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.

Have you dc been off school for the entire year?

I'm torn on this one.
I can't see the sense in all kids back at once, I think that's asking for trouble. But at the same time I know kids need to go back. Mine especially. Lockdown has done a number on their mental health

Oops I said I was going! I'd better leave the thread and hide it or something so I can actually get some sleep.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what I say or type. What matters is that I think that if someone as cautious and law abiding as me has had enough, that everyone will have had enough and that if the news is true about a full return to school, it's a big green light for the end of lockdown. Hopefully the government will have more sense but I extremely highly doubt it! But at least by the next lockdown, I'll have had a bit of my life back.

What matters is that I think that if someone as cautious and law abiding as me has had enough, that everyone will have had enough and that if the news is true about a full return to school, it's a big green light for the end of lockdown

Id like to believe the vast majority are more intelligent.

But at the same time I know kids need to go back. Mine especially. Lockdown has done a number on their mental health

Exactly

Then do it. This is ridiculous.

That sort of attitude will be the reason we enter 4th lockdown. I am so sick of lockdown, likenreallynsick of it, my mental health is currently in the gutter, my two autistic children are struggling but I have more than one brain cell and therefore realise that just because the schools may be opening again in a couple of weeks (which I am so glad if it happens) doesn't mean that we are out of the woods and can just go fuck it. One thing at a time is needed. In this case schools. By ignoring the need to play it safe people with the attitude you are exhibiting are going to force the rest of us to have to endure this shit for for longer.

I see where op is coming from the government are messing this up again /assuming the reports are true. Begin opening schools yes definitely but the key word begin! Not Big Bang all open. Scotland,Wales and even Israel haven’t done this! Israel have vaccinated more people than us and still not all schools are open.

I’ll like to see the science behind this Big Bang approach and if Chris Witty as reported (and others) is against it he needs to have the guts to detach himself away from tomorrow’s announcement.

Oh and another thing whatever is announced tomorrow there’s 2weeks until it happens. Wouldn’t be the first time the government u-turns at the 11th hour or even the 9th March!

I have a CEV husband, and have recently been added to the CEV list myself. We have been shielding since last March. And, of course, it was announced last week that shielding is advised until at least April .

It terrifies me that many people (in above posts and elsewhere) have "had enough" and say they will be going out and about from now on. I do understand the sentiment as of course after nearly a year of staying at home we are feeling the strain and missing our loved ones desperately. In some ways it feels as if our lives are over, as just as restrictions are lifted for everyone else, we have had shielding extended. Why, I ask myself? However, my major fear is that if a large proportion of non vulnerable people decide not to follow the rules anymore, it will mean we have to stay shielded for a lot longer. And I also fear that those shielding have been forgotten - very few news reports, even posts on here mention "us" anymore. I feel invisible.

I’m delighted that children will be going to school. Sadly I think that rates will increase because people will use it as an excuse to do what they like, and bleat about “the schools” instead of limiting their interactions.

It's because it's either safe or it's not
God I despair! Nowhere is covid safe, Covid isn’t going anywhere. But if X million are vaccinated and the nhs has capacity you need to get children back in school.

The problem with flouting the rules and meeting up with family indoors etc is that the transmission will increase, particularly amongst the younger population who have not yet had the vaccine.

Schools is part of the phased re-opening and the next phase won't open unless the transmission rate remains low enough.

So rule breaking will increase transmission which will prevent the government opening up restaurants and pubs and alllowing indoor mixing.

Everyone is fed up now, me included but we need to try to hang on a little longer.

It's ok for community transmission to rise with a full return of schools. People who are not vaccinated may get COVID but they are unlikely die or be hospitalised by COVID.

Get the children back to school!! All of them. It's really important.

I'm very disappointed but not surprised that we are going down the full reopening route.

This is the wrong way to approach this, but the government have got it wrong every step of the way.

I feel terrible for people with children, but it's just fucking insane to completely re-open schools, when single people still can't leave their houses at all except to go for another sodding walk.

I just want to go swimming and sit in my loved one's garden who I've not seen since November (not in any way vulnerable to Covid, just has mobility issues which make walking round a park tricky).

I’m really law abiding and so are most of the people I know. Pretty sure we will all be sticking to the rules despite big misgivings about them all going back at once as We know they need to be back and us mixing as well is setting them up to fail and none wants that.

If the leaks are to be believed and I think they are, by opening just them for several weeks will show their effect on the rates. If we all start breaking the rules it’s going to skew the data and increase the risk that vulnerable teachers and parents who haven’t yet been vaccinated plus 21 days are more at risk and I’m not prepared to be part of that.

Additionally our ambulance service is still nowhere back to normal so by not following the rules I would be shooting myself in the foot in the event we needed one as I’d be part of them being slower to return to normal.

With schools going back fully (and, I assume, no mitigating measures because they're totally safe already) I'm not going to respond petulantly by going out mingling with hundreds in a nightclub for hours or anything like that.

But I am going to stop politely social distancing on pavements and paths, until now I've been careful to give people a wide berth when out walking and stepping into the road if there's no space to keep my distance. Similarly when I have to queue outdoors to collect my shopping, that sort of thing, being so careful to stand more than 2 metres apart. Those few seconds/minutes of sharing outdoor airspace are nothing compared to hours and hours of 100s of young people sitting indoors in crowded classrooms and public transport.

The thing lots of people miss when they talk about ‘kids’ is that I’m secondary schools we are talking about ‘bubbles’ of 300 people in my school - aged 17-18 in the sixth form. So this means it’s safe for 300 adults to mix in an indoor space ?

Let’s we what Boris says but Rotas would have been a sensible option for secondary to keep risks down, and we’re likely to be back to sending huge groups of pupils home daily again if that doesn’t happen and there is no social distancing

I can’t be the only one to see the flaw in this argument. There are plenty of things that are ok up to some limit but not ok over that. It’s ok to eat one small cake a week but not 10 large ones a day. It’s ok to be annoyed with DH once a month but not all day every day.

Part of the problem might be the binary language of safe and not safe. Lots of children are currently in school, especially primary school. This is a higher risk to teachers who are teaching them f2f than if the teachers shielded at home. When schools reopen fully this will add some more risk. If everyone then decides they will ignore all rules this will massively increase the risk on top of the already increased risk. It makes no sense to say that because of one increased risk it’s ok to hugely increase all other risks.

But I am going to stop politely social distancing on pavements and paths, until now I've been careful to give people a wide berth when out walking and stepping into the road if there's no space to keep my distance. Similarly when I have to queue outdoors to collect my shopping, that sort of thing, being so careful to stand more than 2 metres apart. Those few seconds/minutes of sharing outdoor airspace are nothing compared to hours and hours of 100s of young people sitting indoors in crowded classrooms and public transport.

What you seem to be saying is that because you yourself are at a higher risk of being infected, you will stop being careful about infecting other people. Does this make sense? Is it considerate?

I completely get it, OP. But the problem is, we all know that schools drive infection rates and the virus gets into school bubbles from families mixing outside. Everyone has been impacted by the lockdown and schools are being prioritised now for opening. If school mums all have a jolly time that’s great for them but what about those they come into contact with on the outside eg pregnant supermarket worker who, aside from going to work, has no life, limited face to face antenatal appointments, can’t see their mum or friends, can’t join NCT classes in person, or shop for essential baby items like a car seat or cot in person, etc. Or the millions of other people who will be continuing to sacrifice their freedoms so that your children can resume their education and social life...

There really are a limited number of parents who would sabotage their own children's education so they can get their own way or so they can wave their it's-not-fair flag and those thick fucks won't have been following the rules so far in any case.

Fully opening schools is an absolutely ridiculous idea. The only logic I can see behind it is they’re 3 weeks away from Easter so if/when the shit hits the fan they can be promptly closed again. Crazy!

What an immature attitude to have. I'm glad none of the KW parents with children at school have had this attitude. When my children's KW place it made me want to be even more vigilant. I can't understand why it has made you feel the opposite. Children returning to school is far more important then you going to get your haircut.

Of course transmission will increase when schools go back, but if we continue to manage our own risk, it won't overwhelm healthcare services. Transmission will always increase because we cannot eradicate COVID.