Anti-lockdown campaigners using children to push their agenda

[noblegiraffe]

I can't be the only one disgusted with how certain groups are using faux concern about children to push the earliest dismantling of lockdown restrictions.

They are loudly catastrophising on the front pages of the press about our kids. The lost generation. £40,000 in lost earnings. Articles about schools full of traumatised kids suffering PTSD caused by lockdown.

And the solution they propose is always to re-open schools as early as possible. Even before March 8th. Regardless of covid.

Now, the situation in schools before Christmas was awful. Some areas of the country had less than 50% attendance due to the new variant ripping through secondary schools. Secondary school kids were the most infected subset of the population by far, and are now the second least infected subset of the population behind the 70+ age group after schools were closed, demonstrating that there was a massive problem with transmission in secondary schools. It wasn't good for pupils' mental health or education to be in a situation when they didn't know if they'd be in school or out at the drop of a hat. But before Christmas, there was complete media silence on the impact that this was having on children.

CAMHS has been devastated by cuts. Waiting lists are intolerable and children in dire need of support don't even qualify. Same for social care around vulnerable children.

Yet you won't hear these people clamouring for schools re-opening as soon as possible talking at all about how to improve safety measures in schools to prevent the scenario we had before Christmas happening again. You won't hear them demanding more funding for children's mental health services and for more support for social care services.

And the reason you won't hear that is that THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT.

The reason that they want schools re-opened as quickly as possible is because the message was that schools had to open first.

They can't get what they really want open (everything else) until schools are open, hence the massive focus on schools and how terrible things are for children.

This catastrophising isn't good for parents or kids. It's scaremongering and unhelpful.

I know that there are kids (and parents) really struggling with their mental health and worried about their education. Blaring out messages about how terrible things are and how they will never recover because you want to hype up the message about schools going back is irresponsible and sickening.

We need sensible and calm conversations about how to support children and parents. We need funding for schools and massive investment in support services. We need a long-term program of recovery, not 9 months of a Catch-Up Tsar and quick fixes. We need a measured and sensible approach to schools re-opening that won't see kids in and out and in and out due to lack of mitigation measures causing rampant covid spread (particularly with the new variant).

We need these anti-lockdown campaigners to shut up and stop dominating the narrative.

Absolutely 100% spot on!

Because for one thing 50 million plus haven't been vaccinated.

Yes we are aware but seen as the over 50s count for 99% of Covid deaths and hospital transmissions, why would it be the same as last year?

@DuchessofHastings1 where has this been published please?

Me too. Only on Mumsnet. This isn’t really life. I’m a teacher and a mother and I am so so excited about 8th March

I know right. This place is insanity. It doesn’t represent any of the teachers I actually know in RL though, thank fuck.

Funny thing is that I have noticed a great many pro-lockdown people also using children as their argument - and notably the OP, who posts repeated hysterical posts about how children / everyone will die if schools don't close. I doubt they could conduct a sensible or calm conversation if they tried.

@LivinLaVidaLoki

Given that almost 15 million of the most vulnerable have now been vaccinated and the seasonality of covid, why does everyone seem to think we are in the same situation as we were in September and October last year, that letting children go back will put us right back where we started?

Exactly this! And all the immunity the school populations have now from all the "ripping through" people like to talk about from the autumn. I just can't see why people think we're headed for the same again. Seasonality is a huge thing. Plus globally cases are dropping everywhere at the moment with all different strategies. Children have to be back in school and those 3 weeks before half term will make the world of difference.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation I do not doubt there is luck and there are other factors like affluence and population density and so on. But I really think- and it’s nuts my own thoughts and opinions. That if we are very careful in ALL other aspects of our lives then schooling our children shouldn’t be impossible.

I’d comply with the same socially distancing rules, curfews, travel limits in my local area

the OP, who posts repeated hysterical posts about how children / everyone will die if schools don't close
That's simply untrue

@Monkeytennis97 so? A significant proportion of that group are immune because they’ve had the virus. The majority of the others will have mild/asymptomatic infections. We’ve vaccinated the groups most likely to end up in hospital. It’s not the same as the situation in September at all.

faerin
Lack of education? Lack of socialization? Lack of access to safe-guarding from domestic abuse? Witnessing your parents have crisis due to job loss, overwork, strain of having to parent like you don't have a job, and work like you're not a parent? These things cannot possibly cause a crisis of any sort.

Who can possibly make the argument that lockdown hasn't massively exacerbated pre-existing issues?

Those arguing for schools to go back at full strength with out mitigating measures.

Some posters seem to think that these issues didn't exist before and will just disappear when the pupils go back.

And all of these things will continue to be exacerbated if we continue this on/off method of lockdown.

What a surprise, giraffe back to her usual goady posts the second we get closer to schools going back. Tell you what giraffe, you can come and deal with my 6 year old who has turned from a happy carefree child into an angry, lonely, emotional child, who refuses to engage with school work anymore, won't sleep, has become violent, started wetting themself, won't feed themself, insists stay with them all the time. But yes, "faux concern". You've sunk to a new low today.

The worst ones are those who bang on about the effects on poor and vulnerable children, when really all they are interested in is getting their own kids back to school. Doubtless they were never interested in anything that happened to poor and vulnerable kids (of which there have always been plenty) before something happened that affected their own children.

What can we do about it ? This government is a joke with the continued cycle of opening and closing schools.
I don't know anyone advocating for long term school closures or any school closures in fact but schools need to be safer !
Those people going on about their kids need to be back for their mental health otherwise they will be suffering for years to come etc. What about the children who cannot return due to physical health conditions because schools are too unsafe with covid....I suppose their mental and physical health doesn't matter because well they aren't healthy anyways.
If schools opened with more mitigation in place they would be more sustainable long term!
If children had attended part time in rotas from November and as a result we didn't have to close them in January then overall children would have received more time in school than they have now under the fully opened or fully closed scenario!

Who can possibly make the argument that lockdown hasn't massively exacerbated pre-existing issues?

This ^^. I'm sure there has always been issues with mental health amongst pupils and no one kicked up a fuss about it. It's truly appalling.
But we cannot deny the massive impact on lockdowns is doing on our children's mental health. Say in a class pre lockdown, there may have been 1 or 2 with MH issues, now with lockdowns it's very likely they will be a lot more.
I don't see how that makes it fake concern.

@Shesingsshangrila

What a surprise, giraffe back to her usual goady posts the second we get closer to schools going back. Tell you what giraffe, you can come and deal with my 6 year old who has turned from a happy carefree child into an angry, lonely, emotional child, who refuses to engage with school work anymore, won't sleep, has become violent, started wetting themself, won't feed themself, insists stay with them all the time. But yes, "faux concern". You've sunk to a new low today.

Absolutely. And watch out, you’ll get banned from Mumsnet for standing up to her!

Things are dire for a lot of children. Most are fatter, quite a few are poorer and a large amount are suffering mental health problems.

@gallbladderpain

What can we do about it ? This government is a joke with the continued cycle of opening and closing schools. I don't know anyone advocating for long term school closures or any school closures in fact but schools need to be safer ! Those people going on about their kids need to be back for their mental health otherwise they will be suffering for years to come etc. What about the children who cannot return due to physical health conditions because schools are too unsafe with covid....I suppose their mental and physical health doesn't matter because well they aren't healthy anyways. If schools opened with more mitigation in place they would be more sustainable long term! If children had attended part time in rotas from November and as a result we didn't have to close them in January then overall children would have received more time in school than they have now under the fully opened or fully closed scenario!

THIS!

@DuchessofHastings1 what are your opinions on this?

@Moondust001
Funny thing is that I have noticed a great many pro-lockdown people also using children as their argument - and notably the OP, who posts repeated hysterical posts about how children / everyone will die if schools don't close. I doubt they could conduct a sensible or calm conversation if they tried.

Its a shame that you have no real point to make.

If school return was about wellbeing, it wouldn't be a call for everything to be back as normal. It would be a call for a slow and sensible reintroduction and a recognition that random periods of self isolation, where children can't even get out for exercise, are more damaging.

My child has been incredibly isolated during lockdown because her dad is shielding. He had his jab yesterday,so by the 8th of March should hopefully be more protected. It isn't English and Maths that she's missed out on during lockdown, the school provision has been pretty decent and we can keep her where she should be with it. She'd do better with regular sessions of PE, art, play in small groups and part time. Isolation is awful, we got turned away from school the last week of term, we had a bag full of pre packaged party cakes to hand in for the Christmas party and she cried the whole way home. Socialization and predictability is what she needs and I'd rather she have less contact time if it meant that what she did have was less likely to lead to isolating.

[quote bumbleymummy]@Monkeytennis97 so? A significant proportion of that group are immune because they’ve had the virus. The majority of the others will have mild/asymptomatic infections. We’ve vaccinated the groups most likely to end up in hospital. It’s not the same as the situation in September at all.[/quote]
Crazy not to be cautious. We don't know what the virus is going to do next and how it may change to suit a younger demographic.

You are so wrong on this. Children are really suffering. They are being robbed of social interactions, family & friends time, birthday parties, holidays, swimming lessons, music lessons, education (not provided by a harassed parent teaching 3 kids at all different levels). Disabled children have had their therapies and leisure activities cancelled and don't understand why.

It's easy just to think of yourself, your own perception of the situation etc. But some of us see the much bigger picture and aren't USING children, we are genuinely sad and worried for them.

Adults need to get a grip on their fear and irrationality surrounding covid, and stop putting the entire cost of that fear on innocent children who deserve so much more than they have had this year.

@faerin

How out of touch with reality do you have to be to reduce the genuine crisis from lockdowns down to "faux concern"?

Are you fucking insane?

I'm going with " yes"

100% agree Noble, we were all warned about the disaster that schools opening with no safety measures would be, it happened and there are those clamouring to repeat the idiocy again. Open schools yes, but do it bloody safely! Im sick of lockdown and don't want to be pushed back into one before we hardly get going.
Those without kids are sacrificing livelihoods in order to educate the next generation, it isn't only kids that are making sacrifices.

@DuchessofHastings1 you got that link about teachers going ahead of 50 plus year olds?

@dividedwefall

You are so wrong on this. Children are really suffering. They are being robbed of social interactions, family & friends time, birthday parties, holidays, swimming lessons, music lessons, education (not provided by a harassed parent teaching 3 kids at all different levels). Disabled children have had their therapies and leisure activities cancelled and don't understand why.

It's easy just to think of yourself, your own perception of the situation etc. But some of us see the much bigger picture and aren't USING children, we are genuinely sad and worried for them.

Adults need to get a grip on their fear and irrationality surrounding covid, and stop putting the entire cost of that fear on innocent children who deserve so much more than they have had this year.

Completely agree with everything you said