It's best for children to be in school

[Billie18]

I'm shocked that the consensus here appears to be that schools should close. I believe that it's best for children to be in school. Also that they should not be forced to wear masks or perform any social distancing as this is a damaging for their mental and social development. A thread for parents and teachers who share this view and have concerns about the threat of school closures and forced isolation of children who are not ill.

Even if there is a small chance of dying, teaching is relatively physical and need strong lungs.
When i was ill in apr i couldnt read my dc 1 story for weeks.

The anti teachers wearing masks is frankly ridiculous. The kids dont give a CRAP!! All the parents have them on

I think the schools should remain open but that teachers and children should be wearing masks. The countries who have had the greatest success at managing the virus have also had everyone in schools wearing a mask.

I agree with noble.
Teachers must be broken this year.

My school has children in masks, teachers in visors.

@Aragog

No I don’t subscribe to this idea that anyone over 45 is at high risk of death from COVID.

The vast majority of shielders do not work.

@Welcometonowhere

Visors have been demonstrated to be totally pointless in terms of preventing transmission.

@Welcometonowhere

The likelihood of an otherwise healthy person dying of COVID is tiny.

I know it has tragically happened but it is not a high risk.

It is so wrong to make parents and children feel as though they have blood on their hands.

The problem isn't that hundreds of children are dying, it's that hundreds of schools are not able to stay open, directly because of the poor reasoning shown by people like the OP. Get cases low. Keep them low. Don't hang about when they are rising. Lingering lockdowns that hurt huge sectors of the economy are the worst thing. The cases are not low enough yet: the four weeks over Christmas will have them back higher than ever.

But you dont get to pick if your kid's teacher has asthma/diabetes etc etc do you.
And yes there is blood on a few parent's hands im sure
Sending in kids/family awaiting test
With symptoms
With positive or positive in the family

Given ops feelings i cant see them isolating their dc

From a teachers point of view, my school is crumbling at the moment.

We have almost half of the school at home isolating and providing blended learning (some kids in classroom and some at home) is a bloody nightmare. More/different kids at home each day so continuity, attainment and progress are so difficult to monitor. Teachers are on their knees trying to plan virtual lessons, upload resources, cover absent staff and do their normal workload too. Plus, doing complicated parents evenings (zoom), reports on absent kids and constantly worry about keeping everyone safe etc..

My DS is now home until the end of term (school dictat) and it will be much easier for his teachers to teach with them all in or all out. But he is also alone (secondary) all day without support or company.

It is such a difficult time for all involved. I don't know what is for the best but I don't know how much longer my school with cope.

I'd be interested in the OP bring able to point out ANY teacher who has advocated schools being closed.

Not holding my breath of course.

Yes. very concerning the recent reports from the US about the schools being closed for extended periods, wonder if this prompted the OP.

Depression, F grades, very sad...

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/28/spike-f-grades-across-us-online-learning-gap-emerges-amid-pandemic/

Unlike in the UK, thousands of schools across the United States have still not reopened, having been closed since March

America's great experiment in "remote learning" during the pandemic has proved disastrous for many children as the first figures from one of its largest school districts showed an explosion in failing grades, and a widening gulf between thriving and struggling pupils.

Unlike in the UK, thousands of schools across the United States have still not reopened, having been closed since March. Children from age five up are instead being taught on computer screens at home. Many will end up missing an entire academic year of in-person schooling.

An internal report from Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, just outside Washington DC, which has 188,000 pupils, was released this week following a Freedom of Information request by a local parent. It confirmed what many families around the country had feared for months.

Among children aged 11 to 18 there was an 83 per cent jump in those with two or more 'F' grades, in the first quarter of the 2020-21 academic year, which has just ended.

The younger the age group the worse it was. For those aged 11 to 13 the increase was 300 per cent. Among girls in that age group it was 600 per cent.

For children with special needs the jump in failing grades was 111 per cent. And for those with English as a second language, it was 106 per cent.

This week, Dr Anthony Fauci, America's highest profile public health official, joined the chorus. He said: "It’s much better to close the bars and keep the schools open, than to keep the bars open and close the schools."

However, reopening decisions are taken at the state, and local school division, level, based on virus metrics established there.

Strong opposition to reopening remains from teaching unions, and many parents concerned about virus spread.

That has led to a patchwork of open and shut schools across the US, and even within states.....

The answer to some schools not staying open is not to close all schools, barbie

[quote StarryFire]@Aragog

No I don’t subscribe to this idea that anyone over 45 is at high risk of death from COVID.

The vast majority of shielders do not work.[/quote]
I am 47y. I am CV but nothing which would normally reduce my life expectancy. That is not the shielding category. I had complications that had me rushed to A&E which a risk of heart attack or stroke.

CEV are those who shielded. During lockdown these people are not working, where possible.

It is the next group down which is an issue for schools and their staff generally. There are many of them. I am one of such school staff. I worked full time from home from March to September. From September I have been in.

What do we do about this group?
Protect them?
Or pretend they don't exist and hope for the best?

So that's no, then.

@billie18 are you a teacher?

Sadly visors are pointless when it comes to Covid.

Since returning this half term I wear a mask in class whenever I am within 2m of the children. Unsurprisingly none of them are bothered by that. They tend to be more interested in what design I have gone for that day.

@Billie18

I'm shocked that the consensus here appears to be that schools should close. I believe that it's best for children to be in school. Also that they should not be forced to wear masks or perform any social distancing as this is a damaging for their mental and social development. A thread for parents and teachers who share this view and have concerns about the threat of school closures and forced isolation of children who are not ill.

As a previous poster said, why on earth do you think children & teenagers would be damaged by wearing a mask?

I used to teach abroad and my students (primary and secondary) routinely wore masks in flu season. No side effects, no whining, it’s just a part of life. Why do you think English children wouldn’t be able to do the same? Do you think they’re too fragile?

I’ve asked this on other threads and no-one’s been able to give an answer about why they have such low expectations of their own children.

What do you mean "made safer"? Do you mean forcing children to wear face masks and social distance? Because both those things are damaging to mental and social development.

Could you please provide a detailed description on what mental developmental problem will be caused by masks for a y1 | y5 | y10 | y13 kid?
Does a mask and 2 meters prevent them from having a conversation? Or a debate? Or any social interaction?
And please, please enlighten us how a 15 year old's mental development will be hindered by wearing a fucking mask!?!

Masks are an impediment to education and communication. They should absolutely not be worn in classrooms.

Perhaps on communal areas and corridors that may be an option in very high prevalence areas.

I think it’s a bit disingenuous to claim ‘no teachers have said they want schools to close.’ No, not outright. In the same way the teenagers I teach might say ‘did I say it was boring / did I say I didn’t care’.

Well no. Not outright. But when thread after thread after thread is started about how dangerous schools are, how they are causing cases to increase, how no school in the U.K. is open as normal anyway, then come on, that is wanting them to close. It’s just that saying that outright is unpopular.

And I know I’m going to get a load of abuse now

Aragog I always wear a mask on the corridors and within 2 metres and like you, no one has run away screaming, passed out or tried to exorcise me

I love getting a “cool mask, Miss!” but that only happens on days I’ve stolen the one of my kids’ dinosaur/planet/alien masks!

@StarryFire

Masks are an impediment to education and communication. They should absolutely not be worn in classrooms.

Perhaps on communal areas and corridors that may be an option in very high prevalence areas.

Nope, again, absolutely untrue. I taught kids for 4 years that excelled despite them/me wearing masks.

There are a good range of clear masks and half visor type masks that means students with hearing impairments can lipread, if that’s one of your concerns.

Welcometonowhere I completely agree and that’s why I directly asked one earlier and she refused to answer. Yet some of the teachers here are happy to post link after link and also post links to petitions calling for schools to be closed.