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.

I would also just ignore this.

It's utter bollocks. Nobody I know would leave their dc at uni over Christmas, no matter what the rules are. If mine wasn't at home for his first semester I wouldn't leave him there either!

Yes. Bollocks is the word.

Stupid unworkable idea.

OverTheRainbow - Apologies, I didn't literally mean the corridor was a place for them to hang out! I meant that, if the whole corridor counts as a household, it's a 'household of 5-10 people who can hang out together in each other's rooms, communal kitchen or catered dining room (depending on the callege/hall set up), JCR, bar if it's open and potentially in and around the town/campus depending on what lockdown rules are in place. I was thinking of the corridor as extra people not a narrow strip of extra space!!

IDSNeighbour my kids have worked all through Covid. One has held the hands of people dying. I will therefore not be kept apart from them at Xmas. For my mental health and theres. My 2 are doing ok. But I resent this idea of locking 18 year olds up just because they are students. If this was the plan they needed to let them make a decision about going. My point is I'm with thousands every day so why is Uni so different

I don't understand how you can't see the problem with your second point - you are with thousands, yes. Your daughters are potentially with hundreds. But none of those people are the same. Nor do they live in the same part of the country. So you are tripling your own risk and adding to the potential for the virus to spread quickly among large numbers of people in 3 areas of the country. If would make more sense to say 'I'm home all day and never see anyone so why can't my children visit for Christmas?'

Your first argument makes much more sense - you want it and you think you are entitled to it. Thousands will think and do the same. Which is why this won't work as a policy and why I think there's a good chance they won't even try it. It could well reduce transmission if it was adhered to but it won't be so there's probably no point in trying.

@IDSNeighbour I will see my kids when I want. The test is just rubbish.

I can see that if whole buildings or areas could hang out it would be better. However my experience is that some students settle in better than others and there would be a lot of isolated unhappy young people over Christmas.

The consequences would be - a combination of large parties, some lonely students holed up in their rooms (not everyone gets placed in flats they get on with) and potential suicides.

@mumsneedwine

My child will come home whenever they need to. Anyone telling me they can't can get stuffed. I spend every day with 1,800 of other people's kids.i won't be kept apart from my own.

I couldn't agree more. I have followed every rule religiously. This is where my limit is.

Are you really a teacher, mumneedswine?

@StephenKong might not be for much longer. I'm thinking of giving it up after all the hate. And complete lack of any safety features in schools. But thanks for the concern

We have bubbles in school of over 300. Why can't students have the same ? In most cases that is one residence.

I can see that if whole buildings or areas could hang out it would be better. However my experience is that some students settle in better than others and there would be a lot of isolated unhappy young people over Christmas
The consequences would be - a combination of large parties, some lonely students holed up in their rooms (not everyone gets placed in flats they get on with) and potential suicides

Yes, I do agree with you that some would be isolated and unhappy. It would be horrendous for them.

How much worse would it be at Christmas than the rest of the term though, do you think? I would think that what keeps people who don't naturally fit in at and enjoy university from dropping out is regular visits home, visits from family and home friends and maybe even living at home. If travelling between households is not an option then I would have thought a large percentage of those not coping would have moved home by Christmas anyway (presumably this will be allowed if it is a long term move, not a visit? I think that was always ok, even in strict lockdown). This is perhaps even more likely if the education side of university can be accessed virtually for many degree choices.

We have bubbles in school of over 300. Why can't students have the same ? In most cases that is one residence

I think they are doing in some colleges - especially catered ones.

I don't understand what that has to do with the discussion though? Do you mean that you would be happier with the idea of no Christmas travel if your children were in a large bubble at university instead of just a small household? I agree that it would be make things better for most.

I think being isolated and unhappy (and poor for many by December) at Christmas would be worse than at other times. Other peoples joy would be hard to bear for those who were isolated.

My DS is a post graduate student so gets even less student loan than undergrads. He wasn't able to find a job over the Summer as by the time he finished his degree and came home (he stayed at Uni until end of May) all the usual available jobs had been snapped up by furloughed and self employed people whose work had dried up. This has left him on a very tight budget for the coming year so having to stay there in the holidays won't make for very good Christmas even if he is with housemates.

Some halls are having to isolate after a few positive tests so I assume they are being treated as households.

All I want is for our 18 year olds to be treated well. To be allowed to meet and make friends. To not be locked up in small,v expensive rooms. To not be told that they can't get home if they need to due to feeling sad. To not be left in situations that may make them suicidal.
And my daily life as a teacher impacts on my thinking as I don't have any protection at all. My school life is pre Covid. I am tired, stressed and the one thing I am looking forward to is Xmas with my family. I'm hanging on by my fingernails. Deny me my kids and I'm off. Deny them a life and they will be off. This is solvable if we work together.

The whole idea is preposterous.

It’s obviously not going to happen, but just the talk of it at this early stage in the uni term will be causing huge anxiety for many students who have already suffered significantly since 20th March this year.

The Bristol Post is not the most reliable source, they have form for exagerating.

Nobody will do this. Pointless restriction. The man is deluded.

I work at a uni in professional services. The past couple of years we’ve started taking attendance formally again at tutorials and seminars, because we need to look out for students disengaging with their courses. We can’t rely on flatmates and friends to keep track of their peers because although many do it’s not fair to ask them to do this. This has been happening because in the past few years we have had a couple of cases of students falling off the radar, and when finally someone went to knock on their doors the worst had happened. Loneliness and anxiety can be killers for students. Hancock had better not fucking do this.

Maybe the students will be offered this option, and some students may choose to do it, if they have a group of good friends, to reduce some movement.

@mumsneedwine

My child will come home whenever they need to. Anyone telling me they can't can get stuffed. I spend every day with 1,800 of other people's kids.i won't be kept apart from my own.

Damn right.

I really struggled in my first year right from the start and not being able to go home at weekends/holidays would have finished me off. I think my parents would have had your attitude and picked me up at the first opportunity, and I know I would do the same for mine.

@AgentCooper

I work at a uni in professional services. The past couple of years we’ve started taking attendance formally again at tutorials and seminars, because we need to look out for students disengaging with their courses. We can’t rely on flatmates and friends to keep track of their peers because although many do it’s not fair to ask them to do this. This has been happening because in the past few years we have had a couple of cases of students falling off the radar, and when finally someone went to knock on their doors the worst had happened. Loneliness and anxiety can be killers for students. Hancock had better not fucking do this.

Absolutely.

I was a pastoral tutor in my time as an academic and some of the problems many students had ... they were still teenagers for god's sake, and needed professional specialist services as well as a shoulder. And yes, some of them just needed to go home; either for a long weekend or Xmas.

Fresher's week should never have bene allowed to go ahead. The student experience would have been slightly affected but now they're in a much worse situation where they've no freedom, are essentially made to isolate in a shared flat with several others, running out of food and supplies etc. I just think cancelling fresher's week would have maybe made a difference, but I guess we will never know.

Also I think the students should be allowed to go home.