AIBU for asking . . .

[Bettyboop3]

How many of you would have had children if schools didn't exist?

@Bettyboop3

Parttimemostofthetime sadly i feel you are in the minority. I am thinking more of the parents that don't really want to spend their time with their children and count the days until the school holidays are over. There are also plenty that seem to forget school is about education and not childcare.

Your original post was disingenuous. You weren't really asking if people would still have children if school didn't exist, you were asking if there are any other smug parents out there that revel in every single second spent with their children. Completely different.

For what it's worth, one of the wonderful things about lockdown was that I've spent more time with my children than was ever possible before because life isn't free and I'm the main breadwinner but they need school just as much as they need me.

School isn't childcare, but it is a space that allows them to learn and flourish in a way that wouldn't be possible if left just to my husband and I. We can't provide the innate socialisation that being in a school environment creates naturally, nor can we effectively teach our children all the things that they need to be well rounded individuals.

With the benefit of hindsight, no I wouldn't have children without the support to their development that schools offer. Lockdown revealed I am not cut out to educate and work simultaneously. My husband is not cut out to educate full stop. Nothing to do with childcare, everything to do with their personal development and growth.

If there wasn't an education system then we would probably revert back to a hunter gatherer existence but with better clothing and hairstyles. Kids were shoved out of the hut as soon as they could walk to go hunt so yeah, I could probably handle that.

Lol.
I would have had a dozen children. Because with no schools I’d be illiterate, uneducated and need the extra hands to help run my family farm.

@Bettyboop3

Parttimemostofthetime sadly i feel you are in the minority. I am thinking more of the parents that don't really want to spend their time with their children and count the days until the school holidays are over. There are also plenty that seem to forget school is about education and not childcare.

Oh you're one of THOSE posters.

The #makingmemories with my precious famalam, shedding tears when the babies go back to school because precious family time, #lovinglockdown with all my little chicks around me.

Yeah, you can fuck off with that and your sneery superiority.

Most of us are delighted our kids are back at school. That doesn't mean we don't like spending time with our kids.

I didn't want, and didn't have children even though we do have schools.

Communities around the world who dont have schools tend towards more communal childcare arrangements anyway (generalising here) so your whole wanting to send kids back at the end of the summer holidays thing is irrelevant anyway because there is a difference between, for example, a single mum trying to hold down a job and care for a couple of children over 6 weeks with limited funds, and a culture of all adults, or all women, pitching in and children being looked after in groups, sharing the load. No doubt if we didnt have schools this more communal style of childcare would have persisted.
This is also a time when far more structured hands on childcare is needed. Children used to be turfed out of their house to roam all day and come home when it was dark. Now due to a greater awareness of dangers, and a greater level of dangers (faster cars etc) that just doesnt happen. Again with less education there would be less dangers, no cars etc, children might roam more, in groups, requiring less childcare.
You are kind of bitchy in equating struggling with looking after children in the 6 weeks with not liking children, the two are so not the same.
And no before you assume you are hitting a nerve, I dont even have children and I can still see how disingenuous and mean your second post is

I don’t know where I fit into your question - I do love spending time with my kids and I’m also counting the hours til they’re back at school. I can’t think of anyone I’d want to spend 24/7 with 365 days a year and that includes my partner. I’m definitely of the “absence makes the heart grow fonder ilk”

I decided not to put my three daughters into the school system from the beginning (they're teenagers now), so school hasn't ever and never will play any part in our lives. Frankly, after seeing the state of system at the moment, I have never felt happier about that!

How’d you get new brain surgeons and engineers and other highly specialised individuals without education and higher education?

If you are asking if I’d like to spend my days doing home learning with my DD… no. I love spending holiday time with her, I adore her and we have fun together. However I’m a shit teacher, lockdown showed me that. I also love my job and cannot work and home educate at the same time (also lockdown!)

@Bettyboop3

Parttimemostofthetime sadly i feel you are in the minority. I am thinking more of the parents that don't really want to spend their time with their children and count the days until the school holidays are over. There are also plenty that seem to forget school is about education and not childcare.

Oh I see what you're avidly getting at.

Fwiw schools aren't just about education, as all the time in lockdown has shown they are also a valuable opportunity for socialising.

Personally I cannot wait for the school holidays to finish because my kids are so restless and fed up with being off school, they are desperate to go back, which has turned them into grouchy, whiny creatures. So having them back at school will be so good for them, and that will make parenting easier and more pleasant all round.

I think you might have the mistaken belief that quantity of time spent with children is more important than quality.

@Mistleine

I decided not to put my three daughters into the school system from the beginning (they're teenagers now), so school hasn't ever and never will play any part in our lives. Frankly, after seeing the state of system at the moment, I have never felt happier about that!

I think home ed is great if you have the time and the skills and of course can afford for someone to be home all day with them. I have friends who home ed and have wonderful networks to share learning but i do wonder how kids who are home ed will cope at Uni or College, just from an experience perspective