Keeping children at home until September

[Witchcraftandhokum]

I work in a school and I'm seeing and hearing a lot of this both on here and in the contact I have with parents. I am worried about how we will manage social distancing and whether we will have PPE if the schools open soon, but I do appreciate the need for kids to be in school, particularly Year 6 and 10.

I also don't know how it will work if a lot of parents chose not send their kids back until September. I wonder just how many parents will do this?

So...
YABU - My kids won't be back until September.
YANBU - My kids will go back as soon as the schools open.

PinkFlamingo198 wearing gloves probably isnt going to help.
If teachers are 'high risk' or live with someone high risk then I don't think they should be forced to work in school. However if you are under 60 your risk of fatality is very low.
People need to understand risk rather than panicking. It seems as though everyone thinks life has been '100% safe' until COVD19. And now everytime they step out of their front door they are in mortal danger. We need to be realistic. We have all been doing lots of dangerous things for year - driving cars, riding bicycles. All these things could have killed us. Now we have a virus which is killing some people (not all). But other viruses are available too - flu etc and so COVID19 is something to be wary of but not terrified (unless you are over 60 / 80, obese, have some serious underlying health issue).

@TeacupDrama

www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Situationsberichte/2020-05-09-en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

The R rate is estimated to be about 1.1 with a 95% confidence interval so it is not falling but now going back up due to them relaxing their lockdown.

Remember the data follows a few weeks after any changes are implemented.

English people don’t want to be wrong.

Just the English? Not the Welsh, N. Irish or Scots? Or were you wary of making a sweeping generalisation?

Apologies for my response too Kokeshi123. You’re right in a way that I have a ‘weird’ attitude to masks, as I really really struggle with having anything over my mouth and nose. Especially if it were to be damp. It provokes a deep visceral reaction in me, maybe related to my severe claustrophobia. As masks seem to be something that will be required over here though I’m trying to get over that aversion (and making sure I don’t pass it on to my children), which is why I’m trying to figure out how they work practically. Knowledge is power I guess!

The children that are are vulnerable, or have vulnerable family members can stay at home, if they wish, of course without question. Teachers that are shielding can also stay at home, and maybe offer on line lessons to children also at home, but what we can not do is keep every child locked up under house arrest effectively for six months, this can NOT be allowed to happen.

The number of children at breaking point even on this forum is truly disturbing, the number of parents at breaking point trying to work and care for children is equally so. It can not continue!!! It just can not.

I utterly refuse to support any further detainment of innocent children.

We can not possibly support the state locking our children away for six months, then what? They go back to school in September (if they are in any fit state by then) only to be locked down again a few months later at the most, because the Imperial graphs show a second wave is now inevitable in the winter (mid December to be precise)

Those that say setting up a school won't happen, don't know me. Between us we have four teachers and a professor. It would take less than a week to set up and we are already working on it. Plan B. Many parents and friends up and down the country will do the same. Report away, and I will see you (and the government) in court.

When we began the lockdown back in March, the gov had our support. We did not know how for certain that our children were not in danger, how many would die, and it was deeply frightening at the time. I was a 110% behind the lockdown.

Now we do know far more, much more, and it is such a tiny percentage of children that are affected by CoVid, reflecting the stats in other parts of the world. Many studies now confirm children are not even super spreaders.

So there is no way should our schools and lives should remain locked down. I am a very reasonable person, and I can see that some are worried still, but the worries will still be there in the autumn, winter and beyond. It is not going away anytime soon.

Big pants on, kids back to school before the damage to them becomes permanent.

whacks493 that is a great report thank you.

Note this:
People aged 70 years or older account for 86% of deaths but only 19% of all cases.
So inless you are aged over 70 risk of fatality is reasonably low. Over 70 risk is high.

Going back to school AS NORMAL would benefit the children. That is not the current choice. Staying home instead of the social distancing school, that is the best option.

But going back as normal may well not be possible for years. Are you going to keep your children home for years?

Some parents want to keep their children off until we have a vaccine. That might be workable if you have young primary school children but it won't work for older children. My eldest will be in Y10 in September so I can't keep her off for a year (at least) until they bring out the vaccine.
If you are planning to do this how old are your children?
I agree with keeping children off school for a bit longer but a year or more is a long time.

Biscuit0110 'Big pants on, kids back to school before the damage to them becomes permanent.' Well said.

Some parents want to keep their children off until we have a vaccine

Which is unworkable as we may never have one. So they have some decisions to make about home-schooling.

FWIW I’d be amazed if anyone’s kids were back at school with anything like a normal school day by September

Our school is open for keyworkers
They’re making great pains to say it is babysitting only as

1. 75+% of staff are shielding (seems statistically impossible to me but there you are) so will realistically not be back at work until spring next year after flu season (I work with the immunocomposed - they’ll be our last and will remain shielded until the end of the second (likely larger) wave
2. Staff can’t get within 2m of kids and kids can’t get within 2m of other kids not in their family.

How on earth does anyone think this will actually work?

Now we do know far more, much more, and it is such a tiny percentage of children that are affected by CoVid, reflecting the stats in other parts of the world. Many studies now confirm children are not even super spreaders.

See, you keep popping up on these threads with these incorrect claims, as do some other posters. When I and others have pointed to the more recent research and statistics that disprove this, you either ignore it or move on to another thread.

What very recent research papers have you read to confirm this?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-uk-r-number-rate-deaths-cases-nhs-a9504496.html?fbclid=IwAR2Qe9lonLxUCdAW9phvSMTGzPJuQbZ6mb_63MD4qoEybuoQMkcLWoPG0f8
Evidence that R is already increasing.

Are you going to be able to stay off work once schools open/until September? I ask as I'm seeing a lot of similar posts and wondering if you have information that your jobs are going to be held open. If they are and you'll also be paid then fine to stay at home. If not, how are you going to manage financially? Assuming that you work because you need to.

I can't imagine how schools will be able to function properly. But also if Covid-19 is here to stay, or even if it's seasonal? It may be something we all have to find a way to deal with. Somehow.

Big pants on, kids back to school before the damage to them becomes permanent

A lot of people seem to forget this is to keep people healthy, safe and alive. You can't brave up and face a virus. With no vaccine we're sitting ducks. Nobody wants to be. We didnt choose to do this and can opt out when we feel like it. Hopefully by school time numbers will have changed but at the moment we're still at the same place we were weeks ago. People need to take a breath and remember this is to keep people alive

But also if Covid-19 is here to stay, or even if it's seasonal? It may be something we all have to find a way to deal with. Somehow

I was thinking this too. Theres a chance from now on the second anyone has a cough etc they'll have to stay off school or work

daffodil Yes we are from the same tribe. Fighting for our children's lives in every sense of the word.

It is chilling as a country how few are grasping what is happening to the children on the ground, the threads filling up with post after post of heartbreak that their children are disintegrating both mentally and physically and we are powerless to stop it (or so we are led to believe)

Those with little kids may be wondering what the problem is, but for older children make no mistake this is a crisis, a huge crisis that is happening to our kids right now. Some are scared of flying things, some have stopped eating altogether, others too scared to leave their room, or go out. Some children are self harming, becoming violent and that is just the healthy kids. It is bad. Very very bad. For goodness sake wake up!

This will become even bigger than CoVid if we are not careful.

Please stop going on about whether we will wear face masks or gloves or both, and for gods sake stop rabbiting on about how we will cope with the 'new normal', we have to find a way to do it, because if we don't we will have failed an entire generation of children.
CoVid will be here for years is the honest answer, ask any scientist. We must find a way to get some kind of normal back for our kids.

People need to take a breath and remember this is to keep people alive

Actually it’s to protect the NHS so that it can cope with the numbers of people needing hospitalisation.

Its an important difference

Shall we have a disclaimer on mn at the moment that says it know there are exceptions, and I know the actual detail.’

Upthread I said R would rise but we have to keep it low.

I think we all understand that means ‘below 1,’ however somebody has to come along and mage sure we are being specific.

Yes, specifically, below 1.

Biscuit0110

Those that say setting up a school won't happen

Oh I believe you could do it. I don't believe you know how long it would take, unless your setting up a school is in fact home schooling, which is different to set up.

Report away

If I see you breaking the rules, be assured that I will.

and I will see you (and the government) in court.

Not sure why you think that you could take me to court but go for it.

As for the government you wouldn't be the first.

One thing that I’d find helpful to see is the stats for other childhood Illnesses compared to Covid-19 to understand the risks. My guess would be that chicken pox would have a higher complication and mortality rate but I don’t have the numbers. A lot of people seem to be starting from the presumption that school is risk free and covid-19 is adding x to the risk making it untenable. Schools and nurseries have never been risk free. The big difficulty though is the balance across the majority versus the vulnerable and the risk to teachers.

You can't brave up and face a virus. With no vaccine we're sitting ducks.

But the vast majority of people survive, they don’t go to hospital, some people don’t even know they’ve had it. More people come out of hospital than don’t. You may even have had it.

Daffodil101

however somebody has to come along and mage sure we are being specific.

Because in this case the specifics are very important.

It is a bit like the facts are important and we shouldn't present our opinions as facts.

Which many seem to be doing.

Biscuit0110

Children's mental health will be shot to pieces after six months out of school
I am furious on their behalf, they are being forced to sacrifice their childhoods

What kind of home life do your inflict on your poor kids if you think that a 6 months break at home is causing so much damage?!?!?

People need to take a breath and remember this is to keep people alive

You have badly mistaken, you do know what we only locked down to help the NHS cope, we can't stay in lockdown indefinitely to 'stay alive'. Honestly get a grip. Most people, almost everyone, recovers from CoVid unless they are very old or very ill, and even a great majority in those groups will recover.
I see the scare tactics used in the early days really worked! It seems they have rendered some people incapable of reasoned thinking.