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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Not allowed to go home at the weekend, not allowed to mix with students outside your bubble, not allowed to have parties, maybe not allowed for Xmas?

434 replies

chomalungma · 25/09/2020 08:10

I really feel sorry for students at Uni in Scotland.

Those students who are feeling isolated. Those who just want some fun and to experience student life.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-54285720

And break these rules and you could lose your university place

OP posts:
SleepingStandingUp · 26/09/2020 19:08

@Pliudev

Lockdown tomorrow? Get in your car and bring her home!
I'd agree but when she's better in a few days will there be issues with her getting back?
Belladonna12 · 26/09/2020 19:14

With proper testing and supported isolation, it should be possible to get to more normal teaching quite rapidly but they don't seem to have planned for that at all

I can only speak for the university I work at but the planning has been going on since March. The problem is that the guidance and risk levels keep changing so it was impossible to know even a month ago whether teaching had to be all online or not. Nobody wants it to be online including lecturers.

andmoreagain · 26/09/2020 19:15

I don't normally post but I wanted to give some reassurance to parents with 1st years at uni. My son is in halls at Glasgow where there has been an outbreak. He is not 18 until November so is pretty young as far as freshers go but he is doing so well settling in to his new environment and feels supported by the University. He is in a flat of 5 with shared kitchen but en-suite which, I admit is better than some other halls, but he and his flatmates are adjusting really well to the current situation. I think sometimes we underestimate this generation. From what I have seen, they are (in the main) sensible, resourceful and are making the most of the current situation and I applaud them for that. Smile

SleepingStandingUp · 26/09/2020 19:15

During the whole of lockdown my 17 year old volunteered every day in a community store delivering food boxes to the elderly and those shielding. ...My son’s mates run pubs, worked in Tescos, delivered shopping, etc etc. So give these young people some credit please. The world would be fine if we locked down the elderly as we did it before.
But we're not just talking about the elderly, were talking about the middle aged too. Can your 17 run a school, teach A levels, operate on a child? Can his mates? Lots of teenagers did great things, newly qualified doctors and student nurses stepped up, in sure the same is in education but the reality is if everyone over 45 is shielding, hospitals and schools would be screwed

FelicisNox · 26/09/2020 19:16

They're probably loving it: teenagers in halls of residence, unlimited alcohol and no obligation to go home and face the parentos any time soon?

Like being at Hogwarts but with cocktails.

Belladonna12 · 26/09/2020 19:18

@andmoreagain

I don't normally post but I wanted to give some reassurance to parents with 1st years at uni. My son is in halls at Glasgow where there has been an outbreak. He is not 18 until November so is pretty young as far as freshers go but he is doing so well settling in to his new environment and feels supported by the University. He is in a flat of 5 with shared kitchen but en-suite which, I admit is better than some other halls, but he and his flatmates are adjusting really well to the current situation. I think sometimes we underestimate this generation. From what I have seen, they are (in the main) sensible, resourceful and are making the most of the current situation and I applaud them for that. Smile
Good to hear.
Lmttcch4 · 26/09/2020 19:34

This is just so outrageous. These poor young people are not at risk and not going to meet anyone who is. There are proper Covid secure environments to protect their lecturers etc. Utterly dreadful. The risk to their mental health is SO much more than any risk of death - to anyone. Just please look at the ONS figures. We appear to be gaining immunity and the average age of death is 82 (and always has been!), with underlying issues. If the Government looked after the vulnerable properly and invested in an unravelling NHS, we would be half way there.

GoldenKelpie · 26/09/2020 19:36

@chomalungma

I really feel sorry for students at Uni in Scotland.

Those students who are feeling isolated. Those who just want some fun and to experience student life.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-54285720

And break these rules and you could lose your university place

Yes Sad.

I would also add that they will find it very difficult to get a part time job to earn extra income. My DD worked as a waitress for the four years she was at Uni in Aberdeen. This income made a huge difference to her (and she met her long term boyfriend there too).

The fact that tuition is paid for is a separate matter; that does not change whether a lockdown or not.

GoldenKelpie · 26/09/2020 19:38

@andmoreagain

I don't normally post but I wanted to give some reassurance to parents with 1st years at uni. My son is in halls at Glasgow where there has been an outbreak. He is not 18 until November so is pretty young as far as freshers go but he is doing so well settling in to his new environment and feels supported by the University. He is in a flat of 5 with shared kitchen but en-suite which, I admit is better than some other halls, but he and his flatmates are adjusting really well to the current situation. I think sometimes we underestimate this generation. From what I have seen, they are (in the main) sensible, resourceful and are making the most of the current situation and I applaud them for that. Smile
Awesome! Good to know.
WorksTheDinerAllDay · 26/09/2020 19:42

^"murakamilove

I am getting very fed up of stories about ‘poor students’.
80 years ago mothers put their 6 year old children on a train. They had no idea if they would ever see them again, where they were going or who they were staying with. These were the evacuees of WW2.
Shame on you for forgetting their massive sacrifice so we could live.
I will never forget, but so many clearly have.
Our students will survive."^

Oh chuff off. Seriously get a grip. Just because people suffered badly in the past does not mean that people can't feel sad, angry, frustrated or upset about what is happening to them now. Or are you some kind of robot who never feels anything because of something someone did in the war? Fecking ridiculous.

HesterShaw1 · 26/09/2020 19:51

What on earth does evacuation from bombs in 1939 because of a war have to do with students being forced to stay inside because of a virus which kills a tiny minority of those infected in 2020?

Confused
HesterShaw1 · 26/09/2020 19:52

@WorksTheDinerAllDay

^"murakamilove

I am getting very fed up of stories about ‘poor students’.
80 years ago mothers put their 6 year old children on a train. They had no idea if they would ever see them again, where they were going or who they were staying with. These were the evacuees of WW2.
Shame on you for forgetting their massive sacrifice so we could live.
I will never forget, but so many clearly have.
Our students will survive."^

Oh chuff off. Seriously get a grip. Just because people suffered badly in the past does not mean that people can't feel sad, angry, frustrated or upset about what is happening to them now. Or are you some kind of robot who never feels anything because of something someone did in the war? Fecking ridiculous.

👏👏👏
Aragog · 26/09/2020 19:54

I'd agree but when she's better in a few days will there be issues with her getting back?

Depends on local lockdown.

Dd has a local lockdown where's she's heading tomorrow but although some things are proper rules others, such as seeing people outside your household or using transport are only advisory. Travelling into and out of the town isn't banned.

Dd will be travelling home next weekend for a small family memorial meal - delayed from lockdown proper when it wasn't allowed. She's legally allowed to come and return so she is doing so.

Ubercornsfunkytop3 · 26/09/2020 20:21

@KeepingPlain my in laws live in St A. This made me apocalyptic, DFIL was shielding....if he gets it he’ll die, and you’ve got these silly over privileged little bastards doing this in a town where cases were low and it was considered safe.

swg1 · 26/09/2020 20:48

@murakamilove

I am getting very fed up of stories about ‘poor students’. 80 years ago mothers put their 6 year old children on a train. They had no idea if they would ever see them again, where they were going or who they were staying with. These were the evacuees of WW2. Shame on you for forgetting their massive sacrifice so we could live. I will never forget, but so many clearly have. Our students will survive.
Ah, the evacuee argumeent puts historian hat on.

You are correct! Mothers did put their kids on trains. They did so with very little notice (about a week if I remember correctly) and under promise from the government that there was a clear and immediate danger to their children.

The problem was that for about a year after that, bombing in the UK wasn't that bad. So what did people do? They assumed the government had been wrong.. and they went and got their kids back. You can imagine these parents muttering things like "well, they've got to come back sometime" and "we've just got to get used to living with it" as they rode back on the train.

For this reason there were several waves of evacuation as the government tried to get parents to re-evacuate children when things got dangerous again. And lots didn't re-evacuate. Some died. Some had to adjust to living with parents who suddenly weren't in/at war and went feral. Schools weren't necessarily available because they were expecting kids not to be there.

Humans are REALLY GOOD at responding to short-term solutions to short-term crisises. After that our brains desperately want to return to the norm even if the norm is actively dangerous. And we're also really really good at imagining previous generations were better at compliance than us.

There were in fact several waves o

swg1 · 26/09/2020 20:49

...I apologise for the stray half sentence at the bottom which mumsnet will not let me edit :D

lissie123 · 26/09/2020 20:57

Decided to do a six hour round trip tomorrow to check on my DD and take her a care package (plus birthday gifts) and hugs before lockdown is imposed. This is so tough.

Eng123 · 26/09/2020 21:05

Suck it up butter cup! University is about gaining education, far too much emphasis on drinking and behaving like morons in pu lic

jasjas1973 · 26/09/2020 21:14

Suck it up butter cup! University is about gaining education, far too much emphasis on drinking and behaving like morons in public

Says someone who spent too much time drinking and snogging whilst at Uni!

You don't learn much quarantined in 'Halls.

Batshitbeautycosmeticsltd · 26/09/2020 21:18

@Eng123

Suck it up butter cup! University is about gaining education, far too much emphasis on drinking and behaving like morons in pu lic
Okay, boomer Hmm
Smashedavacado · 26/09/2020 21:33

This is just so outrageous. These poor young people are not at risk and not going to meet anyone who is.
Who knows which of these students are medically vulnerable? What about people in the local community they meet in shops, bars etc & the family members they could pass it on to when they go home?
Last week my son played football with someone who could potentially have spent time with someone who was covid positive. Still waiting to hear the outcome.
He is 22 and living 5 hours away from home. Whilst he "did" lockdown with us originally he's now back living independently and not getting the seriousness of the situation. If he needs to stay an uni over Christmas to keep us all safe including our elderly relatives than he will have to.

CountessFrog · 26/09/2020 21:56

My mate spent time with a dog who might have been walking past ASDA at the same time that a man drove past who had an ex girlfriend who once shared a pizza cutter with somebody who might have COVID.

So, just in case, we have wrecked the economy, brought down the airline industry, hospitality, entertainment. City centres are deserted, causing devastation to those businesses that serve them. We’ve switched to online shopping (massive amounts of packaging materials). You can’t get married, or have visitors to the house. Kids had exams cancelled.

We’ve ruined mental health, dragged thousands of new university students into halls of residence and told them to stay indoors for a fortnight, taken their money and expected them to prop up the universities.

Because, yes, the virus mainly kills much older people, and you don’t know who else it might kill. Everyone knows somebody who might be vulnerable and they don’t fit the demographics.

I listened to radio 4 today and heard a lady question when she can see her eighty something year old father, who has Alzheimer’s. The answer ‘it’s really hard, but you want him to stay alive.’

I wasn’t entirely sure she agreed, but they didn’t give her right to reply. Stay alive with Alzheimer’s? Without visitors?

Why?

EachDubh · 26/09/2020 22:32

My nieces are at Abertay, both were informed most work would be online with very minimal face to face. Both chose to stay at home and travel. St Andrews uni actively encouraged fewer students to use halls but so many wanted to come to halls they had to open Dundee and Leuchars based ones. When i did history at Glasgow I only had at most 8h of lectures and tutorials a week. I may have paid more attention had it been online 🙄
We all have rights and with rights cone responsibilities. As part of a society we have a responsibility to make choices that will limit negatives for that society. Different groups are being asked to do different things, nurses and teachers in our area are being asked to reduce any socialisation to limit chances of spread within workplaces. Employers are asking employees to work under different, often more difficult less pay, conditions to help support companies, carehomes are asking for few if no visitors to rexuce the risk to vulnerable but otherwise healthy residents, students are being asked to not visit pubs for a few weekends and to do what others have to regarding meeting up with others.
Yes it limits the fun, but so does being ill, so does the local community turning on you because they can see/hear the parties and know the rising numbers are due to this. It won't last forever but for now we need to pull together.
As an aside, my first uni had tge highest rates of suicide in Scotland and most were due to excess alcohol and drugs. Many students never left freshers week and dropped out long before Christmas.
I hope students are managing to enjoy themselves and keep all including the local community safe.

Ubercornsfunkytop3 · 27/09/2020 09:37

@Lmttcch4 will have to have a look at the ONS figures again but when we were looking back at the very beginning of May the highest death rate was yes amongst 70-85 yo men....but then it was very very closely followed in numbers by 55-65 yo men...these men will still be active members of society with a lot of life left to live, parents to teenagers, people in there early twenties and in some cases young children. No one seems to want to talk about this.

Be interested to know your opinions on this @CountessFrog seen as you seem so keen on attributing value to people’s lives, so men aged over 50? Useful? Ready to be sacrificed?

CountessFrog · 27/09/2020 10:40

Ah! More hysterical language for the bingo game.

I don’t agree with ruining the economy and knackering our children’s future, and yet this somehow means I think men over 50 should be ‘sacrificed?’

On an altar? With blood and everything?

You can’t stifle debate by throwing in hyperbolic, hysterical language.

I’ll go next. It’s ‘carnage.’

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