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?

Has any child died of covid??? No

Well they have actually.

But I'm more worried about the long term effects.

@Remmy12 Categorically not true.

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

This is hilarious Christ, there really are some thick shits on MN.

I'm not worried about my kids getting Covid particularly. Me and DH are not CV and fairly healthy so would likely be ok too although I have health anxiety so I'm always a bit doomsday on that.

I am worried about the wider impact that schools will have on the community that will in turn make people I know ill or die. I already know someone who died whose only contact was childcare support for their grandchildren in primary. He was early 60's with no health issues.

My kids are all at different settings. One in nursery, one primary, one secondary and one in college. Our spread is huge even just via the kids. During the first lockdown they coped really well and I'm sure would again. I wfh but only small hours which I can do at a weekend, DH works from home so I can homeschool. DS2 came on so much as he got more personal teaching which he responds better to, DS1 has SEN but is also better doing the home stuff and as he's in secondary he doesn't have all the social stuff that he finds difficult. My youngest is loving being at home with her siblings and my eldest who had her GCSEs cancelled and failed her most important ones has changed her plans to carry on the same path.

I know we are lucky and others don't have it so bad so I'm unsure why they don't let parents make that choice without fining them. They have to do online stuff anyway for those isolating and it would free up space for those who need it.

They have exams so need to be in school

Not worried about the kids, but I know people that are worried about them picking up and spreading the virus to older people - moreso after school when some don't observe the same level of guidelines as imposed at school.

@TicTacTwo

They have exams so need to be in school

They won't be doing exams. Of that I am certain. I would be telling them to concentrate on their assessed work to give their teachers as much evidence as possible. Exams will not happen in the Summer.

No I'm not worried about them catching Covid. They're more at risk of dying in a car crash on the way to school, or to die of cancer, than they are at risk of dying from or becoming seriously ill from Covid.

No more worried than I am about them catching chicken pox or flu, and being that one in a million kid who dies from it.

If you’re bricking it about the risk to your kids from the virus, but still transporting them in a car, you need to have another look at the statistical risks attaching to every day activities.

A lot of people exaggerate the risks of missing 4 weeks of school in the middle of a mutated viral pandemic because they want their DCs out of the house.

Many low income people are also more affected by COVID, have lost relatives to this virus, and don’t need middle class mums claiming schools must stay open on their children’s behalf.

Also there are a lot of grandparents who provide wraparound care for their DGC. If schools shut they could have them for the full day as childcare support with less risk as the kids wouldn't be in school.

Much more worried for my young only dc who is already isolated enough as we live rurally being further isolated. She has already begged us not to isolate her this holiday as last lockdown was tough for her, she doesn't understand it's not a choice.
The benefits for our dd going to school now far outweigh the risks for us I believe.
I also struggled to work when she was at home and am dreading juggling it all around again.

@turnitonagain what you said is so true
I don't believe all these children are desperate to return to school I think it's more the parents who are desperate to get them back to school.
My dd admits that as much as she misses her friends she would still rather be at home than in school.

No, he’s more likely to, god forbid, die on the bus ride to school than he is from Covid and I don’t stop him from going on the bus!

@Totallydefeated

No more worried than I am about them catching chicken pox or flu, and being that one in a million kid who dies from it.

If you’re bricking it about the risk to your kids from the virus, but still transporting them in a car, you need to have another look at the statistical risks attaching to every day activities.

It is more about the indirect risks to children's wellbeing, which are significant (family & community effects of pandemic, risk to teachers etc & unknown long term health risks) than the direct immediate risk of death from covid, which is small.

@QueenieButcher

Surprised that no one has mentioned the emotional upheaval on children and teens - even tiny children know that we mustn't go near others to keep safe - and older children have have the frighteners put on them over Christmas with awful news about a mutant virus at every turn and not even able to go anywhere or see grandparents or friends for the whole holidays (here in Tier 4) for fear of catching something - but then we expect them to go into school in January like nothing has happened and just get on with it? Is it any wonder than some children with struggle with that mixed messaging and feel extremely worried and stressed about going back into the classroom and the possibility of bringing something home to people they love?

This.

* Surprised that no one has mentioned the emotional upheaval on children and teens - even tiny children know that we mustn't go near others to keep safe - and older children have have the frighteners put on them over Christmas with awful news about a mutant virus at every turn and not even able to go anywhere or see grandparents or friends for the whole holidays (here in Tier 4) for fear of catching something - but then we expect them to go into school in January like nothing has happened and just get on with it?*
Is it any wonder than some children with struggle with that mixed messaging and feel extremely worried and stressed about going back into the classroom and the possibility of bringing something home to people they love?

Not my children. 11 and 8. We rarely talk about the pandemic, and they haven’t seen me anxious and stressed about it (at points I’ve been... oh no, this is pants! I want to see xyz, bother these mask etc” but anything more I wouldn’t convey in front of them) and they go to a brilliant school.

If my primary child was scared anxious about the situation etc then quite honestly - I’d feel as though I’d been a crap parent

@mumwalk. I agree chucking money at parents can only go so far but I firmly believe we should do it. Parents have taken such a financial hit over the past year.

It also makes sense from a pragmatic perspective. Yes, lots of people have suffered financially from Covid, not just families with children, but the unpalatable truth is that child poverty in the formative years matters more than adult poverty. It forms life-restricting habits and behaviours, lays the foundation for future ill-health and limits educational achievement. It is bad for the economy. It is also much harder for families with dependent children to work their way out of poverty. Whereas while it is of course sad if an adult loses their job and home due to Covid (or indeed any other reason), adults are generally more resilient and less defined by such experiences, especially if they themselves had a secure start in life.

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@BunaBoom thats shocking I mean fractured bone ? I always thought underlying condition was things like diebetes , heart failure that kind of thing not a fractured bone or a fall [/quote]
I would imagine that this would cover those who broke a hip and then caught covid in hospital and died. Its not actually that uncommon in the very frail and elderly to catch an infection after going in to hospital. Or they could have been asymptomatic, broken a hip and then died of their injuries, which again isn't that uncommon. What is wrong is that if its the second example they are counted in the figures for "died with covid"

@Melonlover80

Very very low level worry

But much much higher level of worry re impact on then if they don’t go back

This.

No I'm not worried about my children catching it.

Half my family have had it and they're all recovered. My children spent time with my positive MIL and didn't catch it, or didn't get symptoms at any rate. So if they encounter it at school they may or may not catch it but no one in our household is vulnerable anyway.

I know there is a risk of course, but that risk is so, so low that it's one I'm willing to take.

I would imagine that this would cover those who broke a hip and then caught covid in hospital and died. Its not actually that uncommon in the very frail and elderly to catch an infection after going in to hospital. Or they could have been asymptomatic, broken a hip and then died of their injuries, which again isn't that uncommon. What is wrong is that if its the second example they are counted in the figures for "died with covid"

I remember a few years ago, Age Concern did a campaign which encouraged old people to replace their slippers because they are responsible for 370,000 falls a year

We’d be better sorting out the slippers than keeping kids off school seeing as at least 25% of covid unfections are picked up in hospital

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1960/Amnesty-not-for-guns-for-your-deadly-slippers

Not worried about my kids getting CV in the least. Far more worried about them not getting educated, socialising and all the risks associated with that.

I agree for some children the mixed messaging is very confusing at best. I have friends who are completely paranoid about exposure to other people and that cannot no have an effect on their kids.

I'm more worried about my DC missing out on their education than dying of covid. Home schooling wasn't very successful for two out of the three of them.