Making isolating 13 yr old not leave her room for 10 days!!

[novaparty12]

My niece is 13 and on Friday she was told to isolate by her school as the girl she sits next to tested positive. She lives in London where transmission is really high. I spoke to MIL today who said that my SIL has told her she is not allowed out of her room apart from going to the toilet or having a shower. All meals are left outside her door for her to collect and my SIL went shopping and spend £50 on snacks and drinks so she doesn't have to leave her room. MIL is really worried about her she keeps phoning her in tears. My SIL is autistic and takes everything very very seriously but surely confining a 13 yr old to her room for 10 days is going a bit far isn't it??

This is completely normal. Children all over the UK are in this situation. Any child sent home to self isolate who has siblings, or vulnerable family members. We expect any children we send home to be confined to their rooms. Toilet use excepted, but the toilet will need to be cleaned very thoroughly after they have used it. If there are two toilets in the house, then one for the isolator, and one for everyone else in the family.

At 13, she just has to suck it up.Primary school children are coping

What complete nonsense. Primary school children require effective supervision. Locking them in their rooms is unacceptable neglect. What about supervising younger children in the bath? Or is it ok to let them drown now just so long as they remain in isolation? Administering medicine? Making sure they eat properly and food doesn't go everywhere? Changing beds? A lot of primary school age kids locked in their rooms all day by themselves would either start trashing the room and drawing on the walls or would become upset and hysterical.

For a 13 year old this is unnecessarily cruel. For younger children, it's neglect/abuse.

It sounds like it's horrible but actually this is the advice that test and protect will have also given to your SIL. When someone is asked to self isolate and its only one person in the house if they are old enough it's suggested that they completely isolate from the rest of the household.

I know it seems harsh I would say as long as she had a TV and mum was regularly facetiming from downstairs it will make it pass quicker.

@FreekStar

This is NOT what is expected of a child who is sent home because they have been within 2m of a confirmed case!

They have to remain at home and not mix with members outside of they own household or visit public place.

FFS! Some of the children are being sent home regularly- my dd has already had two separate isolation periods and some children in her school have had 3- it would be totally unreasonable for children to be kept isolated from their families for which amounts to 6 full weeks within the last term. Ridiculous! Any parent or teacher who expects this needs to take a long hard look at themselves!

We were contacted by track and trace as our nursery aged child was in close contact with someone who has tested positive and we were told to isolate her, and one parent, from other family members even within the house! So yes, this IS what is expected.

We instead have decided to just isolate as a family. Hopefully this is a rare occurrence, and we don’t have to do it again. She has no symptoms but neither did the person who tested positive. Not isolating when asked is how this is spreading.

This is a quote from the government website on what to do if told to self-isolate by the nhs test and trace app (so same as being told to go home from school if someone else has tested positive:

"do not have visitors in your home, including friends and family – except for essential care

try to avoid contact with anyone you live with as much as possible"

This in no way says a child must stay in their room for 10 days!!

Save your self-righteous judgement for people who actually deserve it (not you op!).

@Scottishskifun

It sounds like it's horrible but actually this is the advice that test and protect will have also given to your SIL. When someone is asked to self isolate and its only one person in the house if they are old enough it's suggested that they completely isolate from the rest of the household.

I know it seems harsh I would say as long as she had a TV and mum was regularly facetiming from downstairs it will make it pass quicker.

Given it doesn't say that on the government website I don't care what some test and trace employees might say to some people. They certainly didn't say that to me or the other parents of kids in this particular bubble anyway!

Again, another link that contains lots of info about what SI is. It even mentions that SI can be difficult because of X,y and z.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person#what-should-i-do-if-i-am-a-contact-of-someone-who-has-tested-positive-for-covid-19

I teach in London, and it certainly is the norm

What the fuck? No it bloody isn't and if somebody told me that was happening to a kid, I'd be firing up CPOMS before the call ended.

firstly I wouldn't ask a child without symptoms to isolate. but if anyone adult or child developed symptoms then yes in your room till you get a negative result .
Younger children would have a adult in with them . Teenagers not so much.
But they still have meals brought to them and all devices/ electronics etc honestly dont see the issue .
Oh and I actually do this for tummy bugs too.

This is utter nonsense and not the government advice. Some pupils have had 6 weeks of self isolation this term already, they can’t stay in
their rooms the whole time. It would be different if they had symptoms. At my London secondary school we send around 40-60 kids home as “close
Contacts”. the R rate is just above 1 so the chances of any of those kids having it is very slim.

blue a kid can sit in their garden as long as it's not on top of the neighbours. No wonder this country is so unhealthy when people don't think daylight and fresh air is essential 🙄.

@evrey

firstly I wouldn't ask a child without symptoms to isolate. but if anyone adult or child developed symptoms then yes in your room till you get a negative result . Younger children would have a adult in with them . Teenagers not so much. But they still have meals brought to them and all devices/ electronics etc honestly dont see the issue . Oh and I actually do this for tummy bugs too.

I've been tested twice with symptoms - should I have stayed in my room until I got a negative result? Not sure my DS would have fared very well if I did this!!

The coronavirus guidelines should be followed as far as reasonably possible. There will be many scenarios in which they can't be followed. Children self isolating is just one of them.

In theory, OPs Niece could have Covid but be asymptomatic. She could be infecting everyone in her household for 5 says before she exhibits any symptoms. The others in the household could infect anyone they come into contact with whilst they are asymptomatic. So it’s wise to use some precautions for a few days, such as opening windows, using separate bathrooms if available, or disinfecting after use. Locking a child away in a room whilst they don’t have symptoms is too far for me. But I do know Covid positive teens gets who have isolated in their rooms with an occasional trip to the garden, and have managed (or quite liked it) but that depends on the teen. It’s a tricky one.

ds is on his fourth week of isolation since sept- no way would i treat him like that-jaysus

Anyone who seriously thinks people are shutting primary age children in their bedrooms for 10 days completely alone, or who advocates this, is deluded. This is NOT the advice, no medical professional would expect it. Absolute madness.

It is rather unfortunate, but is the most effective way of keeping transmission risk really low - nobody's home is a sterile environment like a hospital but we try our best. It will be difficult for a while, but she could have videocalls with other family members and then after the 10 days have a welcome back party. It's all a bother, but potential in-house Corona is quite serious.

This is fucking batshit. I am genuinely shocked that there is someone who claims to be a teacher on here who thinks shutting a primary aged child in their room for 2 weeks is acceptable behaviour.
I hope to god you never, ever teach my child.
My 5 year old was ill last week... raging temperature, sore throat, cough. While awaiting test results she slept in my bed with me, because she was ill and upset and because I am not a fucking monster.
When my 7 year old had to isolate as a close contact she stayed in the house and garden but interacted with the family as normal. It was her birthday in those 2 weeks, can anyone even imagine shutting their child in their bedroom for their birthday?

At 13, she just has to suck it up.Primary school children are coping.

Nobody I know has kept their isolating child in their bedroom, especially not primary. It is ridiculous and cruel.

@megletthesecond

blue a kid can sit in their garden as long as it's not on top of the neighbours. No wonder this country is so unhealthy when people don't think daylight and fresh air is essential 🙄.

That assumes all kids have a garden. Many families live in blocks of flats.

How do you personally know all these thousands of poor children?

They don't. They're just bullshitting for attention.

@Bluegreen70

You haven't been back to the thread for a while, and I seriously hope its because it dawned on you that you were talking rubbish.

I teach in London, and it certainly is the norm

Another one who can vouch for this NOT being the norm.

May I politely suggest that you educate yourself before you attempt to 'educate' another child or adult on anything to do with COVID measures.

@ginastill

It is rather unfortunate, but is the most effective way of keeping transmission risk really low - nobody's home is a sterile environment like a hospital but we try our best. It will be difficult for a while, but she could have videocalls with other family members and then after the 10 days have a welcome back party. It's all a bother, but potential in-house Corona is quite serious.

Anyone who thinks it's ok to shut a pre teen in a room away from the family and just do video calls is a monster tbh If my DS tested positive I'd interact with him as normal and isolate myself. If I get it so be it.

We're doing the same but by all isolating so she doesn't need to be alone. If we had to go out for work etc. then she'd be in her room. Her friends have done it - it's fine.

Actually the more I think about this, the crueller it seems, especially if I think back to myself at that age. I was a sensitive and probably quite immature early teen, with an overactive imagination and what would probably now be diagnosed as mild OCD. Two weeks kept shut up in my room would have left me a total state in terms of my mental health.

I’m in London and know so many asymptomatic teens who have been asked to self isolate 3 or 4 times since September - if this practice is ‘the norm’ (which thankfully I don’t believe it is) that’s a hell of a lot of potentially vulnerable kids suffering unnecessarily.

The CV school guidance, unless it has been changed, also tells the schools to isolate a child they think has CV. Alone, in a room with the door closed as much as possible (cannot remember the exact wording)

Slightly off topic, but since pp mentioned vitamin D...I don’t think you can get vitamin D from sunlight or from being outside at this time of year in the UK. So whether indoors or not, that isn’t something to rely on.