To ask what employers will think when people refuse to send their kids back to school?

[ArgumentativeAardvaark]

Quite a lot of people on MN are business owners or senior managers. The general mood seems to be shifting towards parents deciding not to send their kids back to school when they re-open.

Many employers have, rightly, been happy to make allowances for employees working at less than full ability/hours while they have had children at home needing care. Do you think that tolerance is likely to change if an employee has school or nursery available but chooses not to use it?

My employers are brilliant, understanding and flexible and I still wouldn't expect them to be sympathetic to me not working when both my children are eligible to be back at school (during the hours they can attend) - I'd expect unpaid leave at the very least.

If they do go back in June and I stop being furloughed, the summer hols concern me but if we are allowed to see friends and family then I can cover it by swapping childcare with other friends.

The summer hols are a massive concern for us and I'm sure many others.

We don't have family to help and not sure we have friends who'd be willing or able to either.

If school returns and we're expected to go back to "normal" at work by then, no idea what we'll do.

@nanbread the holiday clubs round here are gearing up to be open over the summer

nanbread What would you normally do for childcare during the holidays?

"I think a lot of people will not be sending back so there will have to be some understanding from employers because it won’t be a rare phenomenon"

This is so naive. Unemployment is massively high right now. If you choose not to send your children to school and therefore can't do your job/are less productive your employer can just let you go and hire someone new. The only people who might be exempt from this are those whose work is super specialised but that is not the majority so most either need to suck it up and send their kids back or accept the loss of Atleast one wage. And rightly so, the rest of your office shouldn't be subsidising you just because you CHOOSE not to send your kids to school.

Let's not forget some people are just bitter and can't wait to get rid of their own kids, so will try to push any justifications and excuses why they have made that choice.

It's easier to mock concerned parents to have a look at why you are in such a rush to send them away.

It's easier to mock concerned parents to have a look at why you are in such a rush to send them away

What a ridiculous comment

I’m a mid-level manager in a large organisation; our senior leadership have told us they expect that while schools may reopen, they don’t expect them to be at full capacity before September. Therefore our flexible working arrangements and carers leave policies will still be in operation until then. It’s highly likely that parts of our business will still be WFH FT until January.

Utterly ridiculous comment, yes.

Most people I know are sending theirs back. They just don't bang on about constantly. They've thought about it and believe it to be best for their children. As I do. It's not a permanent decision anyway. If things start to deteriorate those people can rethink - if they're in the fortunate position of having a choice.

The parents I know who aren't sending their children back until "there is zero risk " are the same ones meeting in the park and back gardens for drinks already. And now they are all chatting about how they hope soft play can open soon

Most people I know are sending theirs back. They just don't bang on about constantly.

it's funny but I have the complete opposite experience.

There are non-stop posts about how some people don't have the choice and shame on the others, or how hysterical people are and how pathetic to keep your children at home (see all the MN threads for a start, with added "teachers are lazy"), and the best one: deregister and homeschool instead

It's ironic, as schools can only consider reopening in a couple of weeks because most parents won't send their kids there.

Most people who are parents want schools fully back. Most employers want that.

Employers may have to sack workers who cannot work because they choose to keep a child off school and are not prepared to pay for a nanny nor hire a live in au pair.

Most people who are parents want schools fully back.

Have you got a source for that Xenia?

This survey suggests otherwise:
www.childcare.co.uk/news/schools

Here 81.3% over 16000 said they will not send their kids back to school but I'm interested to see any information that supports your unequivocal statement.

Most people who are parents want schools fully back.

Most people want the pandemic to be over and things back as normal. It doesn't mean they want to rush their kids back to school in uncertain conditions.

Wanting schools back doesn't mean sending the kids there in a couple of weeks.

I wouldn't bother sending my reception or year 1 child back tbh.

But secondaries need to reopen for the good of education.

As soon as the 5 tests are met, private nurseries will be back full time/full capacity and school holidays will not be a factor. I have seen a few discussions online now where people are moaning that their nursery wants to charge them full fees to keep the place open if they choose not to send the child. Unbelievable.

To the poster who talked about the two lawyers tag-teaming the daytime and doing a big chunk of work in the evenings, the sustainability of this is not infinite even if they can meet their chargeable hours targets because clients often need lawyers to be available throughout the working day, and there are internal meetings that need to happen too, or just the usual collaboration with colleagues. Obviously each workplace differs but I’d be very surprised indeed if it was a long-term solution (and I agree about the physical and mental impact too).

Here 81.3% over 16000 said they will not send their kids back to school but I'm interested to see any information that supports your unequivocal statement.

I’d guess thus depends on a large amount of them continuing to be furloughed.

Stop the cash and the Percentage who want schools closed will drop drastically.

Was that survey conducted among a particularly dense sub-section of the population?

I don't know a single person who believes that everything will be fine in September. What's so blooming magical about September? You might as well pluck any old random "safety" date out of a hat. Everyone I know thinks we'll be stuck with Covid for a long while yet, and we need to get on and get back to school and work in the way that we would have done before there was such a thing as 24-hour-a-day news and scaremongering social media.

If people don't want to send their children back to school, they are allowed to de-register them and home educate them. That's their choice. They don't need to bang on about it not being "safe", though.

It wasn't "safe" to drive your child to school in February, because you might have an accident. It wasn't "safe" to walk there, either, because you might get knocked down. It certainly isn't "safe" to send them to school in the normal flu season. The only thing that is certain is that we are all, at some point, going to die (so the 'stay at home' brigade are at least right on that score).

I despair.

@Etopp I wondered the same!

"Safe" means fuck all.

Starmer keeps banging on about it. What does "safe" even mean? No chance of catching the virus in your workplace? That's impossible.

Stop the cash and the Percentage who want schools closed will drop drastically.

Maybe but almost 40% of those who said they won't have their children return to school were working from home. Then there will be those who said no and have a sahp at home. There will be the children who are shielding and the children of those who are shielding. There will be those capable and willing to hold their nose and quit work. There will be those who are able to take advantage of willing, fit and able childcare within the wider family. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Dd says only one of her year 6 class won’t be going back and that is for totally understandable reason (they are in touch on WhatsApp so others may exist). Don’t believe that 81% figure, I suspect they are shit stirrers rather than real life parents. Of course Y6 may be slightly different because the children themselves have an opinion.

"Safe" means fuck all.

^^couldnt agree more. Life is less safe than it was but we’re all going to die in the end regardless. People always had accidents, children have always got seriously ill, it’s just minusculely more likely than before.

Maybe but almost 40% of those who said they won't have their children return to school were working from home.*

Are you suggesting that all those 40% can do their jobs to the contractually-required standard with kids there? That as long as you are able to work from home it is possible to keep your kids off and still perform at work? That is fantasy.

First para should have been a bold quote from @FourTeaFallOut’s post.