Should we all have bubbles?

[Racoonworld]

I’ve been reading a lot of these threads and it seems that everyone feels they should have a bubble of some kind, support bubble, childcare bubble (using for childcare not just childcare), bubble because of mental health, bubble because they are just seeing those people, bubble because kids are together at school. I know some of these are allowed but others aren’t and are doing it anyway. I’m including myself in this too, no ‘bubble’ but we see in-laws without social distancing because I have a new baby and I want them to be able to see and bond with the baby occasionally. So if the majority have formed a bubble anyway wouldn’t it be easier if everyone was allowed one bubble? Wood more people stick to it then? I know I would.

@BogRollBOGOF yes totally!!! Don’t get me started on the introduction of the rule of 6 suddenly making the meeting of our family of 4 with another family of 4 being illegal yet 6 from up to 6 households being ok!! Clearly mixing 6 households over 2 is riskier especially where babies/ young children are involved- it’s not like they are off mixing anywhere different to their parents is it!!

The thing is, we can say 'people must stick to the rules' all we like, but it actually isn't going to address the real issue, which is that many people aren't. It strikes me that it's a lot like telling teenagers not to have sex. You can scare them for a bit with all the reasons why it's bad, but eventually, they're going to do it anyway, and no rules on earth are going to stop them. So at that point, the choice is ensure they are being as safe as possible and know what to do if anything goes wrong, or you blindly and naively stick to your line of 'no, no, no, not in my house, not ever until you're 18/35/ married' or whatever. Choosing option 2 doesn't make them less likely to have sex. It makes them less likely to do so responsibly.

Inflicting stricter and stricter rules doesn't make any difference if people aren't going to adhere to them, particularly where there a very strong human need to do the thing that is forbidden.

Have we reached that behavioural tipping point, where people, even normally law-abiding people, will break the rules? I think it's pretty clear that we have, and ignoring that and pressing on blindly with 'thou shalt not visit your daughter/mother etc.' isn't solving anything at all.