To think what's happening to student is discrimination against poorer young people.

[Feelingconfused2020]

Students are young, in many cases just 18 yet many are being asked to isolate in a room for 2 weeks with issues around access to food and no real friends or family around them (because they've just got there and live with strangers) arguably prison is a safer place as at least food supply is guaranteed. In Scotland they've already been told they won't be allowed home at Christmas which is beyond absurd.

So what is going to happen? Inevitably families with enough money will encourage their young people to drop out and take a gap year. Those who can't afford to do so will be stuck at uni. The poorest suffer most, as covid seems to prefer.

It's not ok for Nicola Sturgeon, and other leaders, to stand by and let this happen, there will be suicides, there will be incidents related to mental health issues.

The governments all needed to have predicted this would be an issue, they should have put more strategies in place as they have in schools.

I am so cross for young adults in this country, they have been completely disregarded by all our governments.

The issue I have is that the stupid headlines make it sound like a pit of doom, neglect and starvation, when in reality its kinda shit but that's about it. In reality most of them are eating cheap pizza, watching shite on netflix and
it attending online lectures.

All. I can say is that if I were a student.righ t now.i would be planning my revenge for this ridiculous.stereotype.

I would have more sympathy with them if they would acknowledge that they are part of the problem rather than thinking of themselves as victims. I acknowledge that many are doing their best in difficult circumstances but when their on the news sayings things like people like us don’t go to bed at 10 pm’ and having big parties I am afraid it goes out the window.

"The university said it was aware of social gatherings outside the Hillhead Halls of Residence at the weekend, and that some students had been fined for breaching coronavirus guidelines." Aberdeen

"Four St Andrews University students have contracted coronavirus after a freshers' week party. More than 40 people are now self-isolating following the gathering in a hall of residence, which broke national coronavirus restrictions."

(both from BBC) Plenty more examples like it.

And the eating cheap pizza comment wasn't a stereotype, its what they are actually doing. The 8 in my childs flat have been having movie nights, games nights, and still attending their online classes. The whole accommodation block has a group on social media where they are rating the movies and series they watch, playing online games together and suggesting good places to order food from. Most of them have social media groups from their course as well and the non-lockdown students are offering to help the isolating ones with food (and alcohol!) deliveries.

Its a totally different world from when we were young - my child knew all their flatmates before they even moved in via a uni-organised FB group (find your flatmate at...) They had snap-chatted and face-timed before they even got there.

One of the first things they did at the first lecture was exchange social media info so they could share notes etc for anyone who missed a tutorial due to Covid.

@Feelingconfused2020

So the strategies I am suggesting are wide ranging and far from novel. For example:

DON'T have a party at a pub/bar( this has reportedly been something that Glasgow uni arranged for its Freshers)

Keep uni drinking venues closed for now. No student unions bars open.

Provide hand sanitiser in each hall on each floor etc.

Have wardens checking for parties in halls/flats.

Have the uni organise food supplies for isolating students.

Organise students in smaller bubbles by considering where they live (if you are studying maths you should live with maths students so there's no bubble mixing)

Organise testing centres near to campus as many students don't have cars (I heard a woman on the radio saying her friends had to use public transport to get to a testing venue. This is ludicrous!)

There are probably loads more too. I have no objection to the idea students can't go to the pub this weekend. I do object to the idea they can't go home for Christmas and I hate hearing 18 year olds saying they can't get food. These are the same young people who didn't get their proper A-levels. They've had a tough time. The government has departments whose job it is to care about universities. Why didn't they think about this and pre plan? Why didn't they imagine some students might be self isolating with no friends to buy food for them.

But all those things require the full legally adult students to comply.

Shockingly they choose not to, so none of them work.

There is a lot of whingeing on this site about how unlucky the young are, especially teens and young adults.

It is true that they are suffering a really unnatural 1-2 years. However, it is awful for everyone and, at least they have no fear of getting really ill or dying. The old are suffering far worse, with every excursion being a risk of severe illness or worse, and many not having the social media network of the young.

In addition, the young only have it bad compare to the last 100 years or so. Compared to the previous 1,000s, they are still extremely lucky. They are not being asked to risk their lives fighting a war or even to have to go out and work until they are 21 or older.

Most young people are actually taking it in their stride pretty well. It seems to be their parents, especially middle class parents, who are projecting a terrible angst on to them.

Well said @larrygrylls

larrygrylls@ definitely makes some good points but parents are bound to be worried and a year is along time at their age.

The governments all needed to have predicted this would be an issue, they should have put more strategies in place as they have in schools.

In response, from what I’ve read on here most boarding schools seemed to manage to test all returning students. If our shitty government had got its act together it would have been ahead of the game here and had the capacity to test all students.

Most young people are actually taking it in their stride pretty well. It seems to be their parents, especially middle class parents, who are projecting a terrible angst on to them.

How on earth do you know this?

Also, we shouldn’t settle for most people are ok, that’s not good enough.

So because they're not being gassed while getting trench foot, it's all fine?

It's not this year. It's their future all messed up. Brexit and missing school and university, heading into a massive recession, not to mention environmental issues, housing crisis and all that Jazz. What happens during recessions is that the cohort gets skipped over. No entry level jobs and then when things pick up, companies pick the 20 year olds behind them.

But yeah, lucky bastards not fighting the Nazis.

I’m sick of all these posts that say people of a certain age are having it worse than others. Usually posted by people with D.C. that age.

Not everyone can be having it worse than others.it’s shit for everyone.

Personally, if there was one age I wouldn’t want to be in this it’s elderly, where your options are loneliness or death. Not missing sports day or freshers doesn’t really compare.

Additionally, students who work to supplement their maintenance loans wont be able to. This has been the case over summer for my two student children working in pubs - they have been furloughed and are grateful for that, but if hospitality jobs disappear, they won't be able to claim UC as students are ineligible.

I have three children at university at the moment. One at home. The two away from home have year-round rents, student loans don't cover summer.

It's bad enough starting your adult life with tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt, without adding the stress of not being able to pay your rent on top of it. Students as a cohort have received very little support from HMG, they are paying for a service and receiving very little back, not even loan extensions or top-ups over summer.

Many people on my daughter's course are threatening to leave, impacting healthcare- the knock on effect will be waiting times to see some NHS HCPs due to lack of graduates entering the profession. I think that affects social mobility as well.

How exactly in a worldwide pandemic do we do better than ‘ok’?

I agree it’s crap for students in general though. However saying that there will be suicides is ridiculous. The ones who are locked down are being well supported.

Just as an aside I looked at suicide rates for 2019 and 2020. There is no evidence thus far that there is a rise in suicide rates. Most people are just getting on with life as best they can.

MrsTerry,

And that is exactly the type of projection I am talking about.

You are miserable and have decided that the next 20 years will be awful for everyone. In reality, they may be great.

You have no crystal ball any more than I do and, if you did, you could become extremely rich. We are going through tough times but, if we do pull together, it will be a hell of a lot better than if we just moan.

My son going into his final year could not wait to go back to Uni having been in lockdown and stuck at home with his parents for 6months ! He's back with his mates, gaming, sleeping, and also doing some studying.
Harder for Freshers I know. Tough on anyone who is actually ill.

Online remote learning from home should have been an option for all of them.

Judging by twist I see ok tiktok, students are being provide free food packages at uni.

They are. Universities have welfare departments. I work at one. They are not being left to struggle alone.

@Feelingconfused2020

I organised a supermarket delivery for my child

But this is further evidence for my point surely, it's the lower income young people.who are less likely to have an adult who can organise and afford andelivery for them . This might be because they can't afford.it or because the adult in their lives works long hours.and isn't as involved, the other issue is of course that foster children and those in.care have no.mum.or dad to call.for emergency food.

So as I say is the poor and underprivileged who suffer most.

They’re less likely to be in halls...

It’s too expensive, even the higher amounts of SAAS don’t pay for halls and to live.

All the students I know from lower income households stay at home and go to their closest uni.

I feel for them. I couldn’t afford halls when I was a student in Glasgow. My main concern in lockdown would be not having enough money to have the heating on - I relied on the library and student union to stay warm or studied in bed.

I was the same, in my last year (no halls for third years) no way I would have been able to afford takeaway every night as a solution! I know the supermarkets I use require a minimum spend. I wonder how many of the naysayers on this thread would cope if they had to isolate in a freezing room in a shared house or in a prison like room in a hall.

A girl killed herself in our halls in normal times and many other students struggled with making the adjustment to living away. The students being young probably aren't vulnerable to dying from covid, but covid isn't the only thing people die from.

I hope these students will recieve a partial refund on thier tuition fees, they may as well have taken up a distance learning course and stayed home.

Students are being treated appallingly both at the moment and for the last decade or so.

British University has become a money-making disgrace with little interest in the education and development of young adults.

I feel for them the same way I feel for everyone else during this. But why should students get special dispensation not to follow the rules everyone else has? So students can't go to pubs this week? Boo hoo - lots of people aren't able to visit friends and family, or are stuck at home alone.

Your op is very short on facts. They are not stuck in their rooms alone for 14 days with or without food. They are not being prevented from going home for Christmas. If they'd all taken a gap year ( and tbh what's the point of a gap year at the moment) it would have a knock on effect on next year's cohort.

Students in Scotland have been asked to avoid the pub this weekend. Many, judging by the behaviour so far, probably won't.

Again, the weeping and wailing creates a self fulfilling prophecy. Students are being supported hugely by universities.

Several things to remember to keep things in perspective.

• Students are in bubbles. They are not in solitary confinement.
• They can still do all the things the rest of us can do, meet for a coffee, go shopping, sport etc

-They are used to spending huge amounts of time in their rooms on their tablets/pcs.

• Any decent university will be putting effort into daily contact with all students.

They just can't get drunk in large groups.

I am really disappointed in the lack of empathy for students, shown on this thread. Just because your kids are fine, or you know someone who ‘has it worse’ doesn’t negate other people’s awful situations.

As a teacher I have spent the last 6months working with colleagues to make sure our young people can be educated while having some sense of normality, as friendships are Immensely important when you are young, and school is a place they can safely meet up with other people. This is still true when the clock ticks over to 18 years old.

But the Universities seem to have put zero effort in. All bars in unis are shut. They are not allowed to meet anywhere indoors, freshers week is cancelled, no one can have friends visit their halls, lessons are online so no way of meeting and making friends. Now please imagine being stuck in a hall with 5 other people who are strangers and not necessarily a potential buddy....It is awful.

..and I say this as a mum whose daughter is stuck in this position at the uni of Surrey, with a flat of international students, Who still seem to manage to get drugs, and fill the flat with The smell of weed and Gangster rap TIL 5am.

..my daughter is no snowflake, but has rung me in tears this week, and she is not the only one😕. Is this really the best we can offer our young people?