If they open up schools all at once, I'm done with every other precaution

[BettyBoomerang]

If the 'leak' is true and they are stupid enough to open up all schools to all kids at the same time (thus leading to uncontrolled transmission of variants and increased risk of vaccine escape, further lockdowns and a redo of the vaccination programme) then I'm done with any kind of compliance.

I'm not staying at home like a fucking stupid sitting duck, waiting for my kids to come home with Covid anymore. The kids can see their friends, have sleepovers and we'll go out and about and visit friends and relatives and do the maximum we can.

You can pile in and call me selfish or whatever - I genuinely don't care anymore. I'm not putting my life on hold just for the government to fuck the recovery up again. I'm the most compliant of pretty much everyone I know but this is it for me, and many others I suspect (most of whom are already doing way more than me). If it's safe for my kids to go to school, then everything is safe.

Yeah, you’re just sounding spectacularly selfish now OP.

@MarinPrime but do you not think that will happen this time too? People who have been WFH or reduced hours simply because they have been homeschooling may go back to into the office etc. Many families will be mixing out of school especially if the Government send pupils back with no restrictions whatsoever.

I think parents would be much more cautious if the children all had to wear masks and there were rotas etc. But a bit of yellow and black masking tape isn't going to make parents think schools are putting mitigation factors in place.

If it’s just me then none of you have to worry.

Phew, that's a relief.
Knock yourself out socialising on your own

@BettyBoomerang

If it’s just me then none of you have to worry.

If schools themselves opening won’t cause problems and most people aren’t as darned selfish as me, then there’s no problem. I’m one person.

You really dont get it do you. Opening schools IS going to cause a slight rise in transmissions. I dont think anyone is saying that they wont. They will. But clearly the decision has been made that there is enough room to enable us to do so

But we do currently have some wiggle room in opening things up and keeping it under control. Rightly or wrongly England is 100% prioritising opening up schools. To enable the under 18s to get the education and interaction they need.

Basically it boils down to this - we have asked an awful lot of sacrifice from that age range for the past year. We are letting them have their return to normality first. And in order to do so we need to keep our sacrifice going on for a little bit longer.

It is only safe for children to go back to school if we hold the line for longer on everything else. It certainly isnt saying that everything is safe.

If we do go back a step I will be blaming those who take that attitude not schools returning

If I could be arsed to do a historical search, I am pretty sure I would find that the people who are incandescent about their children being given a chance to get a proper education by re-opening schools would be the same people who used to froth over people taking term time holidays, teachers not marking homework on times, bloody SATs results....the type always complaining to teachers. I think they are just generally the types to find fault and exaggerated risk in whatever is going on

I think you have fundamentally misunderstood how this policy is supposed to work.

Personally, I think it’s a terrible mistake and wish they would at least leave it a couple of weeks.

BUT the point is that schools could be moderately safe if we ONLY send our children to school and do nothing else. We, as the grown ups, the adults, the responsible people, the people capable of making a sacrifice, are supposed to do exactly that - sacrifice everything else in order that our children can go to school. Everyone bleating about needing their kids to go back to school needs to realise this: YOU need to not suddenly break every rule under the sun, assume everything is fair play now. You need to be even more careful about following the rules, be even more circumspect about your behaviour, in order that the kids can go to school in relative safety. Which ought to be a sacrifice the adults/parents are willing to make for the sake of their kids education and mental health.

This includes not having play dates/sleepovers/get togethers in the park after school. In order for school to be safe you need to do nothing else.

I think the big bang approach is a terrible idea and likely to increase infections.

Which means I will be even more cautious (if that's even possible given I practically follow shielding advice despite not formally having to) to REDUCE any additional impact and risk from my own behaviour. I wouldn't even think of increasing it. Who in their right mind would?

Well surely you won’t be expected to go back to work yet? Surely you’ve been told to Sheila by your doctor? (In the next group of shielded)
@TableFlowerss only very severe asthmatics and those with BNI of 40 would be asked to shield.
I am group 9 with asthma and a BMI between 35 and 39.

@PiratePetespajamas

I think you have fundamentally misunderstood how this policy is supposed to work.

Personally, I think it’s a terrible mistake and wish they would at least leave it a couple of weeks.

BUT the point is that schools could be moderately safe if we ONLY send our children to school and do nothing else. We, as the grown ups, the adults, the responsible people, the people capable of making a sacrifice, are supposed to do exactly that - sacrifice everything else in order that our children can go to school. Everyone bleating about needing their kids to go back to school needs to realise this: YOU need to not suddenly break every rule under the sun, assume everything is fair play now. You need to be even more careful about following the rules, be even more circumspect about your behaviour, in order that the kids can go to school in relative safety. Which ought to be a sacrifice the adults/parents are willing to make for the sake of their kids education and mental health.

This includes not having play dates/sleepovers/get togethers in the park after school. In order for school to be safe you need to do nothing else.

This

People need to understand this. It’s the very people who’ve been asking for schools to go back who now they have that, need to accept just for a while that it’s the only thing that can change.

ineedaholidaynow
...People who have been WFH or reduced hours simply because they have been homeschooling may go back to into the office etc. Many families will be mixing out of school especially if the Government send pupils back with no restrictions whatsoever...

We'll have to see what Johnson and the experts say, they must be aware that this could happen again if schools are opened so may have a plan for avoiding a repeat.

I honestly dont understand why some people think that we shouldnt be prioritising schools opening. I dont understand the desire to keep lockdown for even longer. People are still going to work, still going to supermarkets. Hospitals are still open, because these things are important. Next thing on the list should be schools for obvious reasons. It blows my mind when people are acting like if we open schools then we may as well do all sorts of other non essential things.
The most vulnerable and elderly have been vaccinated and hospital cases are WAY down now. We have lockdown when the hospitals cant cope anymore. Now the people who get covid are statistically likely to be able to get over it at home if they catch it and we also have a lot better treatments for it, and everyone is now on the list to be vaccinated asap. It would be mad to keep schools closed for longer than they need to be, even if we still have to keeep a few other things closed for a bit longer

That's the thing:

If the Govt announce an Educational Big Bang for 8 March later, I will be MORE scared. I am compliant with the rules anyway (because of my personal circs and I want to do the right thing in a wider way in society) but I would be MORE not less cautious if the Govt does this.

But it's clear that some people will think: 'fuck it' and relax rules.
So, that's quite scary!

@BettyBoomerang have all the explanations changed your mind on this ? Do you understand what’s being said about schools going back meaning it’s more important to stick to everything else, not less?

This includes not having play dates/sleepovers/get togethers in the park after school. In order for school to be safe you need to do nothing else.

I don’t believe the government hasn’t factored this in since it’s never been that way with schools open. Why would they think people will start now? They would be insane to not have factored the known situation into any risk assessment that’s brought them to this decision.

I'm so hoping that the part of the leak where it's all back as before is wrong. It won't be though will it. Fucking irresponsible idiots. We are so close and they're going to fuck it up again royally.

@MarinPrime

ineedaholidaynow ...People who have been WFH or reduced hours simply because they have been homeschooling may go back to into the office etc. Many families will be mixing out of school especially if the Government send pupils back with no restrictions whatsoever...

We'll have to see what Johnson and the experts say, they must be aware that this could happen again if schools are opened so may have a plan for avoiding a repeat.

Ha! The Govt won't have 'a plan' for that. They will just blame the public, teachers, kids etc as per usual. We have seen the amount of responsibility they are prepared to take...

But it's clear that some people will think: 'fuck it' and relax rules.

I sincerely hope that most adults will be sensible and intelligent enough to not think that.

🙄

I work in childcare, I regularly get coughed and sneezed on, have had to deal with a child vomiting on me yet I haven't been able to meet friends outdoors. I can't see family, my children haven't been able to see friends.

I think opening schools in one big surge isn't the best of ideas. Government doesn't seem to learn from past mistakes. We just have to live in hope that the kids going back doesn't put us back into lockdown. My kids have missed school and missed their friends. The whole upheaval of school opening and then closing, of having to isolate due to classes closing because of a positive case, is far more upsetting and confusing to them than waiting a few more weeks

I think a lot of people are too quick to throw around the term “selfish” when actually it’s people being disappointed that the announcement seems to be “schools are opening in a Big Bang approach with no real relief for any other area or group”.

Education is of course a priority but there are plenty of other groups of people besides children who have had an awful year. I am single and childless, unable to see my family (who don’t live locally) or friends, and haven’t been to work since March 2020. It’s a hard pill to swallow to see schools opening with no restrictions and everything else once again has to wait. This isn’t “selfish” it’s disappointment and people being desperate for a return to normality. It’s absurd how many people seem to be happy to let every element of life pass them by and now consider it selfish and outrageous for a person to want anything other than an existence focused around sitting at home and children going to school.

Let's hope so Violetlavenders. Between the lockdown enthusiasts and the fuck-it-all drama queens lies the stoic majority quietly getting on with things.

I don’t believe the government hasn’t factored this in since it’s never been that way with schools open.

You mean it’s never been that way amongst your particular group of —selfish— friends

As several people have said upthread, we have been following the other rules whilst our children are in school

@manicinsomniac

I really don't think that's a sensible idea.

I think the govt know it's a risky strategy and will lead to increased transmission and that's the reason why almost nothing else is being opened up. They are choosing to sacrifice literally everyone and everything else to allow children the chance to go back. That suits me fine because I'm a teacher and I have children so I basically get the majority of my life back again. But if I were a childless work from homer or a SAHM with a toddler and a baby or a pub landlord or an actor etc I would be really frustrated and upset by the decisions. Obviously I think children and education are vitally important - but to the exclusion of everyone and everything else? Not sure.

But the increased transmission it will cause will only be at a manageable level if schools are the only change. If we all say 'fuck it' in addition to opening schools, that is when we really will be in trouble. I am not a numbers expert. But it looks to me like things are really positive and there is room for some relaxation. They've chosen to give all that relaxation to schools (so it seems - I don't actually think it will end up happening; I think unions or someone else will stop it)

This

Even if the govt has barely calculated anything other than how much their mates can make from PPE contracts awarded during the emergency procurement relaxations, it adds up that only opening schools at the expense of everyone else for a while is safer.

Taking it as, "schools have opened so why bother with any restrictions?" is not a sensible approach if we want this to be a one-way route out of lockdown.

Yup, you're stupid. You can still catch it. You can still die. If you think the government is irresponsible - don't follow their advice. Be more careful. And then vote them out.

@Dazzledrop

I think a lot of people are too quick to throw around the term “selfish” when actually it’s people being disappointed that the announcement seems to be “schools are opening in a Big Bang approach with no real relief for any other area or group”.

Education is of course a priority but there are plenty of other groups of people besides children who have had an awful year. I am single and childless, unable to see my family (who don’t live locally) or friends, and haven’t been to work since March 2020. It’s a hard pill to swallow to see schools opening with no restrictions and everything else once again has to wait. This isn’t “selfish” it’s disappointment and people being desperate for a return to normality. It’s absurd how many people seem to be happy to let every element of life pass them by and now consider it selfish and outrageous for a person to want anything other than an existence focused around sitting at home and children going to school.

Also agree with this and understand the frustration and disappointment.