Large groups of children outside.

[marmite79]

I live in a village with a real sense of community. There are lots of children who are always out playing which I think is lovely. I wish it was easier for mine to go out and play. They have additional needs so not in a position to go out and play by themselves.

But something is bothering me. Often there is groups of say around 10-20+ children playing together outside all of varying age groups and different bubbles at the local school. Does the til of 6 not apply to children?! This has been happening before and since the rule of 6 came in.

I'm not the type to moan or complain. I'm not even considering complaining about this ad don't want to look a t**t or a killjoy.

If they were all in the same class at school I'd understand but as I say varying ages from reception to year 5/6. The school are doing a fab job of separating the classes so they don't mix. They even sent an email out recently to say they cannot control what children do but they are discouraging large groups of children playing out together in large groups. There's also been a lot of trouble with how some of the youngsters are behaving outside in the local community - that's another story.

So does the rule or 6 not apply to children in England or playing outside?

I'm not sure what the point of this post is as I said above I don't plan to complain.

But is it putting others at risk? There are increasing suspected cases around the area plus confirmed cases and all these children mixing are surely a bad idea? Out of their bubbles?! These children will be in school Monday with potentially vulnerable class mates or those who have vulnerable relatives.

Before anyone adds I know how hard it has been for children during lockdown and it's great we can go out and about now and see their friends. I have two. I know how hard it is...

But feel like the schools efforts are a waste with all this going on!

The rule of 6 does apply to children in England but not Wales or Scotland.

Lots of parents are ignoring it anyway.

But feel like the schools efforts are a waste with all this going on!
In Ireland so not the same but the school efforts are all window dressing. The children walk in and out the way we're all told they do, and they follow the rules in the school but the kids come home and tell what they did at lunchtime. Bubbles are mixed, there's nearly the whole class playing at games of football and chasing. I've tried not to make a big deal of it and been told the virus isn't really likely to spread outside anyway.

As PP have said-rule of 6 does apply socially.
However, when a child is in a bubble of, say, 150 children, it does make children playing outside (open-air) with 10-20 kids seem a bit irrelevant. I can see why the parents have lost interest in enforcing social distancing!

I would think that 60 kids playing together outside are at far less risk of passing on/contracting Covid than 30 kids in a classroom together.

@stayathomer, we have the same 'window dressing' where I am in England.

I’m expecting everyone on here will disagree with me but I think it’s wrong and I’m sick of seeing it too.

The latest “hobby” round here seems to be parents sending their kids out unsupervised in groups of 6... so you’ll have a group of children from 3 or 4 or even 5 households and a child “in charge” of much younger children. So usually a 7 or 8 year old in charge of a group of 5 other kids, some as young as 3. They then meet up with other groups of 6, so you can have 18 or 20 of them all congregating on a busy road. Often they’ll be sent out with money so there will be lots of kids in the corner shop, not social distancing, not wearing masks, picking up all the sweets and putting them back and taking ages in there with zero adult supervision. To make things worse, our local corner shop is also a post office and lots of elderly people use it to do their banking. They are often terrified, bless them.

They’ll often be sent to the local Subway or McDonalds, again very young children, excited to be out, wreaking havoc and not having anyone watching them. Prior to the lockdown I never saw any of these huge groups of kids. And this is before you get the big groups of older kids and teens.

We are in a local lockdown area with loads of year groups off and a couple of schools and colleges totally shut due to outbreaks. I’m concerned that some of these children are ones that should be isolating as I’m seeing them inside school hours as well as in the evenings and weekends. I’m also really worried about two really young groups I often see hanging out together as the
older children (the 7 or 8 year olds) aren’t watching the toddlers and it’s a busy main road with no pedestrian crossings.

Perhaps they're on a protest? Thousands are mass gathering in London today. No masks either as it's the anti vaxxer, anti mask conspiracy theory lot.

If much larger groups of adults can gather together, I don't see why children can't too.

Couldn’t care less to complain about children outside- it is the actions of adults that have caused the surge in cases.

The local school is pretty small to the classes/bubbles are around 20-25. I understand that this is large but the children outside are all from different classes plus a few children who go to school in a different area for whatever reason (not talking secondary school age but primary)

Kids here have been exempt from any distancing under 11 for a really long time, groups of kids are often seen around our place. That isn’t what’s causing outbreaks everywhere so I can’t get too excited about kids breaking the rules in other places.

Well, if my child's football team can play against football teams from other areas, as they did again this morning, 11 a side at a time, then rules banning children playing together OUTSIDE are pointless.

That isn’t what’s causing outbreaks everywhere so I can’t get too excited about kids breaking the rules in other places.
Unless kids are asymptomatic carriers which could be a possibility