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Covid

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

700 replies

Hicksville21 · 28/12/2020 18:42

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

OP posts:
Agoodbriskwalk · 28/12/2020 23:06

And I happen to believe that if you aren’t suited to the job and all it entails, then leave! There are plenty of newly unemployed people who will jump at the chance to train.

It really makes me laugh that people believe this - how ridiculous! They couldn't recruit enough teachers (by far) before the pandemic, but you think that people will be lining up for it now with a) one of the only environments that allows group mixing in cramped conditions with no PPE while a nasty virus is circulating and b) after the way the public has seen teachers treated by the press, by people like you, and by the government? Honestly, you're so far removed from reality it's laughable.

Myothercarisalsoshit · 28/12/2020 23:09

@Agoodbriskwalk

And I happen to believe that if you aren’t suited to the job and all it entails, then leave! There are plenty of newly unemployed people who will jump at the chance to train.

It really makes me laugh that people believe this - how ridiculous! They couldn't recruit enough teachers (by far) before the pandemic, but you think that people will be lining up for it now with a) one of the only environments that allows group mixing in cramped conditions with no PPE while a nasty virus is circulating and b) after the way the public has seen teachers treated by the press, by people like you, and by the government? Honestly, you're so far removed from reality it's laughable.

I agree. The cognitive dissonance involved in saying how much children need us and then sticking the boot in takes my breath away sometimes.
MrsMomoa · 28/12/2020 23:10

Nope. Not worried at all.

How many healthy kids have died from Covid?

NataliaOsipova · 28/12/2020 23:10

@OppsUpsSide I don’t know - we were all in lockdown at the time. I think a lot of “non essential” procedures have been cancelled/postponed. This obviously causes problems (and a backlog) in itself...but it’s a very different issue/worry vis a vis children’s health and safety.....

LabiaMinoraPissusFlapus · 28/12/2020 23:10

I am not worried about them as I believe they won't be seriously ill and that they can build some natural immunity.

OppsUpsSide · 28/12/2020 23:11

There are a lot of NQT’s/supply teachers/teachers on non permanent contracts (despite PP’s claims of it being a secure job) who are desperate for jobs. Did anyone look at available jobs after Easter? There were a handful in my whole area.
Supply teachers are often experienced and won’t take any contract, some (if they can) are choosing not to work under current conditions.
NQT’s are champing at the bit but need the supervision and support they are unlikely to get right now.

OppsUpsSide · 28/12/2020 23:14

@NataliaOsipova children are prioritised, I have had to go to A&E twice with DC in the past 9 months, very speedy! But, the more strain the hospitals are under the harder this will become for them.

MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes · 28/12/2020 23:14

@MessAllOver

The slanging match on here is bizarre. Many many things matter and are very important, including the following:

Children's physical health
Children's mental health
Safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children
Access to education
Access to childcare for younger children
Preventing the entrenchment of future inequality
Teachers' physical health
Teachers' mental health
Parents' physical health (especially the clinically vulnerable)
Parents' mental health
Parents' ability to work and secure the economic wellbeing of their children
Preventing further damage to the economy and increases in the social security bill.
Reducing the spread of the virus

Just because a working parent prioritises their child's access to education and their ability to keep a roof over their family's heads doesn't mean they don't care about any of the other things listed above, including teachers' health. Likewise, those focusing primarily on the risks to teachers and wider viral spread are not wrong... they are just prioritising the matters which affect them the most, probably because they're not the ones who face losing jobs and homes if school closures leave them unable to work. But that doesn't mean they're indifferent to child poverty and other harmful effects of school closures... just that they're not prioritising them. We are all motivated by self-interest, whether we admit it or not.

Where the matters listed above conflict, it is the government's job to work out how to balance the conflicting interests. So if schools close to protect teachers and the wider population, we need to have a discussion about how to mitigate the effects on families - for example, laptops/devices provides to all families who need them, a grant of up to £2,000 to all families with younger children to cover alternative childcare/unpaid leave for parents and much better mental health provision for children of all ages.

Bit long for a quote, but it deserves repeating. This really is excellent, it should be pinned at the top of all these education discussions over Covid.
mumwalk · 28/12/2020 23:14

No, no teacher or staff at our school have tested positive and all positive results have been as a result of parents.

mumwalk · 28/12/2020 23:18

@messallover I agree, although I'm not sure if the impact of throwing money at the parents is enough.

LegoAndLolDolls · 28/12/2020 23:18

I am worried. I am worried that my dd will be a illiterate pole dancer if she looses much more of her early education.

Would be better I could choose to dump off arts, drama, music etc for years to focus and learning to read and write to where she have been.

Close schools and they need to rethink the curriculum then I would be more for it.

But that would mean focusing on English and stem subjects, which all kids have capacity to excell in.

user1471466920 · 28/12/2020 23:20

I am far more worried about the impact of the kids missing more school, the educational loss is a worry but more so their mental health.

LegoAndLolDolls · 28/12/2020 23:22
  • I mean NOT all kids can excell in stem subjects.

But if we bring up a generation who haven't learnt maths English and stem we are more fucked as a country then if we loose the arts and history.

Unpopular view? You cant have everything can you? Close schools for six months. Scrap arts and history in primary and juniors I say.

Dont like that idea? I dont like thinking of my dd with a higher than adverage IQ growing up as a fuckwit.

Welcome to mumsnet as they say. Where everyone has the simple answer as long as it doesnt impact them.

NataliaOsipova · 28/12/2020 23:22

the more strain the hospitals are under the harder this will become for them.

That’s fair, @OppsUpsSide - I do take that point. I just don’t think that people should worry about their kids not getting routine medical treatment. More Covid patients than the NHS can cope with may mean that some Covid patients do not get life saving treatment (eg ventilators) and not that there won’t be an orthopaedic surgeon on call if your child has a fall. (Obviously both dreadful scenarios- but they carry very different risks to children.)

DuesToTheDirt · 28/12/2020 23:24

For the kids themselves - it was reported this week that a baby had just died in Scotland of Covid - the first child under 15 to do so. Not much of a risk.

Shesaysso · 28/12/2020 23:24

I’m more worried that they won’t open. My youngests mental health and behaviour took a huge dive when schools were closed. Virtually no work was done despite my best efforts. The change in her mood and behaviour when she went back to school was phenomenal.

LegoAndLolDolls · 28/12/2020 23:24

Also the highest educated parents with the most money will come out this the best btw. Thanks to their education chances that these kids will loose. But as long as I'm ok right?

stuffedforchristmas · 28/12/2020 23:26

If I gave you 100 smarties and told you one of them would kill you, would you still eat one?

No, you lunatic!!!

And I wouldn't be happy with the fact that 100 people were being given the smarties so if it wasn't me, it would definitely be someone else!

Good grief!

Hardbackwriter · 28/12/2020 23:27

I had to take DS to children's A&E in April and we were literally the only people there and he was seen within minutes of us arriving. The staff said it was really worrying them, that no one was bringing sick children to the hospital but that children wouldn't have magically stopped getting sick so they knew there were some that needed them but that they weren't seeing.

Decisiontomake · 28/12/2020 23:28

Im not only worried about my dd but also the vulnerable family members who rely on us during these hard times. Not only that but having horses i worry about catching covid and not being able to tend to them. Having no one else around who could help me it is a big worry of mine.

OppsUpsSide · 28/12/2020 23:29

A child feeling a bit lonely, worried, sad, anxious during a pandemic is no more of a mental health issue than a child having a sprain or cold is a physical health issue. It’s a bit of an issue, but it’s not something to get too hung up on.

Thefeep · 28/12/2020 23:29

No I’m not worried. I’m more worried about how depressed they got during the last school closures.

Horseandgoat · 28/12/2020 23:29

No. The risk of being run over by a bus is higher than any serious harm from covid for most of the population.
The risk of job loss, mental health decline, depression and falling behind on education and social development for my family are very real and high if primary schools are closed though. My dd developed social anxiety and ds became really angry and aggressive, impossible to engage. After one term and some tears in the beginning to adjust to new measures like no year group playtime and catching up academically they are finally looking like more normal children... we have to protect our young, don't we?

I have a lot of respect for teaching staff and I hope the government provides all the support, testing and vaccination they can after health workers.

stuffedforchristmas · 28/12/2020 23:30

children lose parents and infect their elderly relatives all the time

Do you think you would have the nerve to say that to an ICU consultant at the moment?

I wonder.

Keyboard warriors...

Pootle40 · 28/12/2020 23:31

Not worried in the slightest. What is there to worry about? Genuinely