"I work in a school surrounded by kids but cannot see my family" - anyone sick of hearing this?

[coffeeforone]

It's totally unfair - everyone gets it! It's shit for most people. But this line/situation obviously affects all who work in education settings (a lots of people I know) and is really starting to irritate as it's being spouted much more often than most other complaints.

True I know, and it doesn't make sense to lots of people...but what's the solution? Close schools so everyone can see family instead?

[BelleSausage]

God this is bitter and goady. Bit bored this evening, OP.

I am paying half my wage a month to have someone go in to help my elderly father because I cannot. The risk to him is too great.

FWIW- I love my job, my department and my class. I am so glad to see them.

But there is no social distancing it’s of kids CBA with masks and spend all break and lunchtime in each other’s faces (in some cases snogging each other’s face off).

I have nightmares about accidentally passing it on to my dad. But I still go to work every day. It’s stressful. Feel lucky you aren’t in the same position.

[ilovesooty]

@SaltyAndFresh - beat me to it.

[Starlightstarbright1]

Of course people can complain,... Nothing is black and white.. My friend ( not in teaching ) her inlaws have denigrated in lockdown so much fil is in hospital - siblings are sharing care of Mum. Family support is huge.

We are all in different situations.. i think compassion is tge greatest gift to someone

[DysonFury]

Isn't our (UK) full lockdown scheduled for the 29th this month or am I misinformed?

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

I work in a school and I haven't heard anyone say that.

Maybe it's just your school. We cant use the staffroom and with us all out on duty we don't have time to idle chatter and gossip.

[year5teacher]

Schools absolutely had to be open, and I’m very happy they are, and am desperate for them to remain open like this. I love the kids being back and being around them.
It does still hurt to know that the reason I can’t see my parents for longer than 10 minutes at a time is because I’m working in a classroom with 30 children every day and many of them are in and out self isolating and I just can’t risk it.
It’s just not ever how I imagined my NQT year going. It’s all so stressful. I love my job but my parents have set some quite strong boundaries about seeing me and I’m actually finding that really hard. Whether it annoys people or not.

[ChloeDecker]

And another compliant that I hear several times daily "I can't xxx...but I can go to a pub!"

I wonder why you didn’t start your thread and thread title with this but rather, went in specifically on teachers...

Oh wait. I do know.

[noblegiraffe]

I guess you should just tell them straight that they're boring you with their observations about how mad it all is. I'm sure that you are always scintillating.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

could be the poster is not a teacher

[PyongyangKipperbang]

It gets on my nerves too. I work in hospitality and serve hundreds of people every week. I hate that I am at risk at work and so I have to stay away from my parents, but thats life. It sucks but so be it. Sick of the race to the bottom in terms of suffering, we all are in it together.

[thegreenlight]

Unless you are in a school (especially primary), you have no idea how little social distancing there is. I personally have no fear of catching Covid, but that doesn’t mean I can’t observe the pointlessness of it all. They are sending whole classes back after positive cases due to loopholes (in my opinion in the hope the majority are a-symptomatic, which shows no regard for vulnerable members of staff). We are told we WILL have positive cases (thanks gov - great pep talk) it’s a bloody joke.

[PinkSparkleUnicorns]

Bloody teachers! Moaning all the time. They don't think the rules apply to them and so clearly just want the economy to crash.

Miserable bastards, the lot of them. In at 9, home at 3 and paid for all that summer off.

I once had a teacher who played videos every lesson, didn't do any work.

They just shouldn't get paid at all.

I bet they started covid on purpose, just so they didn't have to go into work.

Except... unlike many other professions they haven't stopped working. They didn't get a chance for full pay to be furloughed at do bugger all for months. ....but yeah it's clearly all the teachers moaning now and it's all their fault.

[Awrite]

No, I'm not sick of hearing this. I think it's healthy for people to express how they feel.

I actually feel much worse for teenagers. T school, they are being assessed a lot more and then they don't get to socialise. No light to the shade.

I can see rules being bent. Mental health the important factor.

[Butmiss]

Get a life, OP.

[Monkeynuts18]

Except... unlike many other professions they haven't stopped working. They didn't get a chance for full pay to be furloughed at do bugger all for months. ....but yeah it's clearly all the teachers moaning now and it's all their fault.

I’ve got a lot of sympathy for teachers, but the majority of them stopped working in March didn’t they?

[BelleSausage]

@PyongyangKipperbang

You are the only one making this a competition. No teacher has rushed on to here to say they have it the worst. You did that.

Have a word with yourself.

[SunshineCake]

@MitziK

Oh, I don't know. DP would rather like to see his vulnerable relatives without risking killing them - or in one case, before she forgets who he is (if she hasn't already, nobody knows, because nobody's been able to visit her for her own safety). But he can't.

He feels bad enough about the chances of giving it to me (if the virus I had in March that made breathing so difficult wasn't Covid or immunity isn't guaranteed or is reduced by being on biologics), never mind the prospect of killing off his entire family. And I feel bad that although his work does require the wearing of PPE, mine is pushing the 'rules' by giving me the choice when dealing with people who are complaining of Covid type symptoms, so I'm posing even more of a risk to his family than he is.

But the government were quite happy for us to sit in a pub and actually offered to pick up half the tab if we travelled down and took them out for a meal. As though it would have been any consolation when watching an online funeral service to be able to say 'Ah well, at least Dad's meal didn't cost as much as usual'.

Chose to wear the PPE then as you won't be putting his family at risk then.

[BelleSausage]

@Monkeynuts18

Haha haha haha! NO

I worked all through lockdown doing online lesson, marking working, begging the exam board to tell me what was going on. And looking after a 4 year old while DH worked 6 days a week.

Hilarious.

[oopsiedaisy2]

Well people are entitled to feel how they want actually. For some people their family is their lifeline and now they're being told they can't see them again but you can go and eat out /go to a pub. There is no logic. The gov can control and regulate? Well they can try but since there isn't even enough police for crime that happens I don't see how they are regulating pubs other than these new "Covid marshals" . I mean my son is allowed to see his friends at school with 0 social distancing but can't once school is over? How does that make sense 🤦‍♀️

[PyongyangKipperbang]

[quote BelleSausage]@PyongyangKipperbang

You are the only one making this a competition. No teacher has rushed on to here to say they have it the worst. You did that.

Have a word with yourself.[/quote]
Believe it or not there are other people outside of MN.

[BritneyS]

I don’t think @PyongyangKipperbang was making it a competition, if anything she was drawing parallels with her own experience. I saw empathy in her post. And she definitely didn’t say she has it worse from teachers, I think you’ve misread.

I think the only thing on this thread that makes it sounds like it’s a competition is this:
Except... unlike many other professions they haven't stopped working. They didn't get a chance for full pay to be furloughed at do bugger all for months.

I only know a handful of people who were furloughed (I just assume because of my particular social circles) but all of them were in their own mental hell. Anxiety overdrive, even from the calmest and most rationale, through the fear that they wouldn’t/won’t have a job to return to. Most people I know have a work ethic and like to earn their wages.

I think the point of the OP (and something PP are missing is): teachers have it shit, waitresses have it shit, nurses have it shit, care assistants have it shit, cabin crew have it shit, domestic builders/electricians/plumbers have it shit, and everyone else in between. We all want to see our families.

I don’t hear much of the specific phrase OP has quoted, but I only know a couple of teachers. OP has clearly heard it a lot hence the thread.

[borntobequiet]

I like your solution OP. Close the schools! That’ll stop them moaning.
You’re so clever.

[WhyAreWeHardOfThinking]

@Monkeynuts18 you are mis-informed. I know of only 4 members of staff that were not part of our weekly rota, and that was due to having a shielding member of the house (or 1 case very elderly parent living with them). We also had to upload narrated powerpoints and resources for every lesson and we checked upon by SLT, even for days that we were in school for keyworker and vulnerable children. For A Level, I live taught once I had purchased my own electronics to support this. And we did this whilst homeschooling like many others.

Some teachers obviously slacked off, but I don't know of any school in my circles (and my partner's in another town) that didn't provide veyr decent resources in the most part.

[coffeeforone]

Except... unlike many other professions they haven't stopped working. They didn't get a chance for full pay to be furloughed at do bugger all for months.

I don't know anyone who was "furloughed and did bugger all for months"...most I know continued to work full time (mainly NHS, professional services etc) throughout including myself. The teachers of course included (maybe not full time and more remote working but definitely still a lot of contact with Zoom lessons etc).

for the large number that were furloughed I have every sympathy and I'm sure most would have much rather been working as it would indicate they are in a more COVID-secure role. I wouldn't be bitter about not being furloughed

[Goatinthegarden]

@BritneyS

I’m so sorry to hear that *@Goatinthegarden*
Is your dad not at home? If I were you, I’d sure as hell be visiting him if he was!

Thank you BritneyS.

Lots of people are in shit situations, it’s just nice to give each other a little empathy and a lift through this hard time, rather than begrudge someone having a little moan.

My dad is at home with my mum, but I don’t want to be the one to take Covid into his house. He is terminally ill, but he also has some dementia and he does not accept his diagnosis. He is worried about catching the virus and believes if he keeps safe at home (other than going for his palliative chemo) he will emerge from all of this recovered and we’ll all celebrate together.

He’s happy with his regular FaceTime catch ups (my 3 siblings and I are all teachers and nurses) so we just have to keep grinning and bearing it. It has been insanely taxing on my mum though who has been shielding with him since March (and is fit and healthy).