If you don't want your child to go back, homeschool them.

[Mrgrinch]

I've seen so many people on here ranting about how they don't think the schools should open. Many even saying they won't follow any other rules anymore if they do.

AIBU to think they should just homeschool their DC then?

Do they not realise how badly this is affecting so many children and families? Do they not realise how many children have been having no education at all? Some parents are at breaking point trying to keep their jobs and make sure their children are doing some school work.

Homeschooling was always an option, even before covid so if you are so concerned then unlist them and provide their education yourself. We can't stay home forever.

I do however have a teen who is severely depressed because one of their fave teachers passed away of the virus.

@Tiktokersmiracle I'm sorry to hear that but the fact is that there are thousands of children who are suffering at home. Many teens have attempted suicide, some successfully. They need to go to school.

@AlexaShutUp problem being DC's like my son who has Aspergers and cannot stand to wear one for longer periods of time.

Also, there's enough issues with adults who wear and rewear masks without any thought for how manky they are.
Secondary pupils are going to put them on pockets, beside them In benches, in bags, whilst they have a drink or lunch. They're going to end up manky pretty quickly.
It won't deliberately be done but many don't realise that single use are single use, in that you wear it and when you take it off it goes in the bin. And the reusables are even worse. People forget to replace them and wash them. They're also not as helpful as people believe as they only offer a small amount of protection

A large cause of death among teens is sudden death caused by the heart stopping. Before Covid in England a charity visited secondary schools and teens were tested. Or you could get it done independently via the charity. Since Covid this testing has stopped. So teens must still be dying from this. Teens do sadly die. We need to get teens back to school as it isn’t all about Covid now.

@Mrgrinch

I do however have a teen who is severely depressed because one of their fave teachers passed away of the virus.

@Tiktokersmiracle I'm sorry to hear that but the fact is that there are thousands of children who are suffering at home. Many teens have attempted suicide, some successfully. They need to go to school.

Do you still think we should Just Homeschool OP?

Many teens have attempted suicide, some successfully. They need to go to school.
I'd love to see you back up that statement. More or less on radio 4 covered it for adults. Its nonsense. Certainly for adults there is no evidence of any increase in suicide rates.

"Homeschooling was always an option, even before covid so if you are so concerned then unlist them and provide their education yourself."

That's from your OP.

Do you still think that? After what I and others have said?

Absolutely right OP.

I’m pretty sure I started a thread about campaign groups who use kids in every which way they can so long as the recommended solution is ‘schools open, no mitigation measures’.

It’s pretty horrible to watch.

Campaign for better funding for CAMHS, it’s been overwhelmed for years. Campaign for better funding for social services to tackle domestic abuse.

Do not try to make out that schools open no mitigations is the magic solution to society’s ills just because it suits you to present it as such.

Unfortunately, there will always be some young people who attempt suicide, and some will complete it. I have yet to see any evidence that the number of teen suicide attempts has increased. That would be very important data to look at; anecdotes, not so much.

@Tiktokersmiracle, I get that mask wearing is genuinely difficult for some people, and there should be exemptions for those children. However, I think this needs to be based on diagnosed conditions, or at the very least, conditions that are properly under investigation, rather than parents just randomly deciding that little Johnny should be allowed to go mask-free because said parent doesn't like the idea.

The problem was that when I was having chemo, I wasn't really feeling quite up to "just homeschooling" my kids. And there was the minor issue of being in hospital for days each time...

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch doing okay thanks! I just celebrated my 34th birthday and had cake and wine, which would have been quite unimaginable 6 months ago And yourself?

I'm really pleased to hear that @Jourdain11 . You are often on my mind. What a shocker of a year you had, even for 2020!

I'm ok thanks. (As much as anyone is at the moment).

They must never close schools again because there is a contingent of teachers that will always try to keep them closed

I’m in a different country, but last fall we were given a choice. Remote or in-person school (when Available, even the in person occasionally switch to remote). The remote school option is fantastic. All the students were issued identical devices so teachers can guide them on how to do things. We follow the same bell schedule as the school. Kids get online teaching from every teacher every day. If it would have been a workday instead of a lecture day in class the teacher is still there on zoom to answer questions while they work. Kids have the same assignments as the students in school. The teachers assigned to remote teach are only teaching remote students at that time so their focus isn’t split, but they may have in-person students during other periods depending on their subject. Some teachers are only doing remote. Providing this option instantly dropped the number of students in the school building by half thus making it safer for the kids who did need to attend.

It’s ridiculously short-sighted to be turning this into an all or nothing system. By facilitating different options, everyone could be safer and keep learning.

@Thomasina2021

They must never close schools again because there is a contingent of teachers that will always try to keep them closed

What a load of old wank

@Thomasina2021

They must never close schools again because there is a contingent of teachers that will always try to keep them closed

What? What contingent is that and where is your evidence for that insulting slur on the profession? For the record, it was the GOVERNMENT who closed schools (to most , though not all pupils), and it will be the government who open them again. Sorry if those facts don't fit with your invented narrative.

@AlexaShutUp

Except for the thousands of SEN, EAL and hard of hearing kids and staff that completely rely on lip reading. My DD had the most miserable term of her life last term thanks to the fact she could basically not understand any of her friends at break time when masks where mandatory. It's only a small price to pay for NT kids.

I do accept this point. I'm afraid I have no idea about how many SEN/hard of hearing kids/staff currently rely on lipreading in mainstream schools, and whether exceptions could potentially be made at a local level. I do have a lot of experience of working with EAL kids, and while there might be a small impact on them, I don't believe that masks would be particularly problematic for those without additional needs.

Out of interest, what alternative measures would you suggest that would protect SEN/hard of hearing kids who need to lipread while also providing some protection to those kids who are clinically vulnerable to covid? Especially in schools where classrooms cannot be adequately ventilated?

I appreciate your intentions are completely kind but in all honesty why are you asking me this? I am not in government, I am not an epidemologist, I did not sign up to take on these things and think of these solutions. I appreciate they didn't sign up to a pandemic but they can step down at any point and be replaced with someone willing to take it on. I have no idea what the solution is, and I am not expecting a perfect one. Maybe the problem is, is that the government is listening to all and any opinion, except the one that matters. Eg politicians over teachers. There is no leadership shown. Leadership is tough and you have to make choices that people won't like but this is not for me to solve. I am simply saying what effect the schools opening, if they open the way they did previously, have on my kid and many many others. I don't know your experience but EAL kids are massively effected. When they are in a mainstream class they pick up pronounciation and word formation from copying others. With great scaffolding and clever teaching they make quick progress. That's impossible to do online and in masks in class. I came to this country aged 10 not knowing English and I know how I learnt and what would've made it more difficult. I distinctly remember perfecting my th sound by copying my friends lips in the playground.

Look I am not saying that the whole country's policy should be centred around SEN kids, and this is a stupidly complex situation but OP asked why I would keep her at home and not homeschool, and this is my long winded answer.

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch

"Homeschooling was always an option, even before covid so if you are so concerned then unlist them and provide their education yourself."

That's from your OP.

Do you still think that? After what I and others have said?

Definitely lots of food for thought on here and it's really sad to read about some people's situations.

I'd say I still think the schools should be open, without doubt. I don't necessarily think they should give people the option to send their children, as that would definitely be exploited. But I do think they should take extreme circumstances into consideration and try and be as accommodating as they can.

@Mrgrinch

Oh right so now the story is that it can't be an option to go to school as it would be exploited, so the medically vulnerable children have to attend school to protect those vulnerable children who's parents would exploit that option and not send their children in?
So again it's back to protecting the vulnerable but with no protection for the other vulnerable group?

[quote gallbladderpain]@Mrgrinch

Oh right so now the story is that it can't be an option to go to school as it would be exploited, so the medically vulnerable children have to attend school to protect those vulnerable children who's parents would exploit that option and not send their children in?
So again it's back to protecting the vulnerable but with no protection for the other vulnerable group?[/quote]
I don't understand your post. They need to be in school.

There shouldn't be an option to choose when you want to send them back, that would be disruptive and people would exploit it.

[quote gallbladderpain]@Mrgrinch

Oh right so now the story is that it can't be an option to go to school as it would be exploited, so the medically vulnerable children have to attend school to protect those vulnerable children who's parents would exploit that option and not send their children in?
So again it's back to protecting the vulnerable but with no protection for the other vulnerable group?[/quote]
In OPs defence, I don't think this is what she meant at all. It is very difficult to manage children who are vulnerable socially in this situation and it would get taken advantage of. There needs to be things in place for CV kids and their parents. In my view, if a care home member of staff has to have a vaccine to work there, the same should be available to staff that teach and parents that have CV kids or are CV themselves. Hopefully we will get there soon with vaccinees but in the meantime there has to be a middle ground.
I don't think it should go back to last year's scenario when no one had live lessons because some didn't have devices.

"The first results of the UK vaccination programme suggests it is having a "spectacular" impact on preventing serious illness.
Research led by Public Health Scotland found at four weeks after the first dose, hospital admissions were reduced by 85% and 94% for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs respectively.

Among the over 80s, there was an overall 81% reduction in the numbers admitted to hospital.

The preliminary data from the EAVE II project covers 1.14 million vaccinations given in Scotland between 8 December and 15 February.

In total, there were just over 8,000 people who ended up in hospital, but only 58 were among the vaccinated group after the four-week mark.

I mean with a very large percentage of group 1-4 already vaccinated and vaccinations open now to groups down to 6 schools should start reopening to all. You will always get the ones that worry unnecessarily despite evidence to the contrary to show they are not very likely to actually get very ill. Someone in their late 40's on here suggested they felt like sitting ducks! Why - the evidence shows the risk to them if not CEV is very very tiny. Indeed their child had it and they didn't. Covid certainly makes people worry more that evidence suggests they should. IRL people appear to worry much less than some on MN. Is MN a group of more anxious people generally? Genuine question since there is a large group that appears to really ramp up the risk. Obviously those with CEV or over 80 have reasons to following the evidence but so many others have lost perspective somewhat.

It’s not that simple, maybe if they allowed this then it would be great but we had to jump through hoops to keep DD of when schools opened in September.
You shouldn’t need to deregister your child if you want to temp home school due to a pandemic.
Luckily we eventually got authorities to agree her staying home and to keep her school place.

@Mrgrinch my DD is not going back because she is vulnerable I am not giving up her school place though and she will go back when I deem it safe to go back.

"You will always get the ones that worry unnecessarily despite evidence to the contrary to show they are not very likely to actually get very ill."

What about those of us who aren't worrying for themselves particularly (despite being about to go back into a crowded school to be a 'sitting duck' with little to no effective mitigation), but who do have concerns about the inevitable wider spread within the community? Have you not seen the reported age groups of those currently filling up ICUs?

Of course many children's mental health has improved by being at home.

sphr.nihr.ac.uk/news-and-events/new-report-shows-young-peoples-mental-health-improved-during-lockdown/?cookiebanner=true

I think most teachers would be a lot happier if they had been vaccinated before being shut in a poorly ventilated, enclosed room with 30-odd children all day, no social distancing, sitting next to children hearing them read, performing first aid, clearing away plates, comforting, holding hands (no doubt after the child has just kicked their nose), no masks etc etc.
If it's that safe why can't children mix with the other 30-odd outside of school, why do they want to urgently vaccinate children due to spreading asymptomatically, why did rates go up when schools returned, why were the numbers of infections so high amongst children (despite most being asymptomatic)?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/coronavirus-vaccines-make-adults-children/story%3fid=75854521