Kids playing together

[SunshineSally46]

I have seen no end of photos on social media lately of people allowing kids from different households to play together. Although the rules state we can now meet up outside I thought the 2 meter distancing rule still applied yet these kids are hugging and playing together in paddling pools and things like that. It's not ok yet is it?

My dc would love to see their friends but even though they are older I can't guarantee they will all keep their distance when excitable and playing so I haven't let them yet. Have you?

It's a shame some parents seem to have gone all the way to letting their kids play as normal though)

I don't think people have though. Most are talking about letting their kids play with friends from one or two other families. That's certainly the case with me, all of us are working from home/getting food delivered and not mixing with others/using public transport etc. Other than 2 of his friends my child isn't seeing anyone else and won't be going to school until August. As I work in infection control I think I'm perfectly capable of making a risk assessment. If my child was 'back to normal' he'd be out with a large group of friends playing football everyday.
Personally I'm more concerned about Facebook posts I've seen of nurses socialising and not social distancing than my son playing with friends outdoors and keeping his distance. Our very own PM has specifically said he's encouring people to go shopping for non essentials which is imo far riskier. In fact other than schooling I don't think there's been a second thought for children in all of this.

@olivehater

Schools are doing it because the staff have a right to a covid safe workplace the same as everyone else. It’s all working well at my school - extra cleaning and hygiene and encouraging social distancing and children all happy.

I have a medically vulnerable child at home. I’m angered that he is more at risk due to others not following the guidance and then sending their children to school - is he worth less than your children?

‘Social distancing’ is not one single thing. There are a lot of measures contained under ‘social distancing’. We were doing ‘social distancing’ when we were being advised to work from home and stay out of pubs and cafes before lockdown. We’ll still be doing ‘social distancing’ when hairdressers and non-essential shops are back open. And I think the right of children to play with others is more important than my right to get my roots done and pop to Primark.

If your child is coping fine with this, that is great. Many children are not.

DD is only 16mo. We had a friend and her little boy over to play in the garden last week. We (adults) stayed apart but we didn't enforce SDing with the two kids as we both were comfortable the risk was low and we are both WFH for the foreseeable and shopping online etc. We will probably do it again with the same friend next week. .

Full Fact has some good info, including:

'The evidence to date suggests that children have a limited role in spreading the virus.
One widely cited studyy_ investigated the contacts of one 9-year old boy with Covid-19 as part of a wider contact tracing study of new coronavirus cases in the French Alps. The boy visited three schools whilst symptomatic, but the researchers found no evidence of transmission of the virus to other pupils in follow-up interviews and testing.
Other contactt tracingg studiess foundd that children were very rarely the first person to develop Covid-19 symptoms within a household (known as the index case). However, these studies also suggest that it is at least possible for children to transmit the virus: a revieww_ found three instances where a child under 10 was the index case within a household.'

I don't think it means a free for all with large groups of children, but some outside play dates with one other peer while adults remain SD is low enough risk IMO to make it preferable to the risk of stunted social development or mental health problems in children. Others will disagree but are happy standing in the queue at B and Q for three hours,
which is something I wouldn't do.

I don’t care if you are doing this, but please don’t do it and then send your child to school.

Why can’t they FaceTime or chat with a friend on the phone , or send a letter?
My daughter is 3. That's not how 3 year olds socialise, they need to play.

Sorry, that copy and paste went bonkers! Hopefully still readable

You don't get to make up your own rules during a global pandemic ffs!! I'd say crack on if your actions weren't going to have ramifications for the rest of society. I hate you all.

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Again please tell me how long I should keep my little ones locked up? Until a vaccine? Do you think every one is going to give their kids a brand new vaccine if it does eventually arrive.

Why are you just aiming this at me?clearly I am not the only one on this thread. Half my friends are teachers. I was in the woods with a primary teacher friend and her kids today.

If you have to medically sheild somone in your home then I suggest that you take that up with your school.

Yes I'm letting 8yr old DS play with 1 pal at a time. I'd send him.to school tomorrow if i could so I'm happy for him to do this if the other parent is. Had enough now of no school. Risk of severe illness amongst kids is so miniscule that I feel it's unecessary to deny them play.

@Lucindainthesky your child hasn't seen or interacted with another child since March and wont for the foreseeable and you are happy with that? Unless she is extremely vulnerable then I find this bonkers. A few face times is not the same thing

Genuinely stunned by this thread now. It seems like almost everyone is letting their kids mix?!

I am so happy about all the restrictions that have been lifted. I am definitely not a lockdown enthusiast and only do it out of necessity, not fear. But we were given a lot of freedom. There's no justification for taking it further. In my experience, children over 3/4 are very good at social distancing and very good at understanding why they need to do it. They can play many games and talk to each other and have fun all day in the garden without breaking the rules. The distancing rule has been left because it has been deemed important, not just for the fun of it.

I totally agree that mental health is more important. As we're not vulnerable, I rank my own and my children's mental health as far more important than our physical health. But our mental health is not more important that someone else's physical health. And that is what we are risking.

I've arranged for ds2 (9) to go play in his friends garden next week. Hes sensible enough not to lick his friend and not get to close wash hands etc. He hasn't played with another child in 3 months so I think it's worth the risk.

I understand the views on here, it's a long time for kids not to play but it's pretty heartless to say "If you have to medically sheild somone in your home then I suggest that you take that up with your school." olivehater Vulnerable children are a genuine concern, it's not fair on them for people to be having a free for all. You are in a fortunate position to only be worrying about your child's socialisation, some parents are worrying about life and death for their child

Nobody is asking anyone to keep their children locked up!

Take them out, let them play, let them see their friends - just keep your distance!

My six year old does those things but it makes her more distressed if anything - it just doesn't work for them.

I don’t care if you are doing this, but please don’t do it and then send your child to school

And this!

@olivehater

As someone who works in a school were we are bending over backwards not to mix "bubbles" and being so careful about cleaning and hygiene, it makes me sick to think that my school has put so much work into keeping children and staff as safe as possible and then the moment they are out of the classroom they are mixing with multiple families and sharing paddling pools

No one is forcing the schools to do this. I certainly don’t care whether they do this or not. My son is y1 and not going back yet due to the area we live in is not opening schools yet, I also have two other younger children to consider as well. My middle child is going in reception next year. She needs to be ready for that and needs socializing. I won’t alter that when his school starts back. My two year old is just starting to learn how to play with peers other than his siblings.

They have suffered long enough. Why should adults get to start getting their lives back and children remain locked up for the foreseeable?

I ‘aimed’ it at you because you clearly say in this post that you won’t stop doing this when your schools open.

I have no issue with people doing this and choosing to take on the risk for their own families but it’s really not on to increase the risk for school staff. You may believe it’s a tiny risk but you shouldn’t get to make that decision for me.

My son isn’t extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding) but his surgeon believes he would be hospitalised with the virus. He’s been hospitalised with colds and coughs before. The government guidance says I have to work and I’ve had a thorough risk assessment with my school and with HR.

There are other staff living with parents over 70 or others in the vulnerable category or BAME. I think if you are choosing to send children to school, follow the rules because you are then part of a school community. Our risk assessments rely on people following the rules.

Why can’t they FaceTime or chat with a friend on the phone , or send a letter? My six year olds have done all those things?

@ToothFairyNemesis she can and does, but none of those are a 6yo's first choice of methods of social interaction. Certainly not long term.

Why can’t they FaceTime or chat with a friend on the phone , or send a letter?
My daughter is 3. That's not how 3 year olds socialise, they need to play.
The posters child was 6 like my children , not 3.

@beela no of course it’s not her first choice, it’s not for my twins either. But if that choice saves lives then it’s a choice worth making.

What makes you think I am in a free for all. I am letting my children play in the woods with a few close friends kids same as everyone else. I am not getting them to lick each other’s faces. They largely don’t touch each other. But it is completely impossible to keep little ones two meters apart.

Don’t ask me as an invidual how to protect your medically vulnerable child and not expect an answer. My son has Mild asthma. I have decided that is not enough to keep him home. I he had something more serious I would reconsider and I would reconsider going out to work.

DD1 is 6, she went back to school yesterday. Her first time socialising with someone except her sister for 12 weeks (we were self isolating with symptoms before schools closed).
Last night in bed she was sobbing. I asked what was wrong and she said ‘I didn’t realise how much I missed my friends until I saw them again today, I don’t want to miss them like that again’ 😭

The government should have persisted with the household bubble idea. It’s better than nothing, and in the absence of that, they’re telling many parents of young children that they cannot socialise at all. Unless you go to nursery, where you can mix with multiple other households...

I have been very supportive of lockdown, but I think the government messaging on children really has been shocking. Other than school reopenings and childcare provision, insofar as it is paid and benefits the economy, absolutely nothing. Not even ‘if you have toddlers, we UNDERSTAND that they can’t reliably socially distance...’

@Sameold2020

You don't get to make up your own rules during a global pandemic ffs!! I'd say crack on if your actions weren't going to have ramifications for the rest of society. I hate you all.

What ramifications will it have for the rest of society if two families, who have each been wfh all this time and going nowhere other than the supermarket and local fields, choose to let their two children play together? And continue to see nobody else?