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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Why don't students respect the stay home message?

283 replies

Propsneeded · 09/01/2021 23:17

Simple really. Universities are not open for the vast majority unless veterinary etc.....yet many are turning up already...

Falmouth 200 students back despite University not open....

Why don't they follow guidelines...

Aibu they can do what they like
Yanbu they should follow the guidelines and stay at home

OP posts:
didireallysaythat · 10/01/2021 17:56

Overseas students set off before the "let's delay making any kind of a decision" government made up their minds.

singsingbluesilver · 10/01/2021 17:56

I am tired of this. Uni is not their home. If it were they would have spent Christmas there. If the course is online they do not need to be there. Stay put. If they are at home stay home. If they are in uni stay in uni.

Why on earth does anyone think its ok to travel, sometimes 100s of miles , during lockdown.

I live in a uni town. It's bloody miserable here. Nothings open. No shops. No pubs. No clubs. Missing your mates is NOT an essential reason to travel. Do parents really want their children 100s of miles away in a hall or a grotty student flat with covid?? If they do get covid they will need to stay there. No traveling to get them.

singsingbluesilver · 10/01/2021 18:01

and for the record -
No I don't hate students or young people
Yea I went to uni
Yes I think students have been treated very, very badly and should have never been told this year would be normal - it never was going to be

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2021 18:03

I live in a uni town. It's bloody miserable here. Nothings open. No shops. No pubs. No clubs.

Isn't that true of any town at the moment? DS is in his fourth year and considers his Uni town 'home'. He doesn't live in halls or a 'grotty student flat', if he gets covid he will stay there.

Hope4theBestPlan4theWorst · 10/01/2021 18:05

@BackforGood

My step daughter is volunteering - far better than wasting money not getting the full university experience

She just emailed them in July and said she wouldn't be going and could they defer her place - they didn't have an issue with it

mumsneedwine · 10/01/2021 18:07

@singsingbluesilver but they are adults. It is their decision, not ours. Yes I'd rather mine see here but they'd get chucked off their courses if they didn't go back. And even though it's quiet and strange they are where they pay rent. By your analogy anyone should count their parents house as home even if they are married and 53. If they go home for Xmas.

mumsneedwine · 10/01/2021 18:09

@Hope4theBestPlan4theWorst and if everyone had done that your DD would have no Uni to go to in Sept as they would be bankrupt.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 10/01/2021 18:15

As usual on these threads some posters are failing to recognise that the rules are different for the four countries.
We live in England, DS1 studies in Wales. He went back on the 4th Jan as he had his first Covid test booked at Uni on the 5th. His university facilities are open (practice rooms, library etc.) and when term starts tomorrow there will be some f2f teaching. Given the guidance from his University, not going back was not an option.
And no he's not on a veterinary or medicine course.

singsingbluesilver · 10/01/2021 18:20

Uni is not their home though is it. Lets not pretend otherwise. It is temporary accomodation.

People will do what they want. Some people will bend and break the rules. Most uni students can continue with their studies from their home. Where they live. With their parents. Where they will return at the end of their studies, because it's their home.

But never mind - you keep doing what you are doing. Travel across country when you don't need to.

MajesticWhine · 10/01/2021 18:21

DD is going back. She has not been offered any refund on her accommodation and all her flatmates are going back too. They can all have fun together. It's a no brainer.

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2021 18:22

People will do what they want

Exactly. Their adult children can go home to their Uni town and continue their studies from there.

user1487194234 · 10/01/2021 18:23

Do parents really want their children 100s of miles away in a hall or a grotty student flat with covid?
It’s not about what the parents want,it’s about what their adult children want

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2021 18:25

@user1487194234

Do parents really want their children 100s of miles away in a hall or a grotty student flat with covid? It’s not about what the parents want,it’s about what their adult children want
Exactly. Plus not all students go to Uni 100s of miles away and live in squalor!
mumsneedwine · 10/01/2021 18:26

@singsingbluesilver no they can't, utter rubbish. Both mine have to go back - hard to learn sheep handling over Zoom (lambs still being born). And I'm not sure human dissection is allowed on the kitchen table.
Many lab subjects need lab work to learn - just as well scientists are well trained in this country isn't it ? My DD1 lives in her Uni town. She will get 4 weeks holiday this year to see us.
You crack on and talk rubbish. The rest of us will support our adult children to become the next doctors, nurses, scientists, midwifes, vets and teachers (sure I've left some out here). I'm proud of my kids for being brave and carrying on. I've hated my child working in ICU, I'll hate her being full time on the wards. But I'll be behind her all the way.

TheHobbitMum · 10/01/2021 18:28

My daughters uni have asked for all students to return as planned and as her accommodation has cost us £6500 she's using it! She needs the use of the library for coursework so she went back a few days ago. She's happier there with her flatmates than at home so it's better for her to be there.

Farewell2020 · 10/01/2021 18:30

My son is going back next week. He can't study properly at home.

Despite he is in a bubble in his halls and even though some of his mates live local to us at home he can't mix with them. Go back to Uni and they will all be together.

user1487194234 · 10/01/2021 18:31

Indeed both my DCs accommodation is very nice indeed

singsingbluesilver · 10/01/2021 18:31

[quote mumsneedwine]@singsingbluesilver no they can't, utter rubbish. Both mine have to go back - hard to learn sheep handling over Zoom (lambs still being born). And I'm not sure human dissection is allowed on the kitchen table.
Many lab subjects need lab work to learn - just as well scientists are well trained in this country isn't it ? My DD1 lives in her Uni town. She will get 4 weeks holiday this year to see us.
You crack on and talk rubbish. The rest of us will support our adult children to become the next doctors, nurses, scientists, midwifes, vets and teachers (sure I've left some out here). I'm proud of my kids for being brave and carrying on. I've hated my child working in ICU, I'll hate her being full time on the wards. But I'll be behind her all the way.[/quote]
Hi - if you had read my previous posts on ths topic you will see that I have said that some studies cannot be done from home, and that if the course is not available online then of course they need to return to uni.

If it makes you feel better continue to be nasty to me. I am also very proud of my own adult children and what they give and keep on giving to society.

BackforGood · 10/01/2021 18:31

Do parents really want their children 100s of miles away in a hall or a grotty student flat with covid??

I take it you've not stayed in a University halls of residence recently ? They are as far from 'grotty' as you can get

Uni is not their home. If it were they would have spent Christmas there.
What a daft thing to say. Hundreds of thousands - probably millions - of people travel to be with family at Christmas. That doesn't mean where the live normally isn't 'their home'. Hmm

I live in a uni town. It's bloody miserable here. Nothings open. No shops. No pubs. No clubs

Er... you do realise that is countrywide ???

Hope4theBestPlan4theWorst - How lovely that your dd can afford to volunteer for a year, and also that her volunteering opportunity is still open. My dd also volunteers - she has been able to transfer what she does to on-line volunteering. But as pp says, clearly if every student had deferred, that would mean the next year would be impossible in terms of entry requirements as 2 years worth of students would be competing for one year's worth of places, plus, a considerable number of Universities would have gone bankrupt if they had a year without students.

Farewell2020 · 10/01/2021 18:34

Do parents really want their children 100s of miles away in a hall or a grotty student flat with covid??

Accommodation pretty good nowadays. Besides which probably got Covid in the first term !

mumsneedwine · 10/01/2021 18:35

@singsingbluesilver er you told me to 'crack on'. So I did. Please be careful with your language about our kids. I'm terrified for mine. And people saying they are reckless and wrong does my help. Everyone is doing the best they can.
And yes, my DDs Uni rooms (one in halls, one in a house) are much bigger than their ones at home. And they are en suite.

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2021 18:36

@user1487194234

Indeed both my DCs accommodation is very nice indeed
Even in first year halls DS had an ensuite and a double bed. Grin It's very far removed from Uni's I visited in the 80s. I would happily live in the private rental he's in now with the brand new carpets and kitchen. He's very lucky-but obviously paying for it all, so it makes sense for him to be living in it.
mumsneedwine · 10/01/2021 18:37

Mine both have a dishwasher. In my student house we had to break the ice on the loo in the winter. I sound so old.

Tiree1965 · 10/01/2021 18:37

It’s all very well talking about rent refunds but no company that relies on student rent to make a profit will give refunds. So much student accommodation is privately provided and still has to be paid for. My daughter paid for 4 months last year after she’d come home due to lockdown, a small fortune. It’s also worth remembering that testing prior to travelling at Christmas showed very low rates in the student population.

singsingbluesilver · 10/01/2021 18:38

I will just make some things clear before I take a step back from this thread

I don't hate students or young people - they have been treated very badly, and the unis and he governement should have made it clear to them from the start that this was not going to be a normal uni year.
All students should be offered unused rent back.
All uni should allow students to defer if they wish
All students who cannot access their course online should be able to return to uni if they wish
Some student accomodation is indeed grotty, and no place for a sick student to go through covid miles away from home
Missing your mates when you are well able to access your course online is no good reason to move back to uni
Covid travels with people - moving back to uni when you do not need to increases the risk of spreading it
Having an opinion on MN that is contrary to those who disagree with you leads to unneccesarily nasty comments in return

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