To think that high levels of children being sent to school are the beginnings of lockdown resistance from the working age population

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

I keep hearing widespread reports of high levels of children being sent to school under key worker provision. In the first lockdown many people did what they could to keep children at home, and employers tolerated this, but this time almost everyone I know even vaguely connected with a key worker occupation has been given a letter from their employer and told they must get their children to school. In almost all cases the parents are happy about this.

AIBU to think that this is the beginnings of resistance from younger people at continued school closures & lockdowns, when the statistics continue to be clear that few people under 50 who are not CEV are getting severely I'll with Covid?

YABU - no, people are supportive of school closures & wider lockdowns
YANBU - yes, younger people are becoming less tolerant of school closures/wider lockdowns

@ivfbeenbusy

Agree with you OP

Working parents and employees have had enough. All the teachers going on about risk to them (when the majority of them are in the low risk category anyway) and most of them will still be required to go in and mix with kids in numbers similar to what they had before anyway 🤷‍♀️

It's NOT about the risk to teachers. The government couldn't give a shiny shite about that. The only reason schools are "closed" is because they are driving up the community transmission rate which needs to fall.

I have tried and initially failed to get my DCs in this time after the frustration and isolation of being isolated from their peers for 5.5 months.

DH is classed as a key worker and WFH, often on conference call and needing to concentrate on technical details.

The sound of constant battling with reluctant learners and autistic meltdown is not conducive to a professional environment.

DS1 does not have an EHCP as his diagnosis was not long before March and the system has not functioned for much of that time. If I can't get him in, that will fuck up the EHCP application further and potentially screw up secondary applications and transition.

I didn't try sending him in last time because it was only childcare and all the hardest parts of school without the benefits.
This time, the need to socialise with NT peers for both DCs overrides that.

Once again, this is something to take up with the government, not with individuals who are taking up places they are entitled to.

That's the problem with this country. People behaving like idiots and playing the "if it's not expressly forbidden I do what I want".

@Manteo

The fear of losing my job is stronger than the fear of being called selfish on Mumsnet.

If anyone has lost their job due to not taking KW place but choosing to do it hard way they can comment. Everyone else berating would do the same as you in the same situation. Don’t worry about it it’s easy to type. Harder to do.

Out of curiosity, what do the CF parents expect to happen the day they need A&E but they are short of staff as critical workers can't put their child at school because they close because of you?

Genuinely, what do you expect a fireman, a medic to do? Take their own child on the call with them?

"how about everyone in "financial services"? Or anyone in IT? It's ridiculous." well it IS in some cases I expect, but I'm assuming you want your salary paid and your credit card to keep working?

How about phones? Do we need phone service and broadband or can we send those people home?

We live in a society where nearly everyone is needed to keep it going.

I really feel for teachers at the moment, especially head teachers trying to limit the number of children in school whilst trying to keep parents happy with no real guidance from the government. The definition of key worker needs to be revised IMO, as does the eligibility of children with only one key worker parent (obviously with exceptions for single parents or those parents who require additional support from school for whatever reason).

I don’t think wanting your children to be educated is in any way selfish.

Not everybody would use resources designed for critical staff, no. Don't insult everybody else because YOU did. There are still parents, who technically and legally qualify as key worker, but who don't steal the place of someone else who needs it more, and don't put the whole group at risk

We wouldn't go very far if everybody was active like the CF. There would be a lot of teachers waking up with "a cough" unable to go to work to start with...

Most doctor I know have always been happy for their children to go in. Several are GPs working part time married to people who do not work in healthcare and have always used keyworker spots. They are not at all concerned about their children being in school.

@Thedogshow

I don’t think wanting your children to be educated is in any way selfish.

It's especially funny when the so-called busy parents find time to waste on MN

Not many parents work 14 hours a day 7 days a week (some do, but not many...)

On MN everybody seem to have a 9 to 5 and be available for tea and bedtime, but the minute we talk about key worker and the need to educate your own children, posters suddenly are too busy to spend a few hours weekday and weekends with their kids

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

this is the beginnings of resistance from younger people at continued school closures & lockdowns

Your choice of words smacks of militance and willingness to stir up trouble. It's the last thing we need at the moment frankly

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer

Manteo

Are children not allowed outside anymore? Can't say I'd heard that rule.

not when they are sent into isolation, no

Oh I see you didn't specify that. I thought you were annoyed at parents taking the kids to the park and whatnot. DD didn't leave the house when she had to isolate. We have a garden though so not as hard for us as others.

One of our local schools has emailed all parents asking if ANYBODY wants a place....the transmission rate here is very low - South West - and they are happy to take more.

anybody wants a KW/critical worker place that hasn't applied yet.... the list they included with the email is very long and could easily fit lots of jobs.

@MrsWhites in my LA the definition is BOTH parents need to be key workers. However my friend is in a position where she is now under pressure from her employer (GP practice) as they say her partner should be looking after the children. He is not a keyworker however earns far more than her & his employer expects him to be in work also. It's not black and white. They can't afford for him not to be working and he isn't eligible to be furloughed so how should he make up this money while my friend (keyworker) is in work for minimum wage? Its ludicrous. Her usual childcare is closed as the minder is shielding. As it stands she has had to advertise online for someone to look after her children while she is at work. This is the reality of people looking for school places. Not people who can't be bothered looking after their own children for 6 hours a day.

@Kokeshi123

You're a bit delusional if you think your DC are better off educationally at school right now, they won't be doing a normal school day, it's just childcare as it was in the 1st lockdown, only with staff that are a lot less enthusiastic about being around your germy kids.

Nope. The curriculum is not suspended this time so it will not be just childcare for the KW kids. The KW kids will be working through the same remote learning packs as the kids at home. But the difference is that kids are way more compliant about doing work when a teacher (as opposed to a parent) is telling them to do it, they are in a room with other kids working away (=peer pressure) and they are in a classroom not a home filled with toys and games and TVs and fun stuff. Yes, I think people should keep their kids off if possible, but I can see why many parents are tempted to bend the rules.

Yep. The 15 or so children from my son’s class who are in school are in their usual classroom, with their usual teacher and TA. They are doing the same tasks, but of course being in a familiar learning environment with qualified staff on hand is going to be superior experience to that of the children working at home, with busy, stressed parents who are unfamiliar with curriculum, different aged siblings around, loads of other distractions and only two, 10 minute whole class video calls with the teacher each day.

I don’t begrudge the key worker and vulnerable children who are in (although I wish my incredibly distressed autistic children was among them, for his sake) but I do begrudge the lack of recognition that there’s going to be a huge difference in learning experiences between the two groups. Surely the government will have to suspend the curriculum again if this is going to continue for a whole term?

Stop generalising??!!

You managed two mortgages on one minimum wage? Who do you bank with? Santa Claus?

Absolute rubbish!

Sorry, was agreeing with @Kokeshi123 in case that wasn’t clear.

Both DH and I work from home in senior management positions, we are muddling through but working from home isn't dossing about. In between meetings today I have probably around 70 mins combined in which to help the kids, feed them and myself. My working hours are 8-6, DH the same.

What kind of impact on stress levels do you think it has to then start on homeschooling with the woefully inadequate provision we are provided with. Kids don't want to do it as are tired and hungry (as are we) so our mental health and the toll on the family is horrendous. I feel very lucky we still have our incomes (for now which means we can keep the kids warm and safe) but it means I feel I'm failing my kids and my job. It's untenable and my peers are finding the same.

But I wouldn't expect many of the people on this thread who are trolling to understand that.

Where have people said they can't spend a few hours weekdays/weekends with their kids? I do extra work with DD anyway even in normal times. Everyone should IMO.

@Friendnextdoor situations like your friends are exactly what I meant by some parents who need support from the school in exceptional circumstances. There will always be some families who don’t fit into the ‘both parents being key workers’ box but it will severely affect their family situation for the non-key worker parent to stay at home.

I’m not suggesting that parents are putting their children into school because they can’t be bothered but the situation will only continue to get worse if the number of children in schools isn’t greatly reduced, there has to be some criteria from the government beyond ‘child of a key worker’, especially with the key worker list being so extensive.

I think there's a certain amount of snobbery around it. I was sent a keyworker certificate by my boss with an email that suggested she thought it would be morally wrong if I used it...

I'm highly unlikely to as I can work from home/my kids are old enough to be left for a half-day, but my kids' school actually has spaces for keyworker children, so I could later on if I do need to go into work.

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer even if parents do just work mon-fri 9-5 those are times that they cannot homeschool/adequately mind their children especially for they are young (5 and under). If you work 8 hours a day, home school 3 hours a day (per child, so 6 if you have 2) then fit in preparing meals, exercise, keeping house running, general parenting you're looking at a 20 hour day. its all very well workplaces being 'flexible' but if that flexibility is saying 'you can do your hours around childcare' which many are then what? You work 2-6 am, parent 6pm- 7pm then 7-11pm to make up your 8 hours. I have 2 under 5 theres around 1 hour a day I'm not needed or directly supervising one or the other of them. I am a key worker and cannot be furloughed, my husbands work wont furlough but he is not considered a KW.

@movingonup20

The reality is that many people do very important jobs you have never even considered. The term keyworker is used to describe health professionals, teachers and supermarket staff with admiration by the public but they forget the huge supply chains that produce the items they need not to mention local government functions, benefits, infrastructure - from the sky engineer (not everyone has an aerial, we don't) to the tanker driver all are needed to keep the country running. Dp imports and processes the raw material to make hospital grade filter masks - rather crucial but his employees struggled to get places for their kids (now sorted). We are interdependent on each other basically so unless parents are sahp or furloughed they need places. You can't be in an important meeting and homeschool and break up the inevitable squabbling over the only laptop which is old and not working properly!

Absolutely this.

A colleague of mine has had to jump through hoops to ensure her dc can be allowed to go to school. Our work is critical - we are not NHS, teachers or supermarket workers - but our work facilitates all of these industries. We are wfh but it would be difficult for her to work with two young dc at home.

Our employer has been excellent, much more accommodating than expected to be honest, but my colleague wants to remain at work even though she could be furloughed as she knows we would be in the shit without her. I honestly don’t think that many parents are sending their kids in if they don’t need to. I just think we all need to understand that critical worker doesn’t always equal NHS.