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?

not worried about kids- no- not at all
i worry about grandparents- nearly 80- so guesswot? we're don't see them- not rocket science.
any vulnerable ta/teacher they shouldnt have to work but most people fine.
if a parent is vulnerable then there needs to be provision for their kids to study at home- hard on the kid but everyone lie low? regardless of healthy baseline/no contact with vulnerable? regardless of, y'know, jobs that keep the economy going - regardless of the toll on our collective mental health? don't be so ridiculous!!

@kowari

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.

not all schools are open to send them back to...tier 4 hereof till the 11th at minimum

I am not worried, they are healthy kids and if they do get it it's not going to be severe, anyone I know who has had Covid and no underlying health conditions has had cold/flu symptoms. Also not just this - not every family is a 2 parent family with a SAHP. I'm a single mother working in social care and no family nearby - my role cannot be done from home, if I do not go to work I cannot pay my mortgage, bills, car etc so would not be able to provide myself and my children a room over our heads. I'm not about to give up my entire life for something that has been so ramped up that people have just been brainwashed in to thinking it's such a killer - no more so then flu!

@KodakNancyEurope

Basically infection rates in the community are mirrored in schools.

This new variant is more contagious so it follows infections will jump like mad in schools this term compared to the last. Infections have jumped in the community, schools will go back, infections will jump, everyone will lose their shit.

The government is making all of the overtures that England will have a full lockdown announced sometime between now and 1 Jan.... a universal Tier 4 “stay at home” order.

But this government keeps pushing their luck until they panic and then act in chronic haste unsettling everyone (look at how Tier 4 was launched) so they will fuck this up too.

They need to shit or get off the pot; say school holidays are extended to 18 Jan in line with rUK or commit to keep schools open (not “education”... Schools!) against all odds.

I have a feeling schools in England will remain open for a week and come 8 Jan the government will shit themselves and closure will be from 11 Jan to 1 Feb.

Let’s see.

This

Also just to add - I think it should be up to each individual parent to decide. If your lucky enough to be able to be at home and homeschool great! I'm worried about teachers etc of course. A lot of children have school as a sanctuary and time at home again could mean further abuse, hunger, neglect etc

To directly answer the question. No, I’m not worried for my children. The risk to my children is vanishingly small. They are no less ‘safe’ at school now than they ever were.
The risks of them transmitting to others, the risk to some adults that work with them ( I am a teacher myself) are different arguments.

not all schools are open to send them back to...tier 4 hereof till the 11th at minimum
He'll be attending under keyworker provision.

And as for people saying "don't you care about school staff" of course people do. But they care about the well being of their children first. I'm sick of hearing that being described as "selfish", being worried about your own kids and your own living situation ahead of others is not selfish. It's human nature. This attitude on Mumsnet that we should put absolutely everyone's well being and health ahead of our own or we're "selfish" is tedious and unreasonable.

It's not about children being unsafe - they are very unlikely to suffer massively from Covid anyway. The point is that they could spread it to adults and older people who are more vulnerable.

@Popcornriver where are you getting this information that the new strain causes worse symptoms in children?

Of course I worry but with experience of severe anxiety and school refusal due to bullying with one of my children pre-pandemic (previously a high-achieving, conscientious and hard-working student), the idea that you can just keep bouncing children in and out of the classroom without causing serious MH and social issues is an absolute fantasy. The longer they're off, the harder it can be for them to settle back in to and cope with a classroom environment.

I have a DD due to move up to secondary in September, how is she supposed to cope socially if she has another lengthy period at home? She'll have lots of company at home and is close to her siblings but needs to be in the company of peers her own age too.

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 worried in the least. It would be a marvel of statistical anomalies if he were to get seriously ill from it and he's managed to avoid getting anything resembling covid symptoms so far

@GoldenLabbie

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

At least teachers have a secure job unlike a lot of people right now.

@lovelemoncurd

I'm tired of teachers being on the bottom rung of the ladder. They have been on the front line all the way through this. No PPE. No chance of social distancing. Almost as though their lives don't matter. I'm not worried about daughter because we have already had the virus but I'm angry about the way teachers and schools have been treated.

This "no PPE" frustrates me! We have always sourced our own PPE in my place of work and now due to Covid we are able to procure PPE from the local authority and still source our own. If I was a teacher and very concerned about the risk to myself I would to protect my self source my own PPE and wear it!

No. COVID is very low risk to healthy children and it’s actually a very important part of their immune system development to keep them exposed to the usual childhood bugs as well. And of course, they need education and socialisation. So, in balance, it’s best they go to school (unless identified as vulnerable). Doesn’t worry me in the slightest.

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

I've always seen it as a service to educate my child, which I pay for through taxes

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot Three and a half pages of responses, and only 7 posters mentioned risk to school staff. Lots of people concerned about themselves having it brought home by their children though. Oh, and one poster who said I do feel sorry for teachers who are anxious for whatever reason. You don't bloody deserve school staff. Selfish

Are you a teacher?
I work in early years. I’m a childminder. I deal with bodily fluids every day, regularly have children sneezing, licking me, breathing/talking right up close to me so there exhaled air is pretty much inhaled by me immediately. It is extremely rare for anyone to question if early years should reopen and if early years staff are at risk. I could count on one hand how often we are brought up in COVID safety threads, it’s only ever teachers in schools.

I hardly think I’m selfish in wanting my children to get an education and for their mental health to be prioritised when I am prioritising other people’s dc over my risk. (I reopened as soon as I could in June, becasue I knew how hard my families were finding it, having to work and care for their dc).

I still believe that schools And early years should reopen for all children.
What the government should be doing, is prioritising testing All childcare/school staff and vaccinating all school And early years staff as soon as the nhs staff are done. Before the elderly. That would go some way to sorting the situation in schools.

@LoveNote your response to me had absolutely no relation to anything I said in my post! I didn't make any such referral to the impact on children of teachers dying, the curriculum being offered or school being glorified childcare

At least teachers have a secure job unlike a lot of people right now.

A) Shows how much you know about the current state of the teaching profession
B) You’re a numpty

Ah ok BunaBoom. Thats either disingenuous of the Twitter poster or they don't understand the purpose of the table you linked to. The Twitter post has also been very selective in the terms highlighted.

It's deaths involving Covid. So it lists stuff the person had or were subject to when they died that might be relevant to their death. Covid bring one element.

Table 5 is the one to worry about. The most common pre existing conditions.

after todays covid case tally for yesterday i think the whole thing will be decided for us anyway, daily cases at all time high. the xmas mixing won't be contributing to that yet either. christ knows what that will be

@Sparklestar1
If you think teachers are the bottom rung of the ladder, you should try early years. I think we come even lower and as the majority of us work in the private sector, we don’t even have the benefit of knowing we will get paid if we or someone in our household catches COVID or has to isolate.

To answer the OP's question - I am not worried about my DCs going to school. I am worried about their education if the schools shut again.

I am worry about those mental health not Covid tbh.