Are our kids being thrown under the bus

[Pixxie7]

Chris Whitney has said that children are safe to go back to school because they are at low risk of complications from Covid.is this another case of politics being more important than lives?

@noblegiraffe

We all want schools open

Not only that, they are opening. There’s no question about them not opening.

Yes, absolutely. I didn’t make that part clear at all!

I am trying very hard not to cry when I feel so invisible and 'disposable' so I am about to resort to my usual stress beating tactic of sticking my fingers in my ears and ignoring the 'threat'

I your place I would wear a visor or a mask. You have a right to protect yourself. Ask for a risk assessment.

@user1497207191

If parents/staff follow the guidance, avoid crowded places, social distance, etc., outside school, then there's a much reduced risk of staff/pupils taking into school in the first place.

If covid is at low levels in the community, then schools in that community will also be low risk.

It really is up to staff/parents to take reasonable precautions outside school (as they should be doing anyway) to keep schools risk levels low.

Schools don't exist in a vacuum - they's integral to their communities.

Parents/teachers can't expect a normal life outside school at the moment (holidays, parties, socialising etc) but expect schools to be turned into some kind of special parallel universe.

Totally agree.

Every single person I work with at the hospital is doing this as we know we are in super responsible positions. We're still not seeing family much, not going anywhere that requires masks, no holidays even in the U.K. and still keeping quite a quiet life at home.

Teachers and parents all need to be doing the same if you want communities to be low risk and in turn keep schools low risk.

@PhilCornwall1

How does everyone's children feel about going back?

We were talking to our two boys last night (18 and 13) and they've both said they are desperate to get back to school and college and have no worries. Youngest said he would be back on Monday if he could.

I know it's not the main thread subject, but I'm interested in seeing how others children are feeling about schools reopening.

The elder of mine at school is extremely at no SD, they study all sciences so have done a lot of reading. They dont get why at University it is remote lectures, masks, distancing, yet at school they are doing nothing.

They are pretty annoyed really, as it is obviously a cheapskate plan and they would have to distance from grandparents and worry about bringing it home.

absence of evidence = evidence of absence!
Exactly. They are not lying but are being selective in their facts and their statements, and are relying on the public not understanding statistics or nuance.
Our DCs are being thrown under the bus. As are teachers and all other school staff. And then their families.
At the beginning of the pandemic, there was an article that interviewed scientists from across the globe. They predicted (based on previous modelling and what was known about Covid at that time) that the elderly and infirm would be most affected at first. Then it would gradually move down through the generations. They completely refuted that Covid was only a concern for the elderly and said that showed a misunderstanding of the virus. From where we are now, I'd say they have been proven correct.
If you think Covid doesn't affect DCs, look at the stats and the cases from the US. It's worrying and we should be doing everything we can to mitigate the risks.

Teachers and parents all need to be doing the same if you want communities to be low risk and in turn keep schools low risk.

The trouble is there are a lot of knobheads parents who think 'it's only flu' so what hope is there of this?

We need to arrange classes by getting a parents to complete some kind of survey. We could have three grades of classes, perhaps:

• I think it is all made up
• I am fairly unworried but am washing my hands more
• I am still bricking myself

@FlySheMust

I am trying very hard not to cry when I feel so invisible and 'disposable' so I am about to resort to my usual stress beating tactic of sticking my fingers in my ears and ignoring the 'threat'

I your place I would wear a visor or a mask. You have a right to protect yourself. Ask for a risk assessment.

Wearing a visor or mask yourself does not protect you. Masks protect others. Visors only stop splatter.

@latticechaos I love that idea! Keep all the non-mask-wearing; anti-vaccine people in one class. Then let our DC be in a class with the others who've been shielding since March, wear masks, and use anti-bac with abandon.

It's all very... Smoke and mirrors, without pinning down actual ages.

I could be wrong but I'm sure children under 11 have a slightly different immune response to covid. They may even have more covid in their nose, with little symptoms than an adult with dire covid in intensive care?

However this changes as the '' child '' becomes older.
A child age 11 and above starts to generate the adult responses to covid, in getting it and spreading it.

Therefore WHO says, wear a bloody mask to limit the aerosol emissions between adult and child and child v child and adult v adult in areas where you can't socially distance!!

And yet... For some bizarre reasons only again known to the best science Brains we have 🙄 again, there is no mask wearing in secondary schools or FE??

Cadi Bach..

'' splatter '' 🤢🤮🤧😵 is actually something I'd like to be protected from esp when getting up close to students!

Particles we can see and particles we can't.
Also visors will catch and stop the direct fire of coughs and sneezes. Therefore limiting the spread in the room!!

[quote BottomOfMyPencilCase]@latticechaos I love that idea! Keep all the non-mask-wearing; anti-vaccine people in one class. Then let our DC be in a class with the others who've been shielding since March, wear masks, and use anti-bac with abandon.[/quote]
Ouch!! Dividing like that would never end well in a school.

I can well remember the different "remedial" groups at school, we are talking a year or two ago now. Everyone ripped the piss out of the people in it and some bullied. Kids haven't changed much, if at all in that respect.

Yy bottom.

@InDeoEstMeaFiducia

You were especially thrown under a bus by the education system: 'our' not 'are'.

Do you mean the OP title? She uses both are and our and does so correctly. Maybe you need to read things more carefully and then you’ll be able to understand the issues...

@Windyjuly

Cadi Bach..

'' splatter '' 🤢🤮🤧😵 is actually something I'd like to be protected from esp when getting up close to students!

Particles we can see and particles we can't.
Also visors will catch and stop the direct fire of coughs and sneezes. Therefore limiting the spread in the room!!

Visors do not protect against airborne droplets - I saw an article about shop workers which revealed this. The student wearing a mask will catch all the splatter. That’s what needs to happen. One person wearing one does not protect themselves. That’s not how they work.

I'm in Scotland. Return to school has been good with sensible rules being followed. Although most of parents are following all the guidance a few aren't and systems tend to break down when it depends on people doing the right thing. Sadly some parents don't give a shit about others.

[quote BottomOfMyPencilCase]@latticechaos I love that idea! Keep all the non-mask-wearing; anti-vaccine people in one class. Then let our DC be in a class with the others who've been shielding since March, wear masks, and use anti-bac with abandon.[/quote]
I am fine with all families making their own choices - I just don't want my family to share their risk. This makes me sad but approach to risk is so varied.

I remain concerned about the virus. I am not at all embarrassed or concerned about saying that. I will feel much better after winter as we will have a years' worth of info by then. For example - long covid, how many people are recovered?

"Given that children are at low risk of infection and their outcomes when infected are good, the main concern about opening schools is that teachers can spread it among each other" ...

"For schools to open safely, therefore, the focus should be on minimising transmission between teachers" ...

@PhilCornwall1

It was only a joke! We could have a special class for those who think it is caused by 5G, with tinfoil on the windows.

@Clavinova

"Given that children are at low risk of infection and their outcomes when infected are good, the main concern about opening schools is that teachers can spread it among each other" ...

"For schools to open safely, therefore, the focus should be on minimising transmission between teachers" ...

And yet students in Scotland seem to be able to spread it at a party (one evening as opposed to whole week in school). If they can spread it there, they can spread it. The advice you quote is quickly becoming ridiculous. Schools in Berlin closed. Outbreaks in Scottish schools Schools in Israel closed.

@Clavinova

"Given that children are at low risk of infection and their outcomes when infected are good, the main concern about opening schools is that teachers can spread it among each other" ...

"For schools to open safely, therefore, the focus should be on minimising transmission between teachers" ...

Clav why is the WHO recommending masks for the over 12s then?

[quote latticechaos]@PhilCornwall1

It was only a joke! We could have a special class for those who think it is caused by 5G, with tinfoil on the windows.[/quote]
Sorry!!! You can never tell on here sometimes.

I'll definitely sign up for the 5G one though!!

They NEVER has been a truly safe life. How some people ever went out is beyond me .

Up till this year. We have never had it so good!!

Btw Antibiotics are literally hanging on by a thread. In a few decades they may be useless That's a MUCH bigger long term issue than covid 19 and we are actually making it worse with the antibacterial gel obsession. If we dont stop using gel when covid passes we may have even bigger fish to fry.

@whenwillthemadnessend nobody is asking for schools to be 100% safe, just for us to be allowed to do some things which are proven to make them more safe, like social distancing. The government won’t allow it.

The problem is that the government screwed up the message about why schools closed in the first place.

It was not to protect the children. Children are not, and never were at significant risk from covid. Schools closed to prevent children spreading the disease to vulnerable adults.

The government completely failed to get this message across to the public, so many parents still don’t understand why schools closed, hence the ignorance and hysteria we are currently seeing about them re-opening.

Cadi.

I think all pupils and all staff need to wear masks or visors.