Isn't it glaringly obvious that the biggest risk with reopening schools is to the parents?

[ScammedOrWhat]

I'm astounded and angry that the government's messaging around schools reopening has been deliberately spun to avoid mentioning that the biggest risk is surely that kids are going to spread it to their parents.

Chris Whitty's statement avoided saying this, but if you read between the lines it is clear. He DID NOT say reopening schools was "safe" as reported by the media. He said that the risk to children's health from catching Coronavirus at school was outweighed by the bigger risks to their wellbeing in not going to school.

The further reports today that children are at low risk from dying or becoming seriously ill also support that. But what they're NOT saying is that there is absolutely nothing to say children won't carry the virus home.

Children's parents and grandparents are at considerably increased risk once schools reopen.

I'm furious with the government for not being upfront about this. The messaging should be: - yes children need to go back to school, but parents need to be aware that they are more likely to be exposed and dial back their social mixing accordingly.

Children should be taught vigilance and good social distancing and hygiene principles. They should be taught what symptoms to look out for in themselves and their friends, and to report them immediately for rapid testing.

They could have spent the summer pushing these messages out while investing in santization equipment- extra sinks outside, hand santitizer stations, free mask provision etc for schools. So the message should be - your child is probably safe from getting ill but you the parents are not.

You want the government to tell us that as parents we are at risk from our kids being at school .... but I just think it's obvious that we are at risk .. why do I need Boris to tell me this fact??

I agree with the fact there shouid be extra sinks etc available

Jeremyironsnothing Oh I agree that it's sensible to work from home. If we are going to keep schools open then we do have to be sensible everywhere else BUT her role is to actually promote the getting back to work message which is a direct contradiction to what she and her staff are doing. Hypocrisy.

As I said, rock and a hard place. I suspect it's easier for the government to impose WFH on its own employees to aide the greater good rather than to expect other businesses cripple themselves financially doing the same especially with all the monetary handouts the government are already having to make. So, whilst it might appear hypocritical its a very fine balancing act.

I really feel for the teachers, and I'm angry for them too. But they're aware of the risks, they're aware they're being exposed so they'll probably be more careful with their other social mixing outside of school because of it.

Aware of the risk but bugger all we can do about it and of course school staff aren't parents too or have elderly and vurerable parents they'd lke to see. How selfish!

@Remmy123

You want the government to tell us that as parents we are at risk from our kids being at school .... but I just think it's obvious that we are at risk .. why do I need Boris to tell me this fact??

I agree with the fact there shouid be extra sinks etc available

I think the issue many have is that people have thought it obvious.

But for months teachers and unions and HT asking for better guidance and measures have had a government campaign against them aimed at equating it as them blocking opening. M
Even a few days ago PHE were saying teachers should be vigilant and limit wheat they do (in their own time!) and Jenny Harris accuses teachers of spreading it during the coffee breaks - they don't have!

There has been A LOT of threads and posts aimed negatively towards teachers on here and elsewhere for a few months.

No one has been saying that it's everyone's responsibility and parents having been saying they know risks to themselves.

So I think now that society is swinging back over to the teachers sides realising they actually want safer opening (not closures) many don't think it's obvious parents realise this and feel this way.

It may take some time for teachers to feel valued for what they do again.

I'm not a teacher!

School run = outside so for the majority, that really shouldn't pose a problem, even if hunched up together in a small playground. I think from the scenes on the beaches, VE Day etc. we know outside isn't problematic en masse (might be different at an indivual level but we're all taking risks all the time when we go to the supermarket, hairdresser etc.)

In school, any child who is shedding virus is posing a problem to all staff and other children. There is no way it can be otherwise. So yes, this means, there is potential for the virus to be walked right out of school into your homes.

Teachers have been shouting about this for weeks. Why are you only now listening?

@Mintjulia

Parents of school age children are rarely over 65 so not, as a group, at much increased risk. I know a few will be - my ds's df is mid 60s - but a low percentage.

They generally drop dcs off outside so little increased risk of parent to parent contact.

The biggest risk seems to be to staff with health conditions, and to the few older parents, and any elderly relatives doing school run.

Agree with this. Most parents are in a pow risk category, as are the children. Parents should be more careful around elderly relatives once the kids are back at school. We probably wont be seeing my grandma over the winter months once DD is back at preschool. Should the government be telling parents this? Not really, people should take responsibility for themselves. According to the rules we should still be social distancing from grandparents anyway

Parents are aware of the likely risk to themselves and are prepared to take the risk so their DC can be educated.

You don't have to be over 65 to be considered vulnerable (the 'flu jab' group)

So it is wrong to assert that parents are likely to be low risk. Particuiarly as pregnancy is considered as a vulnerable condition.

I'm 30 weeks pregnant work and work I the school my son goes too, I've got to attend work as its 'covid secure' aparently, it's not, how can it be? So us the risk is to the adults and vulnerable children, vulnerable people shouldn't be put at risk like this I'm shitting my self

One of DD's friend's dad's died of covid recently. He wasn't anywhere near 65.

Well I’m kids been back at nursery since June & I’ve not dialled back my socialising .. there’s been no reports of a rise in cases among nursery parents and 1-4 year olds are the germiest aged children!

What’s your alternative? No education this year cos it’s risky to predominantly low risk parents?! My mum is very vulnerable & was adamant my daughters education & socialisation was more important than her. Sadly we’ve not had much contact but facetimed daily during lockdown. Since August, we have seen my mum outdoors & she doesn’t distance from girls. She takes precautions but is trying to enjoy life..

Unless you are high risk, we need to get over this insane fear. I hope once your kids are back, you realise it’s OK & life has to go on. It felt a bit weird at first in June but now life feels totally normal & I don’t worry or think about it very much!

You've only just caught on to government spin OP? 😳🤔

Of course schools will do their best, but without funding, part time provision, extra space and staff, of course schools are not safe. However teachers and education staff on here who have tried to explain the limitations of the safety measures have been lambasted for telling the truth about how limited the 'safety' measures are.

*im in the flu jab group & been pregnant this year.. still sent my DD back to nursery. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 99% people survived corona. Probably more. I cannot live my life in that much fear ..

Nursery and schools is hard/ridiculous to compare. My son is in a small nursery with 7 babies in the baby room... my school Has 1,700 children about 259 a year group.

15% extremely clinically vulnerable have kids under 16.
Being over 50 with health conditions is a risk too. I bet lots of school staff and parents fall in this group.

Sooner or later it will be a choice between schools and adults socialising and going out. Those who want schools to open but don't want to dial back socialising. You have a choice, and the choice is now.

Once R is above 1 and exponential growth gets underway we're headed for school closures and lockdown (again). The time to prevent that is now. It will be far, far too late once we see deaths rising again.

Schools opening will increase infection. There were a number of outbreaks in June/July and that was with tiny numbers back and social distancing in place. There is no way to avoid this. So something else will need to change.

15% extremely clinically vulnerable have kids under 16.
Being over 50 with health conditions is a risk too. I bet lots of school staff and parents fall in this group

Agreed. It is known that bereavement or severe disability in a parent causes a huge impact on children's mental health and wellbeing as well as educational attainment. Parents should be able to do their own risk assessment and keep their kids off without penalty. Yes, not being in school will affect their mental health / education but not as much as if their parent catches covid-19 and has it badly. This fact is conveniently ignored entirely in all government advice.

Just on the message of dialling back social interactions to limit risk and chances of picking up virus. I agree with this. Its never going to happen though. There's too many people with entitlement to a social life.

I have been following the guidelines from the start and I minimised close contacts. I want to minimise picking up the virus and taking it home where I live with my mother. Outside of work I meet one person once a week and that's my partner. We don't live together. We usually plan an activity together like a walk or a meal out or a spin. It makes sense to me. Instead of going out every weekend it makes sense to maybe plan for every 2 or 3 or 4 weeks. We keep things cool and low.

I work as a nanny for a family. One of the children would be vulnerable if the virus got into the household. She got sick as a baby and she nearly died and she was in hospital for a few weeks and she was on oxygen for years. At one point one of her doctors said she's never going to get off oxygen but she defined the odds and did just that.

The whole entire family has been meeting up with all and sundry all summer long. Ever since the lockdown was eased, the family has used every excuse in the book just to get away and go out. Often having a factory line of babysitters come and go. The eldest teenage had an end of summer party at her home with her friends. There was no birthday or other celebration. It was hardly essential. There's no sign of their social life easing in any way and pairing back on close contacts.

I'm interested to see how this will play out, especially with the isolation rules- I'm concerned that this term will be full of intermittent isolation spells, which will disrupt any learning.

Concerned that older children i.e. teenagers, will take the piss out of the situation and claim they are feeling unwell and with how flu-ey the autumn term is it is difficult to know whether they might be unwell with the flu or whatever.

Then of course you have those that may have to isolate because their parents picked something up from their own work or social mixing, so the kids may need to stay off school and isolate, or worse- not say anything, and come in to school- asymptomatic possibly, then spread it to the staff

Also concerned by the fact that many parents may feel pressured to go back to work, so will give their little ones a Calpol and tell them not to say anything to their teachers (that has actually happened at my local primary in March)

LilMissRe

Ive seen it first hand in my own job, just people caring about themselves and only themselves. In my job as a nanny, the children become off form and they developed cold symptoms like sore throat, sore ear, cough. I wasn't notified of their illness. I was in work and discovered them to be off form. When I brought my concerns up to the parents, they dismissed me and said it was colds. They never tested their children. Thankfully their symptoms cleared up but it took about 12 days and no body else got ill so thankfully it wasn't covid this time. The stress was of possible exposure was incredible. Make no mistake about it. A lot of parents will be rewriting the rules to suit themselves. Dosing their children with calpol and ibuprofen before school if there's any temperature and to get past any temperature checks in school.

It is ridiculous isn't it?
I think some parents realise that if a handful of teachers test positive or fall seriously ill, the whole school shuts down.

That should say I don't think some parents realise

just people caring about themselves and only themselves

Yes, too many people are like this - I never realised how bad it was before coronavirus. I hope that teachers adopt this attitude, have zero tolerance for children sent in ill and stay at home themselves when feeling off colour.

The amount they're paid, it's not worth it.

I am honestly very worried about some of the teachers, who are older and work with younger kids, at my DDs school.

I think some parents realise that if a handful of teachers test positive or fall seriously ill, the whole school shuts down.

This is the key thing. And if they're ill they can't provide online resources either. I have a lot of US based friends. All of their kids are online entirely or mostly online with the odd day or two in school (blended learning).

I don’t think it’s just as straight forward as people just care about themselves

We simply cannot stay in a state of rigid fear of a virus that for the vast majority is something they will get over. We have to move forward but with caution and care

Sending back to school isn’t a risk to the majority of parents it’s about being sensible with the idea that we could be more exposed. Think through what we do