/2020 22:26

I completely get what you are saying and as it seems you have all the answers and have all your shit together where I am clearly lacking, I am hoping you can give me some tips as to how you juggle your job with home Ed. Thanks.

Theduchessstill · 09/04/2020 22:26

Iateallthecookies

Why are you berating someone who is doing a vitally important job at a time of national crisis? Do you work in education? If people like the pp are unable to 'ensure their dc do the work' then the state will need to step in and ensure those dc are not disadvantaged. That is perfectly possible - however old the children in question are. The curriculum is not set in stone and can be changed on the whim of a politician if it suits, so it absolutely can be adjusted to mitigate these awful circumstances. Even exams can be adjusted.

No one needs to be made to feel guilty in this situation, especially if they are an NHS worker. The mental health problems we are storing up here ....

canigooutyet · 09/04/2020 22:26

@Ihateallthecookies000
If it’s not compulsory how will they suffer?
My 14 year old is getting revision as work, nothing new, no additional research. Nothing.

He is doing what he did before he opened the platform to access homework. Independent learning. He’s currently on weird and usual things. Last bit of homework was revision for work covered in year 7. Some of the work has previously been completed and graded, still have the original work.

canigooutyet · 09/04/2020 22:30

Not all children work better when pushed. My 14 year old will flat out refuse. Always has. Leave him alone and he will complete before it’s due.

Iateallthecookies000 · 09/04/2020 22:30

I’m not saying that. As a FE lecturer I was just trying to say that kids have to try and do their work so they won’t be left behind. I’m sure you don’t leave them alone all day so whoever is looking after them can help support them with their work and you can always contact their teachers too.

MamaBearLockdown · 09/04/2020 22:32

So unless people plan to do their own teaching over August the children will suffer the usual back to school shock anyway.

you can't compare the return to school routine after a planned summer holiday, which is ridiculously short in the UK anyway, with a sudden removal from school months early, cancelling everything that was planned and without a proper end of year.

It would be grossly unfair on most children, who will stick with working from home, to ignore their efforts and make them start again from scratch.

Nooch · 09/04/2020 22:35

@Theduchessstill thank you so much for your kind words, it has been a really tough time and as a lot of parents do, I feel I am letting my kids down. To be fair, the teachers have been amazing and aren't fascists like so people, they seem to have realist expectations. We all try to do our best, I have so much respect for teachers, they do such an essential and sometimes undervalued job. A bit like the NHS Hmm

canigooutyet · 09/04/2020 22:36

And what about single parents of teens? Key workers will be leaving their children home alone for unfortunately 12 hours if not more in some circumstances.
Even an 8 hour shift, other stuff needs doing including a good amount of sleep to be able to fully function. I don’t know about anyone else but I wouldn’t feel safe getting operated by staff who have been up until 3am doing the none compulsory homework. And your in theatre by 10am.

Really no biggie to miss some revision

Nooch · 09/04/2020 22:43

Why would you be sure they weren't on their own? They are teens and their father and I are both keyworkers. Who would we leave them with during school holidays? Teens don't normally have childminders! Grandparents are medically shielding. Still wondering who should be he schooling them? BTW they are doing some work. One has decided to do only the options they will choose for Gcse, sounds reasonable to me. However, if I were there, they would receive more input and therefore they are at a disadvantage. When I get in from work I not in a position to start work with them, things areore stressful at the moment for all of us.

Nooch · 09/04/2020 22:45

Completely agree with you @canigooutyet.

Iateallthecookies000 · 09/04/2020 22:49

Calm down ffs I didn’t know how old your kids were. We are all under pressure my dh is a Doctor I’m worried sick about him all the time so please don’t be so bloody rude.

LilacTree1 · 09/04/2020 22:51

“ We all know that there are some children who right now will still be receiving excellent education, while some are receiving none.”

Schools should have stayed open. If people wanted to take their dc out and home educate for this period, there should be no penalty.

MamaBearLockdown · 09/04/2020 22:59

Schools should have stayed open

and staffed by...? You are volunteering are you?

LilacTree1 · 09/04/2020 23:01

Mama - ideally, teachers.

But as I’m out of work, yes I’ll do it. I expect to be paid obviously.

I don’t get why people were/are begging for lockdown. If no vaccine is produced, what next? We all hide from the virus for 2 years?

Nooch · 09/04/2020 23:05

Who is being rude? You are the one who is swearing albeit in abbreviation. You are absolutely correct, everyone is worried and under pressure so maybe you should bear that in mind when making judgements about what other people should or should not be doing. Have you tried headspace, it's currently free to NHS staffand has some great mindfulness exercises that might help you calm down.

MamaBearLockdown · 09/04/2020 23:05

I don’t get why people were/are begging for lockdown.
because they don't want to die Confused, why do you think?! It's a horrible death too.

Original poster
Cantteach · 09/04/2020 23:07

Actually Lilac that had already been put in place. The Corona Act 2020 allowed parents to take their children out of school while they were still open without penalty. It was then decided that the best way to slow the spread was to close the schools. I don't always have faith in government but I do believe this decision would not have been made lightly.

Mama we seem to be going round in circles. If half the class continue with the work and half don't it might be unfair to make them do it again but what do you do about the half that haven't done it?

Nooch thank you for everything you do.

OP posts:
LilacTree1 · 09/04/2020 23:13

Cantteach oh thank you. I read so much about it on MN I thought there were penalties till school,closed - apologies.

mama firstly, it’s much like pneumonia that’s nearly killed me twice
Secondly I’ve seen much worse deaths and fear those much more
Thirdly, I thought we were all more realistic about dying.

I don’t want to die of starvation or just spend the next few years being poor, happily I have enough pills in the house to avoid this fate.

But really, do you worry about all the ways you could die any day? Some people are behaving like they’d never heard of death before covid.

As I’ve said on other threads, it seems like those of us with underlying issues are calmer, maybe because we’ve had to think about it before,

Right now, I’m much more worried about a police state for our kids, goodness knows what this will teach them.