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.

So OP when you or someone in your family gets Covid brought in by your teenager and they die (heaven forbid) you can say well he was bored, he wanted to go out? How do you think your son would feel knowing he brought a deadly virus indoors?
Does he not understand that not only do old people die, healthy people are also not immune from this virus.
I go out to work, I have done throughout.
I get protected at work, why should teachers be any different?

apologise

Well this is all dependent on the R going right down. Wasn’t it announced that it’s going up again yesterday? Judging my the amount of people out and about (lots of old people with their shopping trolleys waiting for buses) I think it’s going to continue going up and no schools will be going back till Sept at the earliest.

I think you need to parent your children better then. My teenagers are not out in the park hanging around in groups.

I'm a teacher who believes schools should be back (and possibly have never shut down as drastically). However if people are not social distancing outside of school then that will push me straight to the keep them closed side of this debate.

I'm ok with schools opening on the basis that parents step up and ensure that their children, and themselves, keep social distancing outside of the classroom. I can have a positive test and isolate myself and my bubble. But if kids are mixing then it shuts down the whole school and many more families.

One error I've made in all of this is thinking from my perspective and my parenting. I'm moving closer and closer to the "it's too soon" arguement each day.

Not the teachers fault you can't parent properly.

@ShutUpaYourFace do you know the odds of dieing from Covid 19 are very small, very very Very small if you are fit and well. Your son is more likely to be involved in many other scenarios, illnesses that could cause him harm. Yes he may pass it on to his 80 year old grandmother who may or may not become un well. And so it is grandmothers choice whether to see people, take risks - well 2 weeks of sheilding may not have massive detrimental effects, 4 weeks of loneliness and lack of exercise, what about 6 weeks? 6 months? A year? When is a good time to stop STOP living your life out of fear?

Can I also throw into the mix the fact that it is only England that is sending their schools back? Scotland, wales and Ireland are being much more cautious.

Secondary schools in Ireland break up for the summer at the end of May in any case (open for public examinations only) - secondary schools in Scotland appear to start the autumn term in mid August - that could be arranged in England if you prefer!!

Sweetiepye

5/10

WWW: Lovely attempt at the use of sarcasm - that’ll definitely push you towards a 5+ in your exam.

EBI: Check your accuracy of punctuation and make sure you’ve actually read around the subject before deciding on a point of view.

You think schools should be open because your sons friends parents are shit at parenting and are letting them all meet up? So just to dump all the kids not following the rules on the teachers? Because it's easier than having to parent? Us parents who are parenting and have sensible teens dont want to send them to school to mix with the kids you've described. We want our kids to be safe. I'm working everyday too so I don't want to hear 'well some of us have to work'. I turned down my childs place at school.

Those saying schools should just open and then compare them to schools in other countries, really should look at the different approaches that the governments have allowed the schools to take.

No other country has said three years will go back in one go.

Supermarket workers get to socially distance and wear ppe. You have a point that not all shoppers adhere to it inside but the workers on the till etc. Some of the younger staff dont either but then again they probably figure covid is a small risk to them

I doubt teenagers will worry about social distancing at all in school. In fact your post confirms it.

Im sorry your child is an inconvenience to you but teachers should be entitled to the same level of protection as other workers and not be considered expendable by feckless parents who cant be bothered to parent their child let alone the government or employer's.

Easy to ask others to put themselves in harm's way though. Maybe you can should to replace those teachers you think should leave to work in supermarkets etc

The state schools should go back after Eton and Harrow. With their large rooms and smaller classes they can show us how to set it all up first.

I'm sorry your son's friends and their parents are such uncontrolled morons. Must be hard.

The fact that kids may or may not be socially distancing outside school is irrelevant. What matters is that you control what is under your power and influence and this thread, like most others on this subject, is full of people focusing on what can’t be done rather than what can be done.

SmileEachDay brilliant response. Proof that teachers are still working

Parent your children!

My teen DS wants to go back to school but he says the others won't socially distance. I tried to find out why that was but he just said he absolutely knows they won't. I think that's why secondary are not going to go back fully for some time yet

The government have phrased it so that is down to the schools to ensure the children and staff are safe. If it all goes wrong the schools will be blamed.

OP if you are adamant your teenager can only meet one friend why do you think it would be a great idea to throw him in with a thousand or so other people?

That doesn’t make sense 🤔

Not all teenagers are hanging around in gangs btw

@G3m81 I agree with you.

No one sees this side and what its like working with the public. I've had a teenage girl breath in my face, gangs of kids pushing past and generally messing about and winding us up. When asked to leave I was kicked several times. No social distancing or care for the people around us. Your child may wear angel wings like a lot of kids but a lot of these kids take them off when they leave home and put devil horns on.

It isn't a case of not wanting to go back to school (although I'm in every Monday/Tuesday anyway), it is about taking some sensible precautions. Look at Europe, in the countries that are openning schools. The groups are smaller (even at secondary). The teachers have masks, visors and some even have screens. Some students, especially the older ones, are wearing masks. They have built additional sinks and sanitising stations. Students are socially distanced at all times in large classrooms or outdoors, and the very young aren't in school, as they can't be distanced (or they are in small bubbles). Here we are looking at groups of 15; in any of my classrooms I can have 7/8 students distanced at most and then none of us can move, and I can't be at the front unless I remove 2 students. We are being told we are not allowed PPE at all. We really don't have the hand washing facilities for just year 10 (nearly 400 students) and before lockdown we installed hand sanitiser on the wall; over half were ripped off the wall within the first day. We found 2 in the car park all smashed. And we don't have the outdoor space to move outside. Our canteen can have maybe 50 students at a time if spaced at 1.5 metres.

We are trying to go back in. Seriously. We just want the staff and the students to be safe. I've buried a healthy family member in their 40s, I have children who will not go back until I am happy they are safe, and I don't want your children going back until they are safe.

@ IncrediblySadToo

Well certainly behind the local private who kept up all their daily teaching through a vle. Though I accept that’s only a small number. My Y9 is also in a school that makes them do a gcse in y10. So when they go back, they need to catch up and potentially sit an exam in May 2021 having lost a term if teaching.

Responsibility? In reality my kids will be fine. No domestic violence at home. They weren’t reliant on their free school meal to eat. Parents look likely to have public sector jobs to go back to. They all have tech to work in, with their own bedroom space and we have good quality wifi.

Now consider the kids who have none of that and have missed a term of schooling. I think we do have social responsibility to these kids.

And responsibility to people who are now living on UC or out of work and may not have jobs to go back to.

Also don’t believe this will ‘blow over’ in September. Possibly second wave in our winter and further lockdowns. When exactly will it be safe and ‘responsible’ to go back?