Are you going to send your kids back in when they reopen?

[Keepdistance]

Wondering if people will send them back.
As they think only 4-10% of population might have had it. And this peak was only 4w of school.
Im not shielding but isolating as much as possible because im
asthmatic.

I hope they say attendance isnt mandatory so people who need to/want to or are still WFH can keep them home if needed.

We also cannot compare to other countries - china etc as the kids wear masks to school.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Denmark, agreed, in a society much closer to our own.

100% yes..Non of us fall into a vulnerable category. They are missing so much and not just education stuck at home.

@jassyradlett Yes because kids are great at hand hygiene and social distancing aren't they?
Jesus! Schools are germ pots, and parent knows that.

This virus is something we have never seen before. I hope this thread doesn’t go down ‘if we just save one life it will be worth the months and months of lockdown’

Yes. None of us are vulnerable, and kids need normality - their mental health is a precious as their physical health.
The risks for a healthy child are minimal (the risks of a car accident are higher, and we do have a car!). We will continue to socially distance otherwise though so in case they catch it, we don’t spread further than absolutely unavoidable

You should all send your kids back in September, when school actually opens.

The government seem to have a blind spot wrt schools. They repeat inadequate data on whether children are infected or are spreading it to their end.

We don’t have the rigorous testing to know.

I’m ok with not waiting until a vaccine but if they are gung ho on timing it will be easy to see it’s not safety leading the decision.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Denmark, agreed, in a society much closer to our own.

The Denmark situation would be harder to recreate here with classes of 10 etc.
Denmark is what ours are like now with the key worker kids. We could argue schools are still open here. It's not like Denmark have all gone back on mass.

I would not send my dd in now, I will judge the lay of the land at the time. Who knows what will happen.

I didn't know that 630 20-30 year olds are estimated to die if they all return to work.
630 people might not sound a lot, but it is if it is you or your child.
Also many 20-30 year olds still live at home with parents, some of whom will be in the shielded or vulnerable group.

The risks for a healthy child are minimal

You really couldn’t care less about the risks of staff could you?

What is this word mongering. It seems to be the new signalling. If you're saying it you're just stating something. If someone else is saying it it's mongering. My new pet peeve. To anyone who says the word, I say go get mongered.

@Bathroom12345 If this was all about saving 1 life, nothing would have happened.
But I am a parent and it is my responsibility to make sure my kids and their parents stay alive if at all possible.
Yes they would both prefer to be back at school. But they are not going back until the risk is low. I am a pragmatists so I am not expecting no risk, but I am not taking a massive gamble on the basis of an "expert" saying that kids in schools spread a virus less than adults in a workplace, which is so obviously untrue it is laughable.

If I feel that things are under control then yes. If I feel they are not safe and the risks are too high then no. I will need to see how the school are going to deal with school transport and hygiene.

@lateallthecookies The main risk is to children with health problems, staff and adults who live with kids. I do care about the staff and I can't imagine any teacher or TA who is vulnerable will want to go back to work until it is safe to do so.

They are talking about 18 months to 2 years to vaccinate everyone. That is because it takes time to make.

No, those estimates from CEPI and others are about having one that can be used in a mass vaccination campaign. Experimental vaccines for very high risk groups may come sooner.

But there is lots of research to show that you only have to vaccinate a small percentage of the population to safeguard most people.

Can you share some? I’ve not seen anything to suggest that vaccine-based herd immunity levels would be any lower than the level of immunity (and therefore infection) wild-acquired COVID-19 herd immunity.

That last week in school before they closed was having far more of a negative effect on the mental health of my children than a few months of lock down and home learning will.

Worried about how ill the teachers and classmates absent were, who might be off next, panicking about germs in school, washing their hands raw, classes combined due to teacher absences, they barely did any proper lessons. My son who normally can't wait to tell me about his day was coming out of school silent, clinging on to me at the end of school.

They're not only safer but much more relaxed at home. We're discussing coronavirus and the restrictions with them in an age appropriate way but they're more protected at home. As a SAHM Mum I can ensure they make the necessary academic progress over the summer. Yes it helps hugely mine have each other's company.

Wouldn't consider sending them back before September at the earliest and will depend on what the situation is then. I wish the government would make a clear announcement confirming home learning will be continuing until at least then. We're only talking 3 months after all. It's such a short period in their lives, their health is the most important thing. They'd need the usual summer holiday to relax and maybe if some restrictions were eased such as they could visit the supermarket with me and we could drive out to their grandparents in the lakes over the hols, getting out and about a little would help prepare them for returning. Also prepared for them not going back before Christmas though due to flu season and further waves of the virus.

@JassyRadlett There is lots of research in modelling to show that if you vaccinate those who are super spreaders such as shop workers then you reduce the transmission rate significantly.
Also you may not need to vaccinate everyone anyway. We don't vaccinate everyone for flu.
Or we may have a treatment soon that means the risk of dying is far less. Lots of forms are working on this.
Anyway I am going to listen to WHO. If they are saying it is safe for kids to go back, then fine. If not, then no.

I do not think employers, banks, building societies will take the worries of parents into consideration when they opt to stay home at home caring for children, the furlough pay, mortgage breaks cannot financially stand this sort of thinking until we have a vaccine.

Yes, as soon as they announce it is safe for children to go back to school I will send mine in. I have to go to work but also we can't continue to live like this forever.

@alloutoffucks what do you think the government are lying about?

Yes because kids are great at hand hygiene and social distancing aren't they? Jesus! Schools are germ pots, and parent knows that.

They are ‘germ pots’ for infections that children are particularly susceptible to. There is a lot we don’t know about this one yet, including transmission rates among the asymptomatic and whether children tend to be asymptomatic potential carriers or whether they are less likely to get the infection at all.

Absolute statements about this virus, including how it spreads and where transmission rates are likely to be higher, are quite daft. Scientists are doing their best with the information they currently have.

@JassyRadlett Nothing to do with herd immunity, it is about decreasing the chances of you catching it.

Yes- because its in their best interests to get their education.

I wouldn't send them back this side of the summer holidays. So the earliest I'm going to send them back is mid August.