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Original poster

If so many people wanted schools closed then why are some schools seeing up to 75% of children in?

348 replies

Waxonwaxoff0 · 07/01/2021 08:52

I have never wanted schools closed although I do recognise why they need to and that they need to be made safer.

Yet it seemed like I was in the minority, all over the internet people wanted schools closed and their children safely at home.

So why are so many trying to send their children in? Is it a case of "schools should be closed except for my child?"

OP posts:
whittystitties · 07/01/2021 11:47

Half the grannies who wanted schools closed will be currently swanning round sainsbo's and the garden centre spreading their viral load

whittystitties · 07/01/2021 11:50

@ShowOfHands

Nobody I know in rl wanted our school closed.

My Dc are still going to school. Not because I'm taking the piss. Not because I have an I'm alright Jack attitude. Because I have no choice if I want to pay the mortgage and look after the people I work with. This whole thing has been so good at engendering an us vs them situation across its lifespan and currently the people who can keep their dc at home are being encouraged to make sweeping and unkind generalisations against those people who can't. I've seen it on MN and FB, the utter contempt for people whose lives are different to theirs and without full possession of the facts, people are being encouraged to direct bile towards their neighbours, family and friends.

It's like anything in rl where there are different life experiences at play. Benefits for example. People who make sweeping, uneducated statements about the woeful state of the country's welfare state and use words like scroungers. You try and counter their arguments and they don't mean those people who actually need it, they mean this other homogeneous squirming mass of people they don't know or understand.

I'm sure the vicious comments on social media about entitled parents and little Johnny aren't aimed at me. That's what the accusators would tell me. They mean these other folk. Them. That lot.

You only need to look at the riots in the US yesterday to see that people's moral compass has moved, they think it's ok to do whatever and say whatever they like
whittystitties · 07/01/2021 11:55

And, Covid isn't the only dangerous thing in life, need to remember that, we can't just stop being humans!

whittystitties · 07/01/2021 11:57

@AudreyAubergine

I was happy when they decided to close schools. I didn't want them to have to close, but I could see that they needed to. Dd's class had to isolate a lot last term, so in some ways this is better for her, as she can go for walks and bike rides instead of being stuck in because someone in her bubble had the virus.

I think the key worker list has expanded. Some schools are being strict about who they will accept, but it does sound as if other schools are taking 20+ children per class, which doesn't seem like a closed school to me.

There were ideas floating around before re children attending school, part time, on a rota basis. That was blown out of the water as unworkable. Teachers don't feel safe teaching whole classes of children. Employers are less sympathetic this time. I honestly can't see what the answer is. Vaccinating teachers might help them feel safer, but we would still get the virus spreading through schools and into families, possibly with vulnerable people in the household. Numbers would still be rising exponentially then I assume.

Really difficult. I personally would have been fine with the rota idea, but remember people saying it couldn't work.

The list had lot expanded

People no longer have employer goodwill, even the charity sector cannot be a gift horse and pay but not receive work

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 11:59

Yes, people can be very ignorant. There are many reasons dcs need to be in school / childcare. For years, the trope was "school isn't childcare". But look where we are now. It is! Unless we rework the entire economy so that all parents can have one at home or both work part time, or so people get paid enough to hire nannies etc; people do need school for childcare.

I think there will be people sending their kids, because they just don't like having them at home, but I'm sure that's the minority.

I think though, some people are battling on, coping doing everything at once when they don't have to as they could, technically send dcs to school, but they are choosing not to. This is where the issues are coming out, because not everyone will make the same choice.

I do want to know what our esteemed leaders (snort) are doing to make schools safer, so all children can go back. Until then, of course there will be an us vs them vibe. Because some children are allowed to go to school, while others are not. What did they expect would happen?

Wakeupin2022 · 07/01/2021 11:59

Sea no. I wod just like people to give a damn about others.

No healthcare system in the world could cope with this virus running unchecked in the community.

You may be wealthy and be able to pay for Private School, but I am sure you will need the NHS just as much as all of us one day.

I just hope it's there for you........

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 11:59

People no longer have employer goodwill, even the charity sector cannot be a gift horse and pay but not receive work

Yes, this is what I meant by "employers are less sympathetic now".

NOTANUM · 07/01/2021 12:01

No-one knows your individual circumstances @ShowOfHands. For all we know, you could be doing open heart surgery and deserve a KW place. The internet doesn't need to know frankly about individual people's situations.

The reality is that as a COUNTRY, we've become more selfish and concerned about our own lives than society at large. Of course the country is made up of individuals, some of which are giving their all and some of which care about themselves only. That's the reality.

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 12:03

@whittystitties

And, Covid isn't the only dangerous thing in life, need to remember that, we can't just stop being humans!
Yes, but this is by far the biggest threat to life at the moment. If 1000 people are dying every day, that is like a headline grabbing disaster happening every day. It isn't the same as for example, cutting your hand on an open tin of tuna or whatever.

I think people are quite ignorant still, about how dangerous it is. I wish people were right that it's all too much, people are hysterical and it isn't that bad. But, that simply isn't true, much as I wish it were.

whittystitties · 07/01/2021 12:05

*list has not expanded

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 12:08

@whittystitties

*list has not expanded
I got what you meant Smile!

I thought it had changed recently, but may have been mistaken. I'll have a Google.

whittystitties · 07/01/2021 12:08

Meningitis/Sepsis is all around us, biggest global killer by far, but we don't stop the world and get off for that do we?

Spiratedaway · 07/01/2021 12:09

I didn't want schools to close and my son has gone in as my partner a key worker and judge me or not I don't care I work from home and the school are expecting me to help him with his school work each day ... so it is my job or sending him in ... also I had a breakdown just over a year ago and feel myself slipping again so it is good for me and my son if he is in school that way he does not see his mum cry each day and I don't fear losing my job .. call me selfish I don't care I stick to the rules but I am going to use this place

the80sweregreat · 07/01/2021 12:09

@whittystitties

Half the grannies who wanted schools closed will be currently swanning round sainsbo's and the garden centre spreading their viral load
More ageist crap 🙁 I'm not a granny , but I'm old and I do go to the supermarket once a week and that's it! I follow the rules and started wearing disposable gloves again to do shopping Not everyone is selfish and it's not all older people ' swanning around' either. Being in a shop isn't the same as being in an unventilated classroom with 30 odd children from different families for 6 hours a day. I'm not a teacher , but I can see this. Retail workers have had it hard and deserve praise but it is a bit easier for them to SD and they can wear masks.
DecemberSun · 07/01/2021 12:10

I think the tide turned over Christmas. On MN the majority were shutting loudly for schools to stay open and for teachers to just get on with it and to hell with their health.

More sensible people realised this was not the way to go and their voices were heard, eventually..

whittystitties · 07/01/2021 12:10

The list hasn't changed, but the teachers would like it changed is the rhetoric - the situation has changed and people who before didn't use, now have no choice

alwaysraining123 · 07/01/2021 12:12

I agree with many comments. There was a very loud uninformed minority who wanted schools closed who sadly did a great job. The unions are now triumphant too. The same minority are now shouting at families with key workers (I'm not a key worker BTW) who are daring to send their children to school and prioritise their family's needs. The rules set out by government are for the benefit of society as a whole - I don't think we individually need to trade these off against our own needs.

thefallthroughtheair · 07/01/2021 12:14

The power of SM on a weak government. Unfortunately those who want to keep schools open are just not as good at creating the dramatic narrative. Covid has given many a real sense of purpose and value and a feeling of living through a drama. Ideas like school education for all are just too dull to compete.

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 12:15

@whittystitties

Meningitis/Sepsis is all around us, biggest global killer by far, but we don't stop the world and get off for that do we?
But people are still getting meningitis and sepsis AND we have covid to deal with. There was a news article about a patient with sepsis waiting for 20 hours in an ambulance outside a hospital, because there were no beds, due to covid patients.

My close family members are doctors in hospitals. They have said this a whole new world.

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 12:16

@whittystitties

The list hasn't changed, but the teachers would like it changed is the rhetoric - the situation has changed and people who before didn't use, now have no choice
Yes, I'm sure this is true, (apart from the bit about how "the teachers" want you to believe etc. I'm sure they aren't a homogenous mass of dastardly conspirators, trying to deceive you).
whittystitties · 07/01/2021 12:17

No I rephrase that, the unions want

AudreyAubergine · 07/01/2021 12:18

Ah apologies; I think I misread that @whittystitties! Thought it was pretty fucking weird

herecomesthsun · 07/01/2021 12:21

@thefallthroughtheair

The power of SM on a weak government. Unfortunately those who want to keep schools open are just not as good at creating the dramatic narrative. Covid has given many a real sense of purpose and value and a feeling of living through a drama. Ideas like school education for all are just too dull to compete.
Or maybe we should be listening to SAGE and following the science because that's, you know, sensible in a pandemic?
whittystitties · 07/01/2021 12:21

@AudreyAubergine

Ah apologies; I think I misread that *@whittystitties*! Thought it was pretty fucking weird
I get that there is a massive morale issue in teaching right now, but the unions are the vector to the government and they are both letting the teachers down. Not the parents, or the children, who are just trying to stay sane/free from poverty.
herecomesthsun · 07/01/2021 12:23

Also, the real issue is MAKING SCHOOLS SAFE.

If there was more space and there were smaller classes etc., we would have a much better chance of keeping schools open and not having adverse consequences.