To think that those people calling for the schools to shut should check their privilege

[berryfull]

It’s all very well and good to decide to keep your kids home or call for the schools to shut when you have enough space/have a garden/ have enough bedrooms/ have a home office/ can work from home/one parent doesn’t work/ you can work flexibly / your work can furlough you/ you have enough savings/ you have enough money/ you have WiFi / you have a device per child/ your children can read and write/ your children are independent/ your children are neurotypical/ your children don’t have disabilities/ you’re not scared of your partner/ you’re not scared of your children/ your mental health doesn’t make you a danger to your children/ yiu can cope with the stress/ your partner isn’t a danger to your children/ your health is good enough to allow you to look after your children/ your education level is sufficient for you to help educate your children you can feed your children throughout the day ..... etc etc

Stop presuming that all children will be safer at home. There are bigger and comparable dangers to the Covid that school keeps children safe from. And the vunerable ones are not being looked after.

Keep the schools open .... please!

@HappyNewYear2021

Sadly children will die during the pandemic and not from covid. Many people seem totally unaware that for quite a lot of children school is there safe place. Some will assume that all vulnerable children will have a school place ...they won't. It's so sad.

Vulnerable children will have a school place. As will key worker's children. Teachers will continue to go above and beyond to care for vulnerable children as they did last time.

What about all the adults who will die from COVID? All the adults who will die not from COVID but from other illnesses as they can't get into hospitals because they are overwhelmed with COVID cases.
We are talking at saving the most numbers of lives.
The virus is out of control. Hospitals are overwhelmed. We are already administering the vaccine. The end is in sight. Why throw lives away unnecessarily?

SAGE have said schools must be closed to bring the rates down.

Last lockdown the GOVERNMENT said to suspend the curriculum. This time there will be teaching.

Foxina, do you think I’m a liar or something?

OP, many of the factors you mention - no garden, not enough bedrooms, being scared of your partner, etc, will all exist whether or not your children are in school.
If all the points you mention apply to you, I would suggest getting a better job so that you can afford better accommodation and devices for your children. Oh, and leave your partner if you are scared of him.

Vulnerable children will have a school place.

where do you get this info from? Are you suggesting all parents of disabled/vulnerable kids who cannot attend school are liers? My DD's special school was closed completely during the first lockdown!

what the fuck do you struggle to comprehend?

Lots of vulnerable were not able to go to school in the last lockdown @FoxinaScarf , including many of those in special school,s .

If all the points you mention apply to you, I would suggest getting a better job so that you can afford better accommodation and devices for your children.

that would be lovely. Unfortunately, if you have a severely disabled child you will not have access to wrap around childcare, you will not have access to school holiday childcare, you will have frequent hospital appointments, many children with complex needs don't have school places at all and are at home full time but thanks for the suggestion any idea where I can fund this well paid job for which I will be available about 4-5 hours on occasion??

Vulnerable children will have a school place

That is not true. Have you read the thread below?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4113739-Disabled-kids-the-forgotten-Covid-victims?msgid=103225120

My child is in speical needs nursery and it was off for nearly 6 months last year. It nearly broke me however if schools needs to close to stop spread , they need to close, regardless of a anything else. My child has autism so not a medical issue, half the children in my daughters nursery have medical issues if they could die its pretty serious

And check ur privilege has got to be the most annoying statment of 2021

if they catch covid they could die

It's all wind and hot air in any case, no matter how many impassioned exchanges people have. All threads like this do is get people with opposing views fighting like crabs in a bucket, telling each other that no matter what the circumstances underlying their particular opinion they are selfish, unfeeling bastards.

This government's response has always been knee-jerk, reactive, and never in the slightest bit proactive. With things as they currently are people can 'call for' whatever they like, but the unpredictable BoJo et al could do absolutely anything. The question in the OP is moot.

I feel for school teachers and support staff whose health and safety they believe is being compromised, feel for the parents who are being put in a difficult position because of an impossible balance between their families' needs and employers' demands, feel for those who have the constant worry about their vulnerable relatives. The whole thing is tough, relentless and not improving any time in the immediate future. It sucks in a big way. for everyone who is struggling.

Why do people keep linking a historical thread to prove something that hasn't happened yet. I can't speak for anywhere else but our LA has a totally different criteria for provision for vulnerable dc during this closure than last - I assume under advice from central government- which means a large number of the dc at the school I work in will now have a place at their own schools. The last time it was just a handful of extremely vulnerable in hubs or private nurseries.

To those suggesting vulnerable and disabled are abandoned - I do not believe anyone is being deliberately forgotten about in this worsening medical pandemic war situation.

Given the finite resources, medical capacity, vaccines, tests etc etc there is unfortunately hard choices as to priority for maximisation of said limited resources.

Are vulnerable children left off the radar? Not necessarily the only ones as essentially I would imagine this is not the only community cohort that have to manage with limited outside assistance as best as they can.

Put it this way if you were pandemic director of resources and know you may not be able to save the world who would you care for first? This is not an easy predicament but it is reality. The list goes on as is your vulnerable child more “privileged” than one in say Africa with no assistance whatsoever? This is not a race to the bottom as in an ideal world - resources will be shared proportionately. At this moment all UK limited resources focus on the NHS. The scientific leadership will advise on best emergency practice for the political leadership to take (some of this) into account with their complex task of balancing lives and livelihoods. In the mix, but possibly down the food chain is the disabled and vulnerable. Not saying this is right nor wrong but we can't all get what we need but unlike most around the world we have medical assistance but not if it is overwhelmed. Lives matters so stay safe. If people continue to inadvertent super spread then the already limited medical and educational resources will be even more limited.

To those suggesting vulnerable and disabled are abandoned - I do not believe anyone is being deliberately forgotten about in this worsening medical pandemic war situation.

can you tell us more how not accessing school, therapy, respite, trying to WFH - all whilst caring for a child has affected you?

I mean a child with complex needs, not a NT teen.

COVID has no respect for vulnerability nor privilege. It doesn't care where you live or whether you have WiFi. It poses a threat to the families of vulnerable children as much as children with any kind of privilege. The bottom line is that sacrifices have to be made to manage it and to try and safeguard as many people as possible. And yes, some will make bigger sacrifices than others and invariably those who already struggle will carry a huge burden with closed schools. The question is is it worth the deaths of school staff and their families to keep some children in school over the next few weeks. If you live in a little flat with no garden and no WiFi and with a child with a disability, how many dead teachers are you prepared to accept so that your child can go to school? Not necessarily teachers at your school, but overall. I say none, but others might disagree. And teachers are not like other key workers because there are no safety measures in place for them. No distancing, no masks.

@flattyres

Fair point. I am not wishing to be argumentative unnecessarily as that is unhelpful but in answer to you question - no I do not know and have no answer. I am sorry and saddened by your predicament but I only know people who may not have life changing medical procedures because of the pandemic demands on medical capacity. That is not to say this is worse than your predicament but hopefully offers some perspective and balance. We are all suffering in one way or another (it is a matter of relative degree) and I am not suggesting who is suffering more or less “privileged”. There will be people who are in a much tougher situation than you as it’s all relative and ideally given adequate resourcing all treated equally. There is no equality as otherwise we will all be faultless robots with no illness and vulnerabilities.

@flattyres

To those suggesting vulnerable and disabled are abandoned - I do not believe anyone is being deliberately forgotten about in this worsening medical pandemic war situation.

can you tell us more how not accessing school, therapy, respite, trying to WFH - all whilst caring for a child has affected you?

I agree with the poster on this and i have disabled child and nursery was closed, and her therapy was cancelled and her SALT that is meant to start this week will not happen as they r meant be going back to nursery next week , possibly closed again. Unfortunately thats what happens when there is a pandemic and we need to stop the spread

@shiningcuckoo

COVID has no respect for vulnerability nor privilege. It doesn't care where you live or whether you have WiFi. It poses a threat to the families of vulnerable children as much as children with any kind of privilege. The bottom line is that sacrifices have to be made to manage it and to try and safeguard as many people as possible. And yes, some will make bigger sacrifices than others and invariably those who already struggle will carry a huge burden with closed schools. The question is is it worth the deaths of school staff and their families to keep some children in school over the next few weeks. If you live in a little flat with no garden and no WiFi and with a child with a disability, how many dead teachers are you prepared to accept so that your child can go to school? Not necessarily teachers at your school, but overall. I say none, but others might disagree. And teachers are not like other key workers because there are no safety measures in place for them. No distancing, no masks.

I agree with this 💗

Fair point. I am not wishing to be argumentative unnecessarily as that is unhelpful but in answer to you question - no I do not know

that was pretty obvious. I think it is rather shitty to lecture us parent carers after all we have been through. Walk a day in my shoes and then we talk again

Not useful now, but all this is an indicator of how we can't continue to run a society that depends on 2 parents (or a single parent) working full time. Or even people who aren't parents. 3 or 4 day working weeks, would allow flexibility for parents and others. Society is just not working for a huge percentage of the population.

And for those claiming school isn't childcare, of course it is. Recent events are a huge example of how the economy falls down without schools, many many families wouldn't be able to support their families without the childcare provided by schools.

@SusannaSpider
Excellent point.

I agree that there should be more flexibility regarding work patterns, and maybe a payment of some kind if a parent wants to stay at home.

Maybe parents that want the schools to be open should "check their privilege" that their children receive free education that comparatively speaking is amongst the best in the world? Maybe "check their privilege" that at no point in history have children had greater access to knowledge and a safe environment?

You are not keeping kids at home for their well being. It's for the teachers. The nhs. The vulnerable. More needs to be done for vulnerable kids generally. I hate the phrase by the way. And I'm sending my children to school for as long as I'm able despite living in a big house being a sahm with lots of resources.

I don't agree that teachers are in a more hazardous position than most of us unless they are shielding in which case of course they shouldn't go to work.