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.

@HazeyJaneII that is what teachers get every time they say they want schools to be safer they just get told they obviously want schools to be closed for ever.

@HazeyJaneII my sympathies to you. I have breast cancer and my DD absolutely hated covid school last term. I can't have a vaccine due to my immune system and I would send my kid to school if I felt she would actually enjoy it and benefit. She will hate if even more than last term. There is so much hatred between the two sides it's actually really sad. Last night they practically admitted sending them in before Easter is an experiment. If that's the same experiment as sending them in for one day in Jan than I rest my case.
I am really happy for the people who are desperate for them to open. I hope your kids will love it and thrive. I know mine won't and it's a risk that's silly for me to make with not much reward.

I know @ineedaholidaynow, it's the same old tropes coming out over and over again.

This thread was started with the well worn premise
AIBU to think they should just homeschool their DC then?..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.

73% of the 1020 votes think that's just fine and dandy, and it's just so depressing for the families with medically vulnerable individuals, after months of hearing this, especially yesterday, I think it just tipped me over the edge a bit!

@lpsandmore
I wish you well.
It's a really hard tightrope to walk - wanting the normality of school, wanting to stay safe, trying to keep everyone going. D's went back for 1 month in September, because we felt it would be important to try - he got ill and we all had to self isolate for a week, his reflux and anxiety were sky high, lashing out and vomiting, then their bubble closed with a case, so home again. Then someone sent in their 3 kids whilst they were positive, closing 3 year groups....it was disastrous!

Solidarity with all those on here that are negotiating that tightrope walk.

@KeflavikAirport

Certainly for adults there is no evidence of any increase in suicide rates.

The BBC reported on a 20% rise in infanticides in the first lockdown: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54827702

@Tiktokersmiracle my 7-year-old son successfully wears a mask all day at school and has done for months. His school clamp down hard on messing around and have a spare supply of masks for kids who forget them / break the straps / come from chaotic homes and don't have them. We live in a very deprived ward where kids are severely disadvantaged by home learning for many reasons, including lack of internet access, poor housing, and non-native-speaker parents. His school has been open throughout despite us living in a huge Covid hotspot. They've had one kid test positive and no teachers in a school cohort of about 300.

But is he Neurotypical? Because my DS isn't

Agree with op . There is a clear choice , people can then take responsibility for there actions. I feel that we should move to a situation where people make their own deciond

Can I ask @twelly - have you read the thread?

Yes but it seemed to me you were saying no kids could manage masks. There is an integrated class for children with disabilities (Down syndrome and similar) in his school which has been open but I am not sure whether they are wearing masks.

@KeflavikAirport

Yes but it seemed to me you were saying no kids could manage masks. There is an integrated class for children with disabilities (Down syndrome and similar) in his school which has been open but I am not sure whether they are wearing masks.

No one is saying that. People are just trying to make others aware of other peoples points of view. I think your 7 year old child is in a minority if he is able to wear a mask all day and I'm happy for you that he is happy to do so. Also, you are very fortunate to have an integrated class. There are a lot of kids who have SEN but are more than able to access a mainstream class and a integrated setting just wouldn't be suitable as they are not working on p levels, which is usually the level in those types of classes.

I think your 7 year old child is in a minority if he is able to wear a mask all day

Well my whole point is he isn't, all kids age six and up are wearing them all day in my country, and it really seems to work. They don't enjoy it, and yes they rip them off dramatically when they get out of school, but they wear them consistently inside all day. Result: in-school transmission was cut to the point where we had no class closures across a region of four million people.

@KeflavikAirport i think you've misunderstood me. I am not saying they don't work.
I am very happy schools are opening and are including things like masks for people who are able to access school with those things in place.
My whole point is that this is simply impossible for some and we would like an alternative for those of us who need one, without fear of losing a school place or being fined.

Yes, I agree with that.

@m0therofdragons: As lpsandmore said, things in many countries are more localized. In the US, it's a district by district decision with influence from the state and federal level level. Taking any of a forum, or most places, as absolute isn't a great idea, but there is a lot out there on how widely different various approaches have been.

The area I graduated high school from, a tiny Midwestern-redneck suburban dot in a sprawling metro area, gave 2 options - Option 1 meant that children were in class full-, half-, or online based on the rating the county was in. Option 2 was virtual school. For those that want a source, you can read the information parents were given last year here: resources.finalsite.net/images/v1597970092/oakwoodschoolsorg/efsz0fjmlyq9tipwssu5/OakwoodSchoolsReopeningFAQ8-20-20.pdf You can see that pulling out homeschool is given if someone didn't like either option, but it isn't treated as the same thing as the virtual school option.

Things like this take resources and political will. In that area, those are there - the county is one of the worst hit in the state and the school is near the border of two other counties not much better, there are a lot of hospitals and medical centres in the area which are major employers, so even being largely, loudly Republican part of the large metro area (an area that somehow went more red in the last election), the will for this was there. Other parts even in the same metro area didn't have one or the other or both of those, some that planned for it and then changed at the last minute.

Even ignoring COVID somehow for a moment, there have long been options available for children who can't or struggle to access a classroom that haven't been properly made available to them that could be, if the resources for it were prioritized. Instead, we've a 'don't like, leave and do it on your own mentality otherwise shutup grin and bear it'. Many of those parents and children have been badly affected, suffering and at the breaking point for years -- my older children are overjoyed to be going back, but I'm not in a fantasy land that there won't be plenty families still suffering without access to appropriate educational resources. Suggest people home educate to solve an issue with schools just shoves the problem under the carpet more often than not - that's why schools have been called out off-rolling, but fuck all has been done to actually monitor or reduce the problem in any meaningful way.