How the hell are parents meant to work?

[worzelsnurzel123]

With this latest blow from schools and yet further delays, I predict employers will cease to be “ fair” and they will run out of the patience BJ vaguely muttered about hoping they’d have. So what are the options?

1. Resign from jobs? This could have massive impact on income, likely to affect women and the future of women’s’ rights and progress in the workplace, creation of mental health issues and socio economic problems
2. Will some parents be pushed in to feeling the have no choice but to leave kids home alone? Esp those who are borderline age group eg 8-12. Not ideal at all. Clearly this will impact on MH, safety, parental work performance.
3. Leave kids with grandparents who are likely to be over 70 in many cases, shielding or vulnerable. Risks of passing the virus on would lead to guilt , worry on both sides.
4. Wait for everything to fuck up work wise, scrabble for child care here there and everywhere, lose employers good will due to time off needed and eventually get dismissed for poor attendance, breach of conduct and or poor performance

This is a disgrace. An absolute disgrace

@GoldenOmber

Suppose we could drive them all to Barnard Castle and drop them off with Dom’s family?

Yes or maybe Boris or Nicola would offer to babysit a few million kids and practice the blended fucking teaching and show us how great it is.

Ooh, yeah, if it’s that bloody feasible to do alongside a job let’s see the people suggesting it have a go themselves.

See the thing is OP, it's saving lives.

Once you are dead, that's it. Gone forever after a horrible death. Terrible pain and suffering for family left behind.
Education, you can catch up.
Jobs, at the end if the day you can get another one or go on benefits.
But death...

The lockdown and school closures have saved MILLIONS of lives.

OP, perhaps you are at low risk of dying from COVID yourself, but just because someone is older or has underlying health conditions does not mean their life isn't precious to themselves and their families.

I was wondering how long it would take for the 'schools aren't childcare' argument to raise its head......and it's just as ignorant as the 'what would you usually do during the holidays' comment.

In case you didn't realise a functioning education system with wrap around care closed with literally days notice. There has been no childcare available and even now it can be difficult to come by (not to mention expensive) and grandparents aren't allowed to provide childcare.

What do you suggest we do?

goldenombre
Thanks for sharing the West Lothian link; I'm City of Edinburgh and waiting to hear days for my P3 son for August.
They really topped things off with a bloody in service day on the first day back after 5 months out of school, didn't they? I have no words (not blaming the teachers at all, by the way)

'Blended' learning = a few hours teaching per week then nothing for many. Disgraceful that they are trying to badge this as a positive thing.

@NeverFit
Please do enlighten us with what other arrangements we can make? No honestly, I would love to hear your suggestions?
People having children would never in a million years, when making the decision to bring a child into the world would consider ‘Humm ok, but what arrangements would I make to work if the world stopped and schools shut for months’
Not sure what world you are living in tbh

Completely agree OP.

@LavenderLilacTree

See the thing is OP, it's saving lives.

Once you are dead, that's it. Gone forever after a horrible death. Terrible pain and suffering for family left behind.
Education, you can catch up.
Jobs, at the end if the day you can get another one or go on benefits.
But death...

The lockdown and school closures have saved MILLIONS of lives.

OP, perhaps you are at low risk of dying from COVID yourself, but just because someone is older or has underlying health conditions does not mean their life isn't precious to themselves and their families.

Oh do one.

We have no idea if keeping schools closed is saving lives because we've got nothing to compare it to.

@Time2change2

Exactly.

Yep doubt closing schools saved MILLIONS of lives in CAPS LOCK or not. How ridiculous.

I'm in Lincolnshire.

thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/06/ten-lincolnshire-schools-report-covid-19-infections-since-reopening/

I appreciate people want the schools back - but this is what has happened in our County in the 8 days since we re-opened.

And once again we'll what you do in the school holidays - play schemes, camps other parents family members. And I agree that schools aren't childcare provision they should be educating our children which right now they aren't. A twinkl sheet, craft activity and no online learning provision is absolutely not doing that.

It is the complete lack of willing to do anything outside the box is making me so cross at both schools, local authorities and the government.

@BlessYourCottonSocks

How would they know that was connected to schools opening?!

There is absolutely no proof that school closing has saved millions of lives.

Jobs, at the end if the day you can get another one or go on benefits.

That’ll be the benefits system which is so woefully inadequate they created a whole other set of benefits to deal with the situation? This government managed to create a whole different set of benefits for folk who aren’t able to work, built new hospitals in jig time, who can’t, in 5 months find a way forward with education which doesn’t disproportionately impact women and leave people scared they’ll lose their job, falling back on the benefit system that was so shit they had to replace it.

The “schools aren’t childcare” argument has been blown out of the water by schools being charged with providing childcare - it would seem actually that the childcare aspect is more important than the education function which working parents can apparently manage with ease.

I terms of what I expect? I expect there to be clear guidance for schools, for that guidance to reflect the realities of working life and to provide a consistent standard of home education resources for parents.

*@NeverFit

"It's a pandemic folks! Just because we chose to have children, doesn't give us priorities over that of other colleagues that don't have childcare responsibilities "
*
Agree but we also shouldn't be discriminated against. The gov are applying a policy in closing schools that disadvantages working parents and they have provided no employment protection or alternatives to remove this disadvantage.*

"And for goodness sake, schools are not childcare providers. They are there to educate children. If they can't do that job successfully, people have to make other arrangements!"
*
^Working parents took jobs on the expectation that kids would be in school between 9-3 and made childcare arrangements after these times and in school holidays. Until today government was saying schools would be back before summer so people have been hanging on and trying to get through for a few more weeks. Today we are told it's September at the earliest and then maybe part time, we can't use childcare clubs as they are shut, holiday clubs we rely upon will probably be shut, many grandparents are predominately over 70 and we can't risk exposing them to it for childcare..

What other arrangements do your propose? The only ones I see are to resign from a career I have worked very hard for. Yes my husband could resign/ cut hours instead but in most cases he will be the higher earner or have better prospects of progressing or just generally care less/ feel less guilty about the kids being stuck in front of the tv for months on end so inevitably it will fall to the mums.^

@BlessYourCottonSocks those infections would likely have happened before school even opened considering the incubation time.

[quote Pootle40]@BlessYourCottonSocks

How would they know that was connected to schools opening?![/quote]
I have no idea. I'm not a scientist. I'm simply passing on the information that as soon as our primaries re-opened that many had Covid infections and had to close again.

As for "just get another job or go on benefits" it's going to be practically impossible to get another job in the current climate. And I'm presuming you've never been on benefits, well I have and it is soul destroying and almost impossible to live on. And if you have a mortgage you cannot get benefits to help pay for that. But yeah, who cares if people lose their homes?

@BlessYourCottonSocks

I’m not particularly low risk myself and have shielded family members. All of us feel that the cure is becoming worse than the disease. I think it’s time to try to get this moving. We can not hide away until a vaccine is found.

Fucking blended learning. What a complete nightmare. Working parents, especially women, are going to bear the absolute brunt of this hell. I'm close to breaking point now, fuck knows how we're going to make it to August, and then we've one in primary, one in secondary so no guarantee they are in on the same days. Fuck knows if the after school club will run in August.

But it's alright fucking pubs with outside space can maybe open in 2 weeks. But I can't visit the hospital my Mum is in for emergency heart surgery.

@BlessYourCottonSocks

I'm in Lincolnshire.

thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/06/ten-lincolnshire-schools-report-covid-19-infections-since-reopening/

I appreciate people want the schools back - but this is what has happened in our County in the 8 days since we re-opened.

One was a member of staff who tested positive on friday (so unlikely to be connected to wider opening of schools given the incubation period), a second closure was due to a parent testing positive (so could be and probably is unconnected to the schools). Sounds like 2 have tested negative and the other schools still waiting for test results. Overall even if more come back positive it's more likely to be due to infections picked up prior to reopening given incubation. Either way appears to be press leaping onto a story before facts are fully known

Stamping your feet and trying to bully school staff back to work isn't going to work.

You don't get to decide what risk is acceptable. That's up to the medics and the staff themselves.

@DomDoesWotHeWants

Stamping your feet and trying to bully school staff back to work isn't going to work.

You don't get to decide what risk is acceptable. That's up to the medics and the staff themselves.

Who is bullying?