Do teenagers care? Open the fucking schools.

[FreierFall]

All my son's friends are now meeting up in groups. Probably in each other houses. Of course I am the worlds worst mother for saying he can only meet one friend outside at a time. Pretty much everyone he knows is assuming they can do what they want now. Why bother keeping secondary schools shut now? It's pointless. Instead we are going to have groups of bored teenagers roaming around all summer. I am in despair.

Another teacher bashing thread.. this is getting tedious.

Ok. To summarize. My child is following the rules. Many, many teenagers (and adults) are not. So.....if children are roaming around unsupervised, they may as well be in school where they can get back their education.

Only outside spread is less, they are only risking themselves and it's arguably better for their mental health than bring stuck in the classroom.🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm past caring if teenagers meet up.

It's outrageous they have to live like this when they're probably more at risk from being stabbed than they are from coronavirus. No one seemed to give a shit about that but suddenly when they pose a risk to the older generation, we're imposing this crap on them.

YANBU If kids are congregating in parks and meeting up with their friends they should be at school. Teenagers in particular are missing on so much learning time, home learning can not be a long term substitute. Many parents will be returning to their workplaces over the next weeks and it will be impossible to supervise any online learning. We all face risks returning to our workplaces I don't understand why teachers feel it's so much worse for them.

For what it's worth, myself and my family are sticking to the rules, but I'm now against the lockdown...what it's specifically doing to our children is absolutely disgusting...denying them an education, denying them the chance to socialise when the risks to them personally are low is just disgusting.

Children are more at risk from traffic and speeding drivers but we all know what many drivers think of speeding cameras, yet here we are expecting children to give up everything to save people who won't even drive more slowly...

So.....if children are roaming around unsupervised, they may as well be in school where they can get back their education.

Or their parents could just supervise them...if they haven't succeeded in bringing up decent kids who don't actually need extensive supervision.

I'm not a teacher but I do have a child in year 10 and I'm keen for her to get back to school as soon as it is safe to do so. However, I don't think that the decision to re-open schools should be based on the inability of parents to parent their own children effectively.

@GrimmsFairytales
“The local hub school is in the next town! Meaning, it’s basically no use at all for key workers.”

That obviously depends on how far away the next town is, and how parents travel to work / school. I wouldn't automatically assume it being in the next town meant it was of no use.”

Let me explain the issue. It is complicated, but hopefully you will see why it isn’t any use in the majority of cases -
The next town (school hub) is 5 miles away, in the opposite direction of the next larger town, which is 8 miles away (making at least 13 miles in between) and where majority of key workers are employed (nhs, care homes, supermarket workers etc.).
Most key workers can’t work around dropping a child at school at 9am, then going to work late, to then leaving work at 2.15/2.30pm, to collect children at 3pm. Then they have to take them back to my town, to drop them off at nursery for after school care, before then travelling back to work. Probably meaning they are away from work for possibly 1 and a half hours (assuming they have a car and are not relying on public transport). Normally grandparents could maybe help out, however that is impossible at the moment.
My daughter is an ICU nurse, while her dh is also a key worker in town 8 miles away. As you can see, school hub just isn’t an option. Both her children (3 and 6) are in the private nursery from 8am to 6pm at the moment.

@AlexaShutUp If parents have to work how are they supposed to educate and supervise their children at the same time?

I work in a supermarket and its only just got some PPE and we have worked right through it all and peak. We still have to work and getting with it and even in more contact with others more than teachers would be

On

Until the schools can guarantee that it's really safe I doubt a lot of parents will send them in anyway. The staff in schools are concerned about safety and how they can bring in social distancing. It will be a nightmare.
I know it's hard with teenagers making them listen to you and not meeting up but I'm sure all these measures wouldn't have come in if the politicians and experts didn't think it was the right thing to do. Please try to keep them in and safe. Young people are just as likely to get it as older people are.
Teachers have been working over the last few weeks and over Easter. I know some people might be jealous of their pay etc but they didn't ask for this to happen and don't want children and colleagues being in any danger of catching it. Who can blame them really? Maybe the schools need a survey of the parents to gage how many are prepared to send their children into school? It might shock you how many won't!

It's know it's not easy being a parent and they want to go out etc but it won't be forever. At least they are not being conscripted into the forces at 18 (as my dad was in WW2) go and fight for the country and possibly get killed! Different situation I know , but all they are being asked of is to be careful and stay home and do school work at home to keep others safe.

OP if your DC and surrounding adults are following the rules, then your opening post makes no sense

Why would you want to risk what you and your family have achieved by packing your kid off to school to mingle with the fuckwits?

Yes I get pissed off when my teenage DD is sobbing because her friends are sneaking off to meet up. I am in Scotland so going to a park etc still not allowed.

But I also held her while she sobbed when the exams were cancelled as she didn't do well in her prelims.

I gently remind her that pain has to be worth something.

What sort of education do you think will be provided? it won't be anything like before.

Can you actually imagine what the atmosphere in a secondary school will like? School should be a welcoming environment, a constant a safe space.

"He coughed on me". "She's deliberately coming too close". The teenagers who have complied will continue to and those who haven't will also continue to.

The amount of cases is higher than it was when we closed the schools. I cannot see why it would now be safe to open them.

I've seen teenagers playing basketball in the local park.

Ok. To summarize. My child is following the rules.

But you want to send them back to school with the many many teenagers (and adults) who aren't?

Your post makes no sense.

We still have to work and getting with it and even in more contact with others more than teachers would be

There's some research which suggests that actually, people working in public places where they have only brief, and often non- speaking, contact with others (eg like shop assistants) and in reasonably large, well-ventilated areas (eg like supermarkets) are less at risk than those who share the space with largeish groups of people (eg school classes) in smallish, enclosed rooms (eg class rooms) over many hours per day.

Have a read of this:

www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

The formula is:

Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time

I still don’t get your point op. If your teenager is socially distancing why do you want them mixing with teenagers who aren’t ???

And parent your children better, it’s not the schools job.

This ⬆️⬆️⬆️

For years our school has gotten phone calls from parents saying ‘I can’t do anything with him’.

My teen - 15 - has not met up with a single friend. Not one. I go for a run with him daily to make sure he gets exercise and fresh air. He chats to his friends on FaceTime or over the xBox.
He won’t be going out until I say it’s OK as his parent and he won’t question it.

The school should not be the first port of call for behaviour management. That should be coming from the parents and I don’t feel that my health or more importantly the health of my son who is accepting of the rules, should be put at risk because some parents out their can’t manage their own children (Or perhaps don’t care enough to).

Kids mixing outside school is not a good reason to open schools it’s a reason to keep them closed. That’ll mean the bubble idea doesn’t work. Not that it would with so many siblings in different classes anyway

@ DBML. You work in a school with teens and don’t accept it is a life stage where people push boundaries and strike out to be independent. They’ve even done some research on adolescent dogs and they are just the same! Of course you get outliers and some kids who don’t want to go out. But completely normal to want to be with friends. Also Xbox lends itself to online meet if they are into it. If they aren’t - many are bored.

As for the schools opening up, it really doesn’t matter how much people on Mumsnet whine, they’ll open when they are good and ready to.

My school is currently making provisions to make the building as safe as possible. They need to:
*Create a one way system with signage
*Develop new fire safety protocols and new fire exit routes, with all of the paperwork/signage that comes with that
*Measure out and place 2m markers / direction arrows
*Order and take delivery of one person desks that can be spread out within the classroom to ensure social distancing is possible
*Screens to be fitted around the teacher’s desks
*Outdoor classrooms to be built/created
*Sanitiser stations to be set up around the building and water fountains to be covered

There are also ongoing negotiations with the unions and teachers have been consulted to see what would make them feel safer going to work. This information has to be collated and then decisions made.

Most schools are simply not ready to ‘just go back’, especially if the students are proving themselves incapable of following social distancing rules.

But it sounds like you don’t give a shit anyway. Bung them all in the classroom and let the teacher deal with it?

many are bored.

Boredom is not a reason to open schools.

@Gwynfluff

Under normal circumstances I completely agree with you.

In the middle of a pandemic I have higher expectations of my son and he is intelligent enough to realise that there is a difference and he like everyone else has a role to play.

Teenagers are capable of understanding, empathy, reasoning and appropriate decision making, if given the correct guidance/information.

They might have the odd hormonal strop, but that’s for the parents to be able to deal with.

Why can't there be protective screens in classrooms and everyone wears a mask?

@BBC

We are planning for that.