Pubs or kids?

[coffeeandllbd]

Whitty said we cannot have it all. Pubs are jobs. School is mental health.

I have a 13 year old struggling with lockdown. I would choose schools. My brother would choose pubs.

Who would you choose?

To choose between pubs and school? England is truly fucked up.

It's not really the pubs that are the problem though - it's the thousands of morons who can't engage their brains and actually adhere to social distancing.

That's not just pubs either - it's supermarkets, parks and oh, the tens of thousands of people taking part in casual hooliganism organised protests.

And if you close the pubs, all of the clampits lining the streets of SoHo getting boozed will just go behave badly somewhere else and probably leave a tonne of litter.

Pubs /restaurants as we need the economy to return quickly to pay for everything that’s been paid out over the past four months
Children can be taught remotely
Obviously I’d prefer both but the country can’t keep paying out for furlough schemes, job seekers, benefits, universal credit etc without money being pumped into the economy and taxes being paid.
We survived after the war we can survive this, we need to just get on with it

But how can people go to the pubs and spend money, when they have to find child care and pay for it, or worst case scenario, need to quit the job if the school is closed?

Children can be taught remotely

They can’t though. We can create the illusion that they are, but unless there’s a parent able to devote significant time everyday to facilitating their learning, it’s a sham.

And even if there is a parent available to do that, it isn’t always particularly successful.

Plus the huge impact of missing social interaction with their peers.

I'm wondering if schools opening will actually have an effect that other areas are quieter and so the pay off is natural?

So kids at school means less people indoors in towns and cities. Parents often doing shop whilst kids at school (if working hours allow)

Adults visit cafes and bars with other adults and not with kids moving around and touching more surfaces.

Laurie

I remember from a previous thread that you have no knowledge of teaching. And it shows. I teach online for a living. Benchmarks, quality assessments, the lot. If it couldn't be done well online, my students have been party to a strange miracle.

KIDS

My partner works in a pub. We don’t have children. I would choose pubs 100%

People will choose what affects them most. For me, it’s being concerned that my partner will lose his job.

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-national-priority-to-get-children-back-to-school-but-scientists-warn-it-could-require-trade-offs-12040408

Coronavirus: 'National priority' to get children back to school but scientists warn it could require trade-offs

Schools. They need to open to allow everyone else who can’t return to work to get back and be economically active. Pubs could maybe open on a restricted basis, eg for people who are booking a table and eating food?

If made to chose, and it was a simply 'pubs or schools' thing, hen of course I would chose schools. Even if I didn't have children, the answer would be schools. Education over alcohol tbh. Not as if people cannot get drunk elsewhere. Yes some jobs would be down the pan, but more people would be out of jobs without schools open too, and a generation of young people could potentially have issues with employment if not educated too!

Both should he opened on a restricted basis. Schools should have had chance to plan for blended learning, with a remote element alongside face to face. They should have the opportunity to actually implement distancing, like pubs, and then it wouldn't need to be either/or.

It's all a balance. As a country, we can only accept a certain amount of mixing and a certain number of interactions. If schools were genuinely covid secure (with time and space for all possible measures we know can help to be implemented), rather than saying they can forget distancing and mix with huge numbers, we'd have more choices and flexibility before we reached the 'limit'.

"Children can be taught remotely"

Can they? All of them? Mine can't.

Schools

"...Pubs /restaurants as we need the economy to return quickly to pay for everything that’s been paid out over the past four months...."
This is farcical. Pubs/restaurants will not boost the economy.

"...Schools. They need to open to allow everyone else who can’t return to work to get back and be economically active...."
So free childcare then?

"Children can be taught remotely"
Some can, some can't. Primary is tricky to say the least, but doable if desperately needed. Secondary on the other hand would be absolutely doable.

I think it's wrong to think of schools as per say, as these age groups require very different things.

I don't see that there's anything to debate. The country would survive if every pub shut for good tomorrow. But not if every school shut forever.

Pubs are really unimportant to most people.

Schools 100% and my 2 arent of school she yet

4/5 year olds can not be taught remotely - pubs are unfortunately non essential and absolutely should be the first to go if this is indeed the actual choice.
Also schools are also jobs (not just teaching staff but cleaners / caretakers administrators etc..)
Schools are absolutely essential for a myriad of reasons and because they have been neglected and underfunded for years by the government really should at least be made a priority now!

I work in hospitality so would only say schools if there was a specific plan to prop up pubs and not let them go to the wall.

Too many people's livelihoods are at stake otherwise with potentially very few jobs to go to if they were made redundant

@TinkersRucksack

I work in hospitality so would only say schools if there was a specific plan to prop up pubs and not let them go to the wall.

Too many people's livelihoods are at stake otherwise with potentially very few jobs to go to if they were made redundant

Parents cannot continue to attempt to teach kids at home. It’s not bloody fair for a start. All this online nonsense is exhausting it gives me anxiety the thought of having no school place in September. Having to read constant messages and updates from the school... watching online videos from teachers doing their best. I honestly hope we do not go back to them days.

Yeah cos the government's priority is always kids mental health over the economy! Have u seen the waiting list for child mental health services??

School. Adults, even young adults have had their lives and education. Give the kids a chance. You can drink and shag next year.

@anicebag
Other than they'll be nowhere for them to drink as everywhere will have gone bust. Expecting the typical young adult to stay at home for several months will have a much greater impact on mental health than delaying the education of 4/5 year olds, who wouldn't be in formal education in many countries in normal times.

I'm very conflicted about this. I can see all the industries that would be affected if pubs were to close, and some would close permanently. We need an economy so we can invest in our future whether that's education or the health services we offer.

But I also feel like children have a right to education.

I'm a bit stung because I live opposite a pub which has consistently been packed inside and out every weekend. Yesterday people were even sitting in their car boots because all the benches had been taken up.

There are signs up at the pub saying to social distance but none of the staff are enforcing the rules, or putting a limit on the amount of people allowed at the pub. They're also accepting cash payments, and the sign in book is almost bare despite hundreds being there over a matter of days.

I feel like if these people were worried about the industry or job security then they should have a better way of enforcing the rules. It's their livelihoods and their health they need to protect, as well as that of their inebriated customer base.

In the meantime schools have been trying to figure this thing out, and make sure their staff are as safe as can be because the government are thrusting being open upon them and they have no say in the matter.

This wouldn't even need to be a choice if establishments actually enforced the rules and saw it as an investment into their future and the economy but the pub opposite us has just been allowing what and who they can in to maximise profit short term.