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Covid

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Original poster

If we'd do online education, we wouldn't need another lockdown

70 replies

CoffeeAndWhisky · 30/10/2020 18:30

Just that, really. Same as with SARS, as soon as schools closed, the infection rate dropped dramatically. I work in education and yes, some things need to take place on campus but for schools and most uni/college courses, remote teaching is perfectly feasible.

I have seen two people die of the mental health consequences of lockdown, with three more at risk currently and services underfunded, now only remote, and generally not sufficient. Am I the only one who things that as long as schools and most further and higher education isn't shut, there is no point in sticking to rules of another lockdown?

OP posts:

3littlewords · 30/10/2020 19:27

If online education is so easy and so fantastic what's the need to have schools at all! Close them indefinitely sack the teachers sell the school buildings and set every kid up on oak academy think of the money the country will save why have we never thought of this before!
Covid isn't going anywhere and neither is the need for our children to be educated

flowerycurtain · 30/10/2020 19:42

Jeez. The last thing this country should shut is schools. Only electric, food, water and some NHS services should take priority.

I'm a well educated clever person. Homeschooling my 5 and 7 year old nearly broke me. It demotivated them and they learnt virtually nothing. I have to work. A farmer - our animals are fed and watered 365 days a year COVID 19 or not. I cannot do that again. I also have time, space money, internet access, lots of books and a supportive partner.

If I found it hard my heart breaks for a single mum of two in a London flat with one phone and no money. Some people were on their knees with this.

My farming 90 year old grandad says this is ridiculous. He happily says he's had a good life and we shouldn't be sacrificing the young for the old.

I do however think there's a hell of a lot that can be done first so we learn to live with this thing. Keep schools open. Shut ballet classes, football clubs etc that mean schools are intermingling. Get uni students working from home. Fine people more harshly for breaking the rules. We should have had a longer half term. Pour money into schools - utilise every space known to man. Hell shut the pubs and teach in them. Come to my farm and use the barn for the day. Half a day of wild wees never killed a primary kid.

Why are we all being so defeatist.

3littlewords · 30/10/2020 19:57

Why should we effectively "lockdown " our children so the rest of society can crack on? We refute the idea of locking the vulnerable away so everyone else can get on with it but it's ok to keep children locked away. Keep indoors the very people that this virus effects the least yes that makes loads of sense, and also increase unemployment poverty and possibly homelessness at the same Time due to the amount of parents that will need to give up work yes thats definitely the right approach 👍

Qasd · 30/10/2020 20:02

Why have counties such as Mexico which shut schools in March had high infection rates abs considering further restrictions in Mexico City then, why did Florida need to shut bars in the summer to deal with their spike? (Schools are shut statewide over the summer),

Too many countries have tried it and I cannot see one that only shut education and continued as normal!

Crazycatlady83 · 30/10/2020 20:04

Oh the joy of people who think a “one size fits all” “online education” scheme is the answer to everyone’s prays!

notevenat20 · 30/10/2020 20:08

Sadly there is just no evidence that shutting schools would stop the spread of the virus. This new wave seems to have been started by people coming back from abroad and eat out to help out and people generally letting their guard down. There are now large new spikes from universities.

ILoveYoga · 30/10/2020 20:10

I don’t really agree with that. I think it’s a multi issue reason why it’s still spreading. Numbers started rising before schools went back.

I think the travel bridges were a mistake but the government allowed this because general public were screaming to go in their holidays

We’ve also read on MN loads about the covid dick face people (wearing masks wrong) and loads of people who think rules don’t apply to them. I also have D.C. in early 20s who, together with all their mates (so reckon must be similar with majority of age group) who don’t (Or didn’t think) think they’d catch it but have and have acted as super spreaders.

Whatchasayin · 30/10/2020 20:16

Mumtumwobble · 30/10/2020 20:16

I can see your point OP, but I really think Children need to be in school. As a teacher I can 100% say I teach much better in the classroom than online. I try my best, but it’s just not the same and not everyone joins the lessons - very difficult to make them. I had some pupils who did no work at all between March and September last time schools closed. Plus parents need to work otherwise the economy will collapse. I’m also a parent with young children. I can’t teach online all day with an 8 and 5 year old at home. Dh is also a teacher so would be in the same position as me. I can see the theory, but in reality it’s just not practical, particularly as a long term solution.

JacobReesMogadishu · 30/10/2020 20:17

If learning is online a lot of parents still couldn't go to work.

SomewhereEast · 30/10/2020 20:21

Close them indefinitely sack the teachers sell the school buildings and set every kid up on oak academy think of the money the country will save why have we never thought of this before!

Teachers arguing that long term online education would be completely viable does have a 'turkeys voting for Christmas' vibe.

MessAllOver · 30/10/2020 20:36

It's not only that parents couldn't work/would have to wfh.

It's that children under the age of 8/9 would have to have a parent on hand to supervise lessons. But working parents wouldn't have the time for this.

I suspect the response of most working parents if schools were shut and children were sent home would be to stick them in front of the TV for much of the day so they could work and to hell with online lessons. Before you blame these parents, remember that most have already maxed out their annual leave/unpaid leave allowances for the year. Therefore, their options are limited.

Titsywoo · 30/10/2020 20:46

My kids have all the tech and space they need but we still found it really hard and they are teens! My DS13 has SEN and basically refused to do anything after the first 2 weeks. He has always seen school and home as completely separate and homework has been an argument for years. With him lockdown was crying and arguing and pleading and my near breakdown. DD16 is doing GCSEs this year and it's been really hard - if they lockdown and close schools again I'm pretty sure exams will be cancelled which will be a nightmare for all year 11's.

Most people suffered in someway during the lockdown and many since. I know there is no perfect solution for all this but I hope the kids don't suffer so much again.

3littlewords · 30/10/2020 20:52

@MessAllOver

It's not only that parents couldn't work/would have to wfh.

It's that children under the age of 8/9 would have to have a parent on hand to supervise lessons. But working parents wouldn't have the time for this.

If I set my 5yo up on the tablet doing lessons over zoom without supervising he'd have that teacher cut off before she could say good morning and a swift switch to YouTube to watch kinder eggs being unwrapped

Fawking · 30/10/2020 20:58

Your OP is exactly why teachers get such a hard time on here. So many children can't access or don't have support to do online learning.

TheKeatingFive · 30/10/2020 21:05

Remote learning is a crock of shit for primary. And deeply substandard for secondary.

Schools should be the last thing to close. Some of actually value our children being educated.

TheKeatingFive · 30/10/2020 21:06

Teachers arguing that long term online education would be completely viable does have a 'turkeys voting for Christmas' vibe.

It would appear that they haven’t thought this through. At all.

Barbie222 · 30/10/2020 21:08

Remote teaching for lower primary for most people is just really scraping by and doing the bare minimum around your own work. If you really pare things down to the bare essentials you can get by on an hour a day for little ones, a bit more for upper ks2. That seems to be the limit of what most working people can manage around their jobs.

There are massive problems with childcare and primaries if parents both work, but that's just going to be the same if bubbles pop repeatedly isn't it. Without any action we will all be out more than we are in. That's already the case for lots of schools and families right now.

I think there's a case for the majority of secondaries moving to rotas to lower the spread. Primaries - with the best will in the world I'm not sure how effective it will be for ks1!

NothingIsWrong · 30/10/2020 21:08

All online learning will do is widen the gaps between the haves and have nots.

I am well educated, financially solvent, multiple devices in the house etc.

What we don't have because of where we live is sufficient internet bandwidth to sustain more than one video call at a time. I work from home, but if I had 3 kids at home as well only one could do any online live learning and only when I wasn't in meetings myself. I have no way of solving this, so it would be a disaster for us.

Barbie222 · 30/10/2020 21:14

Interesting article about online school in Estonia and how it's pretty much business as usual. Makes you see how run down we are over here and how the lack of tech in this country is proving to be a major issue.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/lessons-from-estonia-why-excels-digital-learning-during-covid

MessAllOver · 30/10/2020 21:41

Mumsnet is a place full of privileged people telling the rest of us that "school isn't childcare" but meanwhile in real life this is a problem that can't be ignored.

Yup. Same people who think single mums shouldn't be entitled to benefits, in a lot of cases. So they shouldn't be able to work because "school isn't childcare" but neither should they be able to claim support from the state. I suspect quite a lot of these people would be happy to bring back workhouses.

TheGreatWave · 30/10/2020 22:18

I know it is Jeremy Corbyn and all that, but how much did everyone laugh (well the press mainly) at the suggestion of fast free broadband for all. Doesn't seem such a ridiculous suggestion now.

MadameBlobby · 31/10/2020 01:40

But schools were already closed for months.

monkeytennis97 · 31/10/2020 01:58

@TheKeatingFive

Teachers arguing that long term online education would be completely viable does have a 'turkeys voting for Christmas' vibe.

It would appear that they haven’t thought this through. At all.

Fine by me

notanoctopus · 31/10/2020 03:21

Schools should be safer though. With regard to learning, I think schools could teach reduced sizes the content and then written work related to that content can be completed at home. Yes it's shite, but the current situation is also shite. It is spreading in education, there's a narrow list of symptoms to test for, kids often present with different symptoms etc.

As for university students, the only reason we know how rude it is is because unis provided tests and caught a lot of asymptomatic symptoms. What do you think would happen if we tested an average primary or secondary school? I don't want another lockdown.

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