University students possibly told to stay at uni over Christmas

[WearyandBleary]

This has just been leaked and Matt Hancock has done a non-denial.

This has shocked me. Why not tell old people to stay at home over Christmas instead? The mental health of our students is going to be horrific.

And what ‘mental health’ arises from a three extra weeks on campus in an outbreak situation for these young adults ?

It's not just this, it's Matt Hancock saying that the rise in cases was their fault, telling them not to 'kill their gran', the fact that they're taking on debt to have a crap sub par experience educationally and socially, and they're facing a future with fewer jobs and internships.

Uni is about the social experience and the extra-curricular opportunities as much as getting a degree. Many people meet their partners at uni. My DD is in a 6 bed house, if anyone has someone stay over they're breaking the law. Christmas would just be the final nail in the coffin.

icedPurple my eldest dc, who has now finished uni, had to clear his room and bring all his belongings home every Christmas and Easter holiday, as will my dd (due to start in Oct)

@canigooutyet

Some Uni halls also rent out to none students during holidays.

So students have to move all their stuff out for the Christmas break?

You pay for the education, not the experience yes its shit they wont get to go out and party like years previous but life isn't fair. They are living through a pandemic things can't carry on as normal

Uni students travel restrictions were included in the guidelines issued on the 4th September for HE.

For example

However, repeat or frequent temporary changes in household unit will increase the risk of disease transmission and staying within the same household unit will facilitate test and trace activities in the event of coronavirus (COVID-19). It will be important to apply those public health measures necessary to protect the wellbeing of students living together and those staff assisting them. The position on households may be subject to change and students should check local and national guidance

There's also the Tier system that would prevent people from travelling for Christmas.

Iced, I'm not sure how it all works tbh, just know it happens outside the Summer holidays. Maybe a financial benefit to the student to "sublet" their room, empty ones as you suggested. Tbh until now I've never questioned it, must work though lol.

DD1 had to completely empty her room at halls ( Cambridge) at each holiday, including Xmas and Easter it was a complete pain. They were used for conferences, meetings and tourists (uni rooms). I'd guess there's less of a demand this year!

So students have to move all their stuff out for the Christmas break?

If they're in uni halls and they're not paying rent over the holidays, usually yes. It tends to be things like conferences. I doubt there'll be much demand for it this Christmas though.

I can’t imagine they will rent out rooms: there won’t be conferences and the Covid cleaning would be prohibitive anyway.

If there is a ban on non essential travel then the older people won’t be able to join anyone for Christmas either.

For those saying I’m “throwing older people under a bus” - this is exactly what we are doing to younger people!

Besides which I haven’t seen my own parents since March. My dm lives alone and is gutted but doesn’t want to mingle. Christmas is already going to be her on her own.

For Uni students MH
The government has worked closely with the OfS to help clarify that providers can draw upon existing funding to provide hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19). HE providers were able to use OfS Student Premium funding worth around £23 million per month for April to July this year, and £256 million for academic year 2020 to 2021, starting from August, towards student hardship funds, including the purchase of IT equipment and mental health support, as well as to support providers’ access and participation plans.

We have also worked with the OfS on the recently announced Student Space platform, which seeks to bridge gaps in mental health support for students arising from this unprecedented situation. Funded with up to £3 million by the OfS, and led by Student Minds, it is designed to work alongside existing mental health services offered by providers. This is a new online resource until the end of 2020 which enables your students to access a variety of mental health and wellbeing support. But it should not be assumed that it provides a substitute for providers’ student support services or for access to NHS care.

@mosscarpet

icedPurple my eldest dc, who has now finished uni, had to clear his room and bring all his belongings home every Christmas and Easter holiday, as will my dd (due to start in Oct)

That's not the norm though. Most uni accommodation is rented by the term or full a full academic year Oct-June.

Well as the government has made clear - laws are made to be broken.

If implemented this will be broken in droves.

Depending on the rates of the virus how many older vulnerable people will want to mix with uni students and school aged children (seeing what is happening already in schools and unis) at Christmas

@LindainLockdown

Well as the government has made clear - laws are made to be broken.

If implemented this will be broken in droves.

This is why I don't think there's any real chance of it being implemented. It's an excellent way to lose face while loads of people ignore the rules.

It would also be incredibly difficult to actually penalise anyone for doing, because there would realistically have to be some kind of exemption for people who were actually moving house not visiting, as there was in the initial rules back in March. So people would lie.

If a person who is stopped whilst travelling chooses not to accept a fine, the CPS is then making a decision about whether someone who said that at the start of December they were genuinely planning to move home and perhaps leave the uni course but then changed their mind at some point within the next 6 weeks could be proven beyond reasonable doubt to actually not have intended that when they travelled. That's going to be a fun one.

They'll never be able to enforce that.

Are the fines the issued on the same basis as the mask ones?

If so you have no way to appeal.

If they ban all non essential travel and you are caught twice that's a hefty fine. Plus add in the fine for any house violations. Why not just give it straight to your dc instead to make the best of things? Use it towards some private mh support, extra luxurious "care" package etc.

It should already be fun for CPS.
You receive the fine you pay. If you don't it goes up. If you don't pay that you go to court.

@canigooutyet

It should already be fun for CPS. You receive the fine you pay. If you don't it goes up. If you don't pay that you go to court.

Yes, at which point if you don't admit that you broke the law, if you argue your actions were lawful, the issue of proving it or not arises.

@WearyandBleary

This has just been leaked and Matt Hancock has done a non-denial.

This has shocked me. Why not tell old people to stay at home over Christmas instead? The mental health of our students is going to be horrific.

What do you mean by old?

@Poppingnostopping

I'm a lecturer.

This won't happen. Students have often finished teaching by early Dec, they will move then, not wait til Christmas proper.

Having said that, I did a tutor session yesterday and the number one thing they were looking forward to this year was being more independent and having a purpose. Sitting at home with parents online doesn't facilitate that. So, many young people are enjoying being away from home quite a lot (which their parents may not truly appreciate, with all of this talk of bringing them home if they only have limited contact time).

I'm not sure what the population want us to do. If we go full campus, rates will rise. Local people don't like that. If we limit numbers on campus, by doing things like cutting face to face contact in half, parents complain they 'only' have four hours or whatever (when actually four hours of seminars is fine for a humanities subject in corona times, not for science, self-study is the order of the day at uni, they aren't at school!) If we go completely online everyone is indignant there is no face to face teaching and worried about mental health.

It IS wrong that universities should be prioritizing their bottom line by opening halls if teaching is online, however, that's on the government and those who voted for the government. If we don't have students paying to be here, and paying to be in halls, our business will simply collapse, and we are NOT eligible for a bail-out, this has been refused outright by government so it's try to generate income or mass redundancies and some unis going under. That won't enhance the teaching experience of next year's cohort either.

I have been quite inspired by some of the lovely students I've met who seem to be making the best of a bad job. I hope we are doing enough to reach out to the ones who might not be coping so well or are feeling isolated- but if you look on MN, half the population feels depressed and isolated. For many young people, being away from home, having a bit of independence, meeting a few nice people (not 100's) and going onto campus two days a week for a couple of classes is infinitely preferable to sitting at home without the possibility of work or travel and feeling like they have no purpose.

Can I ask because I've wondered about this - how do students feel about how their social life has had to changed? Fresher's week has always been such a big thing with opportunities to meet people and for some people go out properly for the first time as they're now 18. (Depending on how they've grown up I suppose). I was a fresher a very long time ago now so maybe things have changed since then anyway - but when you've spoken to students do they feel resentful that they can't socialize as much as they should be able to if this weren't happening, or are they happy as they are ? Or somewhere in between? No criticisms or anything it's such a tough situation, it's just something my husband and I have often discussed and wondered about and since you're a lecturer I thought I'd ask. Our kids are way too young to be going out yet!

OpheliasCrayon I'm not sure there's one answer to this. There's always been students who struggle in the first weeks, I did myself, it's a lonely and discombobulating time and for every student enjoying Fresher's week, there's one in their room crying wondering why everyone else seems to have friends.

So, corona has exaggerated that. There aren't as many opportunities for socializing. That said, most of the students I've spoken with in hall seem to be finding people in those halls to socialize with. Some student clubs are doing online events, or small meet-ups. Students can still mix up to 6 of them in two households (or more if in halls, which is considered one household) so they are still going out, shopping, chatting, and so on. They are not all holed up.

That's why the students I've spoken with value the campus experience, even if it's only a couple of times a week. I think it's a mistake to rush first years home at this stage unless they are very unhappy or you fear for their mental health. Freshers crying because they are homesick or a bit overwhelmed is normal anyway, so we have to remember that and allow them to work it out a bit (unless, like I say, they are in some type of considerable distress). I'm amazed at how resourceful many of the students are and how much they are still building friendships and finding opportunities to do stuff in these crazy times! We also have mental health support services, I'm sure they are busy too.

1. Quite a lot of students might actually fancy a uni Christmas much to the bitter disappointment of their parents.

1. Mental health disaster waiting to happen

Which of the above posts are nearer the mark? I'm going for 1, myself...

I think when I was a student I would have had a great Christmas with my friends!! But perhaps not in my first year when in halls and before I settled.

@Lockdownfatigue

I think when I was a student I would have had a great Christmas with my friends!! But perhaps not in my first year when in halls and before I settled.

Yeah, I reckon at least some of the ones in houseshares with their friends might be up for it, especially as they'll be a bit older on average too. Less likely in halls.

I wouldnt worry about this. Theyll have all had it by then.
U of liverpool already 86

I think quite a few students would too, especially if there are still going to be restrictions (and possibly more) with things like pub opening hours, mixing households etc. They may have a restricted social life coming back for Christmas, much better in their student group