I'm livid.....

[beautifullymad]

My youngest son has covid. It transpired that a fellow class mate said his whole family had covid but he didn't have to isolate (he doesn't as he's under 18)

He then proceeded to laugh and joke that he would give them all covid by coughing on them. He coughed repeatedly on my youngest (year 11) and now, he's gone down with covid. We are a CEV household and my elderly mother took them all out yesterday. She's also CEV.

I'm furious. My son wears a mask, he avoids people because he knows the risks at home. For this classmate to laugh at him and purposely cough on him knowing his whole family were covid positive is disgusting.

I am so mad I want to report this as assault. If the young person had been over 18 it may well be classed as assault. Aaaagghhhh .

@Dntevenknowit

Gosh I’m so shocked by people wanting to criminalise a child for a cough. Yes he’s done something stupid but reporting to police for a stupid act like this at age 15 and lots of mature women calling for this when it could tarnish his life chances wow.

There is 0 proof it came from the child - just you assuming based on that conversation. I also doubt very much your son is wearing a mask and doing all the things you say in lessons as teenagers just aren’t doing this as they don’t want to be different and if he has done it maybe thats what led to this boys silliness thinking your son is over anxious and wanted to take the mick. Teenage boys think weirdly.

Before i’m jumped on, i’m not supporting this boys behaviour but a criminal record for a cough seems crazy.

He wouldn't get a criminal record, as you point out we don't have absolute proof he infected my son. But he did threaten to, and he purposely coughed over him whist telling him he was infecting him. And as his family are all isolating due to them being covid positive it's not hard to conclude this act was almost certainly what infected my son and others.

I'm still very cross.

The 15/16 year old wouldn't get a criminal record if the police were involved but would get a shock from a telling off from a uniformed officer. This might make the child think about their actions.

@Soontobe60

Actually to some degree I don’t think it’s relevant whether Op’s son caught it off this boy or not. As people have said, most pupils will end up catching it at some stage.
What is relevant is that the boy behaved appallingly and there should be a consequence.

Jesus OP you need to get over it.

@beautifullymad

I've ordered Pcr tests for the whole family.

What a mess.

I have emailed the school. But as the child is obeying government guidance by attending school I'm not sure what they can do.
Shit poor guidelines for under 18's. If a family member has a positive pcr the whole family should isolate. I wouldn't dream of sending any child in if I had covid.

It's just a 'cold' to many who don't seem to understand CEV and elderly can get extremely poorly. Sadly we've lost family to covid so my son understands all too well the risk.
Thank you all for your kind words.

Me and my 7 yr old are CEV.

We took them out of school and started to home educate. Because under guidelines. I could keep my CEV child off. But had to send in their sibling. Madness.

So back in March 2020. I deregistered them. Best thing I’ve ever done. For a whole host of reasons. But the biggest reason being. We sidelined all the stress that was coming with worrying if my child got it. My CEV child. Don’t care about myself being CEV. But the stress of whether they would get it was immense.

Not only that. But my older child was 2 years behind and after being taken out of the school setting. They caught up in 4 months at home. They’ve all excelled. We are MORE social now that we’re in the home Ed community.

If you ever want a friendly ear. I’m here xx

I thought being coughed on with the intent to pass on covid was a crime?

With regards to the police?

Or am I wrong?

The issue is that even though the rules changed, families can still keep members at home. They don't need to follow the new rules. Schools are hoping families will behave responsibly but most are being reckless.

In Scotland that kind of behaviour by a man deliberately coughing over a police officer led to a conviction for police assault. Go to the school and ask them what they’re going to do about the idiot child’s behaviour

The kid who coughed on your son was a spiteful idiot, and I’d definitely report him. At the very least he needs to be spoken to and punished.

I disagree about making kids isolate when household members are infected though. They’ve missed too much already. DS2 has Covid at the moment (not that you’d know - he’s absolutely fine). DS1 is in year 12. He missed about half of years 10/11 due to lockdowns and contact-triggered isolations. The stress surrounding his on-off-on-off GCSEs was phenomenal. He’s been vaccinated. And he spends most of his time in his bedroom when he’s home anyway. I’m glad he’s still able to go to school and meet up with his friends now.

OP, ignore Jasonmomoasgirlfriend. You don’t need to get over anything.

You have every right to be angry, and it should be reported. It is irrelevant that it can not be proved that your son caught covid from this boy. The boys actions are irresponsible and he should be made aware of that by an authority figure in the school.

I would be incandescent over this. It's not the point he would have probably got it anyway it's the disgusting attitude and behaviour of his classmate. And I say that as someone who is quite laid back about all this stuff!

I would be tempted to call the police but unlikely anything will be done unfortunately.

You say he won’t get a criminal record however should he chose to go into teaching or other areas where DBS etc are called for ‘soft information’ like this can be brought out.

In addition, mumsnet need to really recognise that we need to learn to live with covid and stop all the pearl clutching. I was coughed near in a supermarket yesterday - should I be phoning the police and asking for CCTV if I contract covid? Its an illness that isnt going away - the Government have removed restrictions - this boy was allowed to be at school because of that. Blame the Government not him and dont start threads on an online forum about a 15 year old boy as a grown woman.

@Dntevenknowit oh come on, I am all for us just getting on with things but purposefully coughing over someone and laughing about giving them covid is disgusting behaviour, the kid should be pulled up at the very least.

@Dntevenknowit

Gosh I’m so shocked by people wanting to criminalise a child for a cough. Yes he’s done something stupid but reporting to police for a stupid act like this at age 15 and lots of mature women calling for this when it could tarnish his life chances wow.

There is 0 proof it came from the child - just you assuming based on that conversation. I also doubt very much your son is wearing a mask and doing all the things you say in lessons as teenagers just aren’t doing this as they don’t want to be different and if he has done it maybe thats what led to this boys silliness thinking your son is over anxious and wanted to take the mick. Teenage boys think weirdly.

Before i’m jumped on, i’m not supporting this boys behaviour but a criminal record for a cough seems crazy.

People. have been arrested and sentenced for purposefully coughing on people/food whilst saying they would give covid to the person on the other side. The fact they had or not wasn’t relevant.

It IS very serious.
You don’t go round threatening people of hurting them.

Definitely speak to the school, the child is old enough to know that coughing on people is the wrong thing to being doing.
We are having the same issue at my dc school. Kids coming in when other family members are positive then inevitably they are spreading it around the classroom. My dd had 18 off in her class last week and the teachers are going off sick at an alarming rate. We had an email from the school yesterday asking for us all to supply our dc with headphones because so many teachers are off and they need to teach via Google Classroom.
They need to reintroduce masks and social distancing in schools over the winter.

@Dntevenknowit

Does learning to live with Covid include learning to live with being deliberately coughed on by another person while they laugh about infecting you?

It was bound to happen though. I think most people are going to contract it, whether they know they have it or not. It’s going to run it’s course. It’s going to infect as many people as possible. Yes ,, it was extremely foolish and naive behaviour from a CHILD, I can practically see it in my head, I know what kids are like. Although he said he’d give it to everyone, o think in jest and without really understanding the potential consequences. Doubt it was done maliciously. I don’t think you’re unreasonable to be peed off. But I think it’s a case of WHEN you catch it, not IF.

I think you should report the child. It's clearly wrong on so many levels.

It's against the law here (in NZ) to do what that boy did to his peers. Yes he is young but a caution at least would not go amiss.

A shock from a uniformed police officer??

Christ! That's NOT what the police are for

I personally think, if there hasnt been already, public information given out, to say that the elderly and medically vulnerable are at a high risk from covid.

But I dont suppose the government will do that, will they, as it doesnt fall into line with their "agenda". [sigh]

Yeah, this is terrible. It is solely the government’s fault for relaxing rules in schools to the point where they are meaningless because they don’t want class bubbles self isolating but are too cheap to sort out ventilation or class sizes. You can’t expect a child to not act like a child so their will be no repercussions as him and his family are sticking to gov guidelines. It is a ridiculous and terrible situation though and you definitely should be angry. Write to or visit you local MP about it.

The child in question should have done a PCR to return to school. That’s the current guidance. I know it’s difficult for the school to enforce as the word used in the DfE document is ‘encouraged’ but our school won’t allow a family member to attend without a negative PCR.

I completely understand your anger. I would report to the school.
There was a case where an underground employee was coughed at and threatened by an individual claiming to be covid positive. That poor person died. I think the individual was charged with an offence.
I know the circumstances are different but it may add weight to your argument with the school. I’ll see if I can find the link.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54499888

She was spat at and no charges were brought. Disgusting.

all those saying 'what can school do?'

Some schools are expelling kids who deliberately cough or spit on other children because of the pandemic.

This is not about whether or not he should ahve been in school/isolating etc,
This is about him coughing dleiberatly on your dc.
Under Covid rules that is classed as abuse and the school should take it very seriously.

I would complain to school, pointing out that if he does that in public he could be arrested.
By the way anyone over the age of 10 can be arrested for assault.

@JasonMomoasgirlfriend

It sounds like he's a bit of a twat but he'd have been touching all surfaces etc. It was bound to happen Imo

Not necessarily. My teenager had Covid and managed to not give it to anyone else in the household (there's 6 of us) - because she didn't act like a complete TWAT!!!!!