Those wanting school open - are you not worried about your DC?

[Hicksville21]

Just that really. Do you not think it’s time to keep our kids home safe until this wave passes?

@AgnesNaismith

Oh and now we have a vaccine I do think teachers should be second in line after NHS staff.

I agree.

I'm not sure how it works benefit my DD for me to lose my job?

PHE stats showed 170 school age children admitted to hospital with Covid in the week ending Dec 20th. Genuinely don’t know if that’s normal for this time of year with other respiratory illnesses - but seems quite high? Yes chances of recovery hopefully high - but the 1 in 10 getting long Covid symptoms concerns me as well.

Not about COVID. Children are less likely to catch it and if they do they shrug it off.

I don't understand this comment. Less likely to catch it than... (older people?) This is the sort of line that the Government pushed - that children highly unlikely to catch or transmit Covid at school. It's an absolute myth!

10% of my one year 10's form had Covid before Xmas. About 20% of the form have had it now. Same at my other y10's secondary.

My one son caught Covid at school (unsurprisingly, school rife with cases since Sept, six periods of self isolation). He's very fit and healthy, runs cross country etc. He did not shrug it off at all, and I think a few parents may be in for a nasty surprise as not all children are asymptomatic or suffer mildly.

If they are ‘vulnerable’ teachers, they will be vaccinated sooner

Oh and now we have a vaccine I do think teachers should be second in line after NHS staff

I'm afraid I don't agree.

I'd rather keep those aged over 70 and those with serious health conditions in front as they are at higher risk of death and hospitalisation.

Not about COVID. Children are less likely to catch it and if they do they shrug it off.

I don’t think it has been confidently said about this new strain either.

@MintyMabel

It’s a disease that Over 99% of people will survive. So my other worries are more pressing.

I’m sick of seeing this 99% number. Someone the other day put that in to context. If I gave you 100 smarties and told you one of them would kill you, would you still eat one?

If I was absolutely starving then yes I would. If I wasn't then it is in no way comparable - if I don't have a smartie there is unlikely to be any negative effect on my life, however if I did nothing and went nowhere because of the 1% risk of covid then there is a very high chance of a negative effect on my life.

@hamstersarse

I’d be more worried if they closed

It’s a travesty that people think school and socialisation can be shelved for a disease which has no impact on 99.9999999% of children

Anyway, both mine have had it.
One had a fever for approx. 5 hours. The other had a ‘bit of a hangover’ for a day (also asthmatic).

It’s not a dangerous disease of any description for children. In fact more children will have died due to suicide because of lockdowns than covid. For those that are worried, what is it you are worried is going to happen?

Completely agree. I'm far more worried about sepsis or meningitis than Covid and these barely cross my mind.

You’ve highlighted a major problem in the sense that we only ever see one set of statistics. Like you say if you could see a ‘normal year’ for comparison. All we’ve been doing is seeing one piece of a puzzle and alluding to the rest - all reaching different conclusions. None wrong, just different.

For ds, I am worried that if he gets Covid he will react very badly to it - he is medically vulnerable, and he has been remote learning since half term. I would also be worried about him needing hospitalisation for a non Covid reason, so I'd like to ensure be avoids that.

For his sister's, I'd like them to avoid getting Covid, partly for their own sakes, partly because of the risk to their brother. They both feel we should move to online learning now (they are 14 and 13, and could miss friends etc, but they did ok in the first lockdown and shielded their brother)

I’m frontline nhs I am probably more of a risk to my family than school. I worry for children in terms of the increase of children living in poverty due to the economic effect of the pandemic. I worry for the children who will be locked down in horrendous social/family situations when school is their respite/safeguard if schools close. I worry about children starving as one or possibly both parents have lost jobs. There are lots of children out there who have parents who are illiterate, have no laptops, reliable internet etc who will be left further behind in a blended learning/online learning scenario. Covid for children is statistically a bad cold. I worry about the wider effects of the pandemic on the economy and social situations of some families. Of course people are worried about their children but you can be concerned for your children and still want schools to open.

I’d also hope all the people who are worried about their children are keeping them healthy. Deliberately.

If they are overweight they are doing something to sort that out and not allowing them to gorge on junk food, supplementing vitamin D etc.

The path of a virus has two key components - and the host for the virus is one. And being the most healthy you can be is part of this that we don’t seem to factor in

Yes, we pay for the childminding service where they educate our children. What was that poster even suggesting? That we take our kids out of school (but continue to pay for it in our taxes) and pay for a different childminder that won't educate them instead?

@middleager sorry you found my point hard to understand. There are loads of sources that can explain much better than I. Try the BBC or NHS websites for starters.

Honestly, no. I'm not worried about their health at all. For children the risk of serious illness is lower than if they caught flu, a risk we take every single year.

Hamsters I completely agree about vaccine

Not all teachers are at risk it’s same in all jobs

If they’re eligible for vaccine they’ll get it

@MintyMabel

It’s a disease that Over 99% of people will survive. So my other worries are more pressing.

I’m sick of seeing this 99% number. Someone the other day put that in to context. If I gave you 100 smarties and told you one of them would kill you, would you still eat one?

Oh god. Not the smarties thing again!

My whole family has had it. Worst was the headache and dizziness but kids were absolutely fine (aged 9/15)

Don't be ridiculous, I'd be more worried for their mental health stuck at home

**Not all teachers are at risk it’s same in all jobs

Are you actually serious?!

many parents in this country see schools as a free child minding service

This type of crap really makes my piss fizz!

Aside from a Nanny or Au Pair which would only be possible for the very privileged please tell me what other establishments are available that offer child care to school aged dc to the general working class society?
Claimants of benefits have their claim re assessed when their dc reach school age in the belief that they can work whilst their dc are in school so are no longer entitled to benefits. So even our own government realise that school provides some form of childcare so parents can work.

If schools are to stay open the teachers need to be vaccinated as NHS front line staff will be.

More concerned for their mental health.

Not worried at all. Way too much scare mongering.