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.

@NoSleepInTheHeat

I completely agree, OP. People saying schools shouldn't open because they don't want to send their DC but they also don't want other DC in as theirs would be at a disadvantage. People having a KW place but not wanting all other DC allowed to attend because it increases the Covid risk for them.

Again, I don't think there is a single person on any of these threads wants schools to remain closed. My own DC haven't been in school since March 20 and I am not against schools being opened either. Infact I believe had we opened with mitigation in September or at the very least added mitigation around October/November we could have avoided this latest school closure completely. What most people do want though is safer reopening of schools for ALL children, staff, families and the wider community.

@Tiktokersmiracle

So because I worry about the death or illness of my DC's, teachers and other staff, they should fuck off and leave? You do know a 16 year old with no underlying health issues died this weekend right? Sorry but no. My two will go back when it's safe for all.

The vast majority of children are at an extremely low risk of either death or severe illness due to covid. You can worry but do keep a sense of proportion and balance. 16 year olds do die from time to time. I sadly know of one that died of cancer and another had sudden death. It does happen in normal times sadly and will always happen.

There are always some children that are very sick and very vulnerable - some are in hospital with cancer and other illness and always have been. Some attend hospital schools - you cannot keep every child off until it is safe for every child because that will never happen.

I don't want my kids to stay at home, but I do want schools safe, and they aren't. If it is all kids in, no mitigating measures then they just aren't safe. I do not understand why the government is insisting on a all or nothing approach. It will be more disruptive in the long run.

How are you managing now?

teachers are key workers. Our children are in keyworker provision if we are in school. Not rocket science.

People saying schools shouldn't open because they don't want to send their DC but they also don't want other DC in as theirs would be at a disadvantage

My disabled child is already disadvantaged but he can expect to live a long and productive life. He also expects to be a member of the workforce. He therefore deserves the same chance at education as everyone else. He also deserves to be in school with his peers to improve his mental health. Same arguments these forums have been inundated with over the last year. Why does the mental health of physically healthy children matter but not that of those with health conditions or disabilities?

At no point have I suggested schools should remain closed. However, the needs of vulnerable children and children with vulnerable, unvaccinated family members do need to be taken into account.

Honestly it's not rocket science. Schools on the continent have been open with effective mitigation methods since September. Masks + staggered playtimes + airing etc, and it's doing the job.

Not in the case of a child who attends a special school. I went down that route of trying to deregister and home school last time and it was verging on impossible. It makes no odds that I am his sole carer and have health issues that mean I would be unlikely to survive covid.

@noblegiraffe

are there any such right wing idiots pushing for schools to reopen no matter the impact

Yes! Yes there are. Anti-lockdown, anti-restrictions, anti-masks. That sort of group.

Youve noticed them as well noble colour me shocked its not like theyre getting so frustrated by your calm and reasonable posts in threads like these and then start threads to try and discredit a single PP

@Lockandtees

You’ve completely missed the point OP. These people are concerned about the impact on the entire population if schools go back. They’re not just concerned about the safety of their own children. Therefore, keeping their children at home completely misses the point. It will not make a dent on the overall impact on the R value of schools reopening.

FYI I’m pro schools reopening but accept that some people think it’s not worth the risk.

Yes. In other words, OP has had enough of home educating her kids, so sod teachers, support staff and those with underlying health issues, she has spoken and everyone should go back regardless. Forget that transmission hugely increased from the end of September onwards because of kids having no clue they had it sitting on public transport. Sod that a third of the population can be passing it around to people. It's all about what they want.

Here OP, have a

Totally agree OP, the ones blithering on about schools staying shut clearly don't have work worries !!

@KeflavikAirport

Honestly it's not rocket science. Schools on the continent have been open with effective mitigation methods since September. Masks + staggered playtimes + airing etc, and it's doing the job.

Schools on the continent aren’t labouring under the toxic influence of militant unions whose lies and propaganda have kept teachers and parents terrified for months.

@lollipoprainbow

Totally agree OP, the ones blithering on about schools staying shut clearly don't have work worries !!

What a vile comment

I don't have "work worries" as my business has effectively ceased to exist since March 2020.

I also have "death worries" of my DC and DP.

I don't understand, OP. I want the school to be open. But if that happened as it was like in Sept, it won't be long until there's many SI due to the cases and it will be more disruptive for children to be in and out of school with no actual stability.
Some countries kept the school open most of the last year, without much disruption. But it's only because of measures taken. Not because of luck.

Tell that to the family of the teacher from my kids school who died of Covid. @multicover

People need to accept that everyone has their own individual circumstances to consider. What will be a welcome relief to one family, will be a complete nightmare for another.
No-one should judge anyone no matter how they feel.

@Tiktokersmiracle do you really think I care if you post a biscuit emoji to me? Is that meant to upset me? It's childish to be honest.

Let's just lock our kids away forever shall we? In fact let's all lose our jobs and our minds and just somehow survive mentally and economically in a state of eternal lockdown.

Wonderful idea.

Schools on the continent aren’t labouring under the toxic influence of militant unions

The militant unions who want the sensible mitigation measures that were implemented on the continent?

I don’t think the unions are the ones stopping the implementation of mitigation measures.

Let's just lock our kids away forever shall we?

That’s what you seem to be suggesting for vulnerable kids. Why do you not give a shit about them?

Schools on the continent aren’t labouring under the toxic influence of militant unions whose lies and propaganda have kept teachers and parents terrified for months.

Let's just lock our kids away forever shall we? In fact let's all lose our jobs and our minds and just somehow survive mentally and economically in a state of eternal lockdown.

Doesnt take them long before they start heading for hyperbole and attacking those that want the schools to reopen safely better luck on the next attempts fellas

People need to accept that everyone has their own individual circumstances to consider. What will be a welcome relief to one family, will be a complete nightmare for another.

This is absolutely true, and I agree with you, but some people will be considering more than just their individual circumstances. It's perfectly possible to be happy on a personal level about schools reopening, while having wider concerns about whether this is the right step. And vice versa, there will be plenty of parents who are concerned about covid on a personal level, while supporting the idea that schools should reopen for the greater good.

This ability to look beyond your own immediate situation is what the OP seems to have completely missed.

Most of our schools are doing staggered breaks and airing - if not, they should be.

What people don't seem to get is that it is logistically horrific to even try to do a staggered return. So let's say you send back the youngest year groups - you still need double the amount of staff to teach if the bubbles are to be smaller. Then presumably the existing keyworker bubbles are still in? So, take your standard 2 form entry school: one Y5 teacher redeployed to a younger class, the other teaching the Y5 keyworker bubble. Who is going to provide the remote teaching for the rest of the Y5 children?

YANBU op, teachers aren't more at risk than the general population and the harms to the vast majority of children are far greater from being off school than covid. "Safe" is an overused and nebulous term and seems to be trotted out by the teaching unions whenever schools reopening makes the headlines. We'll never have a consensus or a clear statement about what denotes "safe" in these situations and it's become the most meaningless and overused word in the the last 12 months. Parents and families where there are vulnerabilities need decent provision to enable them to carry on with homeschool if they need to. Families where there are no vulnerabilities but are ingraining disproportionate fear into their children about death are essentially causing their children emotional harm and yes, social services may eventually need to intervene with those families.

Wanting children to have an education and social skills, wanting a functioning economy, once the vulnerable are vaccinated, is not right wing.

People saying they care so much about the vulnerable in society are overlooking the awful long term effects that these measures will have. I support a cautious un-locking and would prefer a staggered return to school.But many posters on here seem to think it will never be safe. If that is your view point then home school, stay home etc. Life needs to be led again.

The thing with a staggered return is that it doesn’t have to be socially distanced to be effective.

Having e.g. primaries back but not secondaries would massively reduce the amount of mixing going on overall even if those individual year groups were in classes of 30.

People need to accept that everyone has their own individual circumstances to consider. What will be a welcome relief to one family, will be a complete nightmare for another.No-one should judge anyone no matter how they feel

It's not about judgement. It's about recognising that depending on who you are and your experiences so far with covid, your health issues, health issues of your children etc etc you might require some measures to be put in place to mitigate risk as much as possible. The simple fact of the matter is that no one gets hurt if they wear a mask - but there is no doubt whatsoever that it will help prevent some infections. To enable some children and their families to go to school and feel safe, wearing a mask would make all the difference. It's really not a lot to ask.

Instead, we have people threatening court action if anyone dares to suggest 'muzzling' their child. So the vulnerable children and their families have to make choices based on shit like that. My vulnerable child was told to remove his mask in school - I got it sorted, believe me - but I had to threaten disability discrimination and court action to get it. And I became 'that' parent (which I'm really not). Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone in his class recognised his vulnerability and wore a mask too rather than people actively shouting about how it's not fair for their child or demanding that he's removed and home-educated?

Why is it with these discussions that people seem to forget there is more to life than Covid? Education matters, homeschooling is not really homeschooling for working parents - it is emergency measures in place during a pandemic and therefore my kids don't get an EDUCATION, they get mum and dad trying to juggle a thousand things and we are not qualified teachers giving them support!

People also talking as though there is no way out of this, seem to forget the vaccine?! Or would you rather eternal lockdown until we are at zero covid, ruining the economy and our kids futures? Covid gets blown way out proportion in these threads. For the majority of us it will be harmless, and those that are vulnerable are now being vaccinated! For god's sake, life needs to return at some point!