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?

@Twattergy

Good to see common sense and a good understanding of the statistical risks prevailing on this thread. The ones talking about a parent dying, or a child making someone else in the family ill seem to ignore that children lose parents and infect their elderly relatives all the time and have done so frequently before Covid existed. But it never occurred to them before to keep their kids out of school to avoid those risks...

Absolute bollocks.

This is a NEW illness.

We were told to shield for all those months- because there was a real risk of illness and death.

Idiot.

not worried about the teaching staff? extra workloads for them compensating for their colleagues being off etc

I feel sorry for them, sure, but I didn't give birth to them and I don't love them as I love my DS. Also the teaching staff don't follow me around all day monologuing about Roblox

@LoveNote not worried about the teaching staff? extra workloads for them compensating for their colleagues being off etc

Not any more than I worry about everyone else who is working through all this with extra workloads and extra dresses.

Not worried about my DC as she is in a small school. They also did a fantastic job during the autumn term. They were the only few schools in Area with no cases. I also sent my little one during the summer term when it was a reduced schedule and no incident. All in all, she is better off at school than home trying to meet her educational and social needs whilst her parents are working full time.

Jesus as a shielding parent that's exactly what I have done.

Can I just point out to several posters that if I do keep my DC off I can be fined. If I wasn't going to be fined and the DC could have online learning then I'd happily keep them home for a few weeks whilst everyone else went back.

@GoldenLabbie

Many parents in this country see schools as a free child minding service. So to answer your question, no they don’t care.

Oh piss off. Firstly the risk to most children is tiny. The worry should be for vulnerable children, teachers, and children/teachers with vulnerable family members. Secondly, while school obviously isn’t childcare, it’s stupid to assume that parents don’t organise their lives and work around that provision. We won’t have a second child until DD is closer to school age because then childcare will be more affordable, for example. Thirdly, thinking schools should stay open could be because they want their children to get an education that they know they can’t get at home - some people disagree with that argument, but it doesn’t come from not giving a shit about their child.

Not worried at all. I've tested positive for antibodies, the likelihood is at least one of them had it already. They're year 11 and 13 and risk v benefit I want them in.
More importantly, they want to be in too.

I am desperately hoping teachers/childminders/nursery staff etc get bumped towards the top of the priority list for the vaccine, they really need it.
My daughters teacher is a legend and i want her to be safe

To echo others, my main worry is my DS's mental health if we have to homeschool again. He suffered so badly last time we ended up with a CAHMS referral and a lot of hard work dealing with the anxiety he developed during lockdown. He would say things like he hates his life and wishes he was dead (at age 7).

With a lot of hard work, the last couple of months of school he was like a changed boy. He NEEDS the social aspect. It's impossible for both us parents to work full time and give him what he needs. I am so stressed about the prospect of schools closing for any extended amount of time as I just don't know how we will cope.

I'm not worried. I think my dd may have had it anyway. She had a bad tummy a couple of weeks ago and a rash last week. I didn't think anything of it until dh tested positive this week. Now wondering if she's had covid because apparently tummy upsets and a rash are symptoms in children. Me and ds are fine so if we've had it (which i think we probably have) we've had no symptoms. So we'll control self isolate until next week and send the kids to school if they're open.

Not even faintly worried about DD - I’ll be much more worried about her if schools closed. I can only think that anyone with a healthy child who is worried is very bad at assessing risk. (Obviously totally different if your DC is vulnerable for some reason.)

@tilder

BunaBoom Is there a reference for this other than somebodies Twitter account?

ONS data is here:

www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=%2fpeoplepopulationandcommunity%2fbirthsdeathsandmarriages%2fdeaths%2fdatasets%2fdeathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwales%2fjune2020/referencetables.xlsx

not worried about the teaching staff? extra workloads for them compensating for their colleagues being off etc

The question was about keeping kids safe not teachers. With regards to teachers, I want them to be a high priority for vaccinations (have signed the petition for that) and allowed to wear ppe if they want to ; I’m also pleased that the plan includes weekly testing for teachers but should be extended for primaries if that’s not already planned

continue to self isolate that should say.

@IHateThesePosts

For those who always use a child’s mental health as a bargaining tool on these threads, I would point out, from personal experience, that it’s significantly more catastrophic for your mental health to lose a parent than to miss school for a period of time

I’m sure it is but The risk of a child a) catching covid at school b) then passing it onto their parent c) that parent then dying, is incredibly tiny.

The risk to a child’s mental health from being isolated and forced to stay at home, forfeit their education, lose any social interaction is far higher. As is the possibility of their parent being unable to work due to it, which could then lead to the loss of the home and ability to put food on the table, or being stuck at home with an abusive family. It is massively concerning.

I’m sure it is but The risk of a child a) catching covid at school b) then passing it onto their parent c) that parent then dying, is incredibly tiny.

No it isn't.

Nationally, in the ONS survey, 2.5% secondary school children were positive for the virus in mid December.

Primary school children followed close behind, with alarming increases in positivity rates.

We know children can transmit the virus to adults (although we were given misleading information about this for several months, this is now established).

And the unsafe environment in schools is now worsened by the new more infectious variant. So it now appears more even likely than was previously known, that children can infect adults.

So at the very least, we need to have a facility for CEV parents and children to work from home temporarily.

And we desperately need schools to be made safer.

@LoveNote not worried about the teaching staff?

In fairness OP specifically asked about the concern for children, not concern for children and teachers. Just because someone has replied they have no concerns about their children catching covid does not automatically equate to them not caring about teachers.
Let's not start with the parent guilt for sending our dc to school which is a legal requirement that we are fined for if we fail to do so.

@MumsGoneToIceland

not worried about the teaching staff? extra workloads for them compensating for their colleagues being off etc

The question was about keeping kids safe not teachers. With regards to teachers, I want them to be a high priority for vaccinations (have signed the petition for that) and allowed to wear ppe if they want to ; I’m also pleased that the plan includes weekly testing for teachers but should be extended for primaries if that’s not already planned

Actually, the question keeps changing every time people get an answer they don't like but can't really argue with

@PastMyBestBeforeDate understandable and I may well have made the same decision in your shoes. I'm less sure of the wisdom of it when both parents are otherwise healthy, though.

No. Risk negligible. Not being in school much more worrying. All the hand wringing about teachers could get it. Teachers can accept risk to supermarket workers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers, bin men, i.e. anyone who has been working through the pandemic. Teachers just as necessary. Most of my friends who work in school understand this. I do understand that they would rather not be in school if vulnerable thats reasonable, otherwise the risks to younger healthy teachers also negligible.

*Absolute bollocks.

This is a NEW illness.

We were told to shield for all those months- because there was a real risk of illness and death.

Idiot.*

And now there's a new strain that is so far reported to make younger people show more severe symptoms.

This thread is ridiculous. You either don't care about your child's wellbeing or you don't care about their health

No, I am not overly worried about my child getting covid but i am extremely worried about my child missing eduction. If your worries about catching it outweigh your worries about their missing education, then keep your child off. I don't think enough people are standing up for children in all this. I genuinely think SAGE need reigning in and quickly as children's futures depend on it, literally in the case of year 11 and 13s.

I do worry, but I try and have a balanced view. My Ds class has 12 kids in it, all very local and all the parent chat and know each other well. I know almost all are following the rules which gives me comfort. They’ve been back since Aug and so far not a single case in the school until the last week.

I do get nervous when I see social media posts of teacher friends that are travelling for Xmas breaks, having gathering etc whilst we’re all limiting ourselves so much to keep the schools safe. Not by any means a reflection of all teachers of course but frustrating none the less!! Some of them had multiple holidays in the summer (not isolating in between) then straight back to school. It was madness.

@BunaBoom did you actually look at the link you posted? The ONS data includes all deaths. Including deaths were the person had covid but covid was not the reason for the death. It also includes all the conditions the person suffered from.

You are spreading wrong information that scares people. It is downright irresponsible.

You either don't care about your child's wellbeing or you don't care about their health I will be sending my teen back on 4 Jan precisely because I care about his health and wellbeing.

And now there's a new strain that is so far reported to make younger people show more severe symptoms

Source?

As I understand it, there are concerns that it MAY be more likely to infect children. That's all.

[quote 3littlewords]**@LoveNote* not worried about the teaching staff? *

In fairness OP specifically asked about the concern for children, not concern for children and teachers. Just because someone has replied they have no concerns about their children catching covid does not automatically equate to them not caring about teachers.
Let's not start with the parent guilt for sending our dc to school which is a legal requirement that we are fined for if we fail to do so.[/quote]
teachers being off with covid or worst case scenario, dying WILL impact on the children

also, are the schools actually continuing with the planned curriculum with so much disruption, classmates off, regular teacher off? as surely this will all need revisiting, catching up etc once we are all back to normality in classrooms

or is it just glorified childcare now?teachers not really teaching much, just going over old ground? or are they carrying on as planned?