Schools in meltdown. Put your kids in masks

[0None0]

Long story short

First case May 10.
By May 17 th, half of all year groups at home. Many staff sick. Some departments have no staff at all. Some students sent home for lack of staff, rather than quarantine.
20th May. School closed. Half term brought forward one week
31 May. Reopen.
1 June several more cases identified
3rd June. All lower school sent home. Year 10 and 12 kept in only. Masks, which had been optional, are now made compulsory again. Too late
7th June. School closed again. I am now teaching online

So in the last few weeks, I have spent 3x longer on COVID related activities than on teaching. Including trying to get students home when classes close, and they can’t use public transport. Teaching doubled up classes, 30 online, and 30 in front of me, because there are hardly any staff in. Administering tests. Taking students to and from the testing site. Recording results. Cramming information in subjects I know nothing about, but have been told I am about to teach. Much of the time students have just been told to read in silence, while we get on with our main business, as a covid testing site.

So please put masks on your children. There is no reason for a secondary aged child not to have a mask on their face, and a spare in their bag, and a spare spare.

And please support what’s schools are trying to do to enforce masks.

I see so many posts of mothers up in arms about masks. We are desperately fighting to keep education going, and we need your support

I belong to a MAT composed of 3 large secondary schools. Within our 3 schools we have:

A 15 year old boy who developed type 1 diabetes when he caught Covid

An 18 year old girl who lost most of her hearing through covid

A 14 year old boy whose heart has been left so damaged by covid he might need a transplant.

It’s heartbreaking.

@wasthataburp

Like anyone in the right mind would prioritise masks over feeding their children ? If it had to be one or the other then clearly it would be food

Taking out the money for a mask out of your food budget is not going to make any difference to children’s nutrition one way or another. Speaking as a single parent who has often had to skip meals in the past. Would I skip a meal to put my kid in a mask. Absolutely. No question

The hyperbole on your posts was the reference to Gavin Williamson killing teachers - and I was clear about that in my post.

Setting out your own experience is fine- but the comment about killing teachers is massively OTT.

@AnneElliott

The hyperbole on your posts was the reference to Gavin Williamson killing teachers - and I was clear about that in my post.

Setting out your own experience is fine- but the comment about killing teachers is massively OTT.

Gavin Williams forced Greenwich schools to reopen the Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas when. Greenwich council, and most of the schools within it, had informed him it was too dangerous.

This lead directly and predictably to unnecessary deaths.

If you take an action that leads directly and predictably to unnecessary deaths, in spite of being warned that your action would lead directly and predictably to unnecessary deaths, then you have killed people.

( and I didn’t say teachers- I said school staff).

And his explanation….. by the time it had been made clear to him that those two days would lead directly and predictably to unnecessary deaths, if was too late because he had already written the letter ……

My dd hasn't stopped wearing a mask because she feels comfortable doing so
We've had 3 cases since March

I have no issue with wearing a mask if it is necessary. But your headline is ridiculous. There are thousands of schools all over the country. They are not all in 'meltdown'.

You should be campaigning for your area to go into a local lockdown to stop the 'meltdown' from spreading further, not overstating the problem elsewhere.

@wasthataburp
Unfortunately there's no risk assessment. I have tried to get this from my DC school since the first mask wearing started without any success. The government haven't done any risk/benefit assessment for any of the measures they've put in place.

And OP people have not been wearing masks for millennia! We've managed perfectly fine in this country without them unless they were needed to give the appearance of control by the government. Prior to this WHO guidance and all pandemic plans did not recommend masks to prevent transmission of respiratory viruses. There has been no controlled assessments to demonstrate any medical benefits.

@0None0

What have I said that is hyperbole? My school is closed. Not hyperbole, just plain truth. My MAT has 3 teens who have been left with permanent disability by covid. Not hyperbole , plain truth. The delta variant is spreading very fast. Not hyperbole, just plain truth. School children need to be in masks. Not hyperbole, just plain truth. That some parents are not supporting this. Not hyperbole, just plain truth. That those patents, if they genuinely understood the situation, would not only support it, but highly prioritise it. Again, that is why I am posting. I can’t believe that any parent who genuinely understands what’s happening g in schools, and who loves their child, would allow them to sit in lessons without a mask. (Barring the tiny number of genuine medical reasons)

Let’s examine these statements.

1- your school is closed.
And so what? It’s policy to close schools I suppose if there is a bad outbreak. We can debate the merits of that policy.

1. 3 teens who have been left with permanent disability because of covid.

We have no way to verify this statement and given your fanatical beliefs I’m not inclined to trust your version of reality . But either way if it is true it is highly highly unusual. ALL the data and evidence has shown that covid is exceptionally unlikely to cause serious harm to children and is in fact much less dangerous than plenty of other very common infectious diseases (that never had us screaming for masking children and school closures before). You will not find a reasonable paediatrician who says otherwise. Happy to follow up with plenty of data and research. To pretend covid is seriously dangerous to children is hyperbolic scaremongering.

3 - the delta variant is spreading fast.
That may be so, but so what? Vulnerable people have been offered a vaccine/ the overwhelming majority are vaccinated. Covid is here to stay, there will always be new variants, we can’t live like this forever.

4 - ‘school children need to be in masks.’
This is not a fact, it is an opinion. Learn the difference - failing to recognise the difference between fact and opinion is stupid and dangerous.

@0None0

There are no long term affects of using masks. Millions of people use them fat all around the world and have done for millennia. It’s is a sign of our rich, spoilt, privileged, cosseted lives that some people get so affronted and indignant about them. These are people who have never had to live with little inconveniences and things they dislike before. And they can’t accept that sometimes in life your every whim is not an automatic right. You do sometimes have to put up with things you don’t want

What absolute rubbish. In some eastern cultures people who are unwell sometimes voluntarily wear masks to avoid spreading their germs out of politeness. The government Mandating children to wear masks over their face all day in school , whether they are sick or not , is nothing comparable to that. That is more comparable to countries such as Saudi Arabia where women are expected to cover their faces everywhere in public. Personally I find that awful. No one is spoiled and privileged for understanding the importance and value of the human face. For communication, for social interaction, for general health and well-being. There is a reason human beings evolved to have faces ffs. They are not incidental they are absolutely bloody essential, for personal and societal wellbeing. If you don’t understand that you are a nut. Go ahead and mask yourself all day if it makes you feel better, but you have absolutely no right to tell anyone else what they can and can’t do with their own face. It’s called bodily autonomy.

Where's the evidence that the 2 days before Christmas in Greenwich schools led to deaths of school staff?

Absolute brilliant reply to the nonsense of the OP.

Sorry, I meant to quote Bizawit. Very good post.

No one is spoiled and privileged for understanding the importance and value of the human face.

This is an excellent point

@0None0 there are organised action groups of ill informed parents against any further 'inconveniences' to their darling children. They are now targeting you, like I said you can't teach stupid, all the best going forward with these idiots.

[quote PumpingPauper]@0None0 there are organised action groups of ill informed parents against any further 'inconveniences' to their darling children. They are now targeting you, like I said you can't teach stupid, all the best going forward with these idiots.[/quote]
😂😂😂😂😂

I dont have any examples like the ops but I think masks are a really simple measure to take to slow down the spread of a virus that, for some, is either deadly or has long lasting side effects.
I currently live in Singapore and have been here for the entire pandemic so far. Kids of all ages have been wearing masks every day for over a year without any reports of ill effects or long lasting damage.
The UK government let the masks go too quickly. It's a much simpler measure than ending up in yet another lockdown.

It's a much simpler measure than ending up in yet another lockdown.

There’s no reason to think that it’s masks or lockdown. This is a massive oversimplification. If the situation gets bad enough that it is thought to require a lockdown, there’s no evidence / reason to think that simply wearing masks will prevent it.

[quote PumpingPauper]@0None0 there are organised action groups of ill informed parents against any further 'inconveniences' to their darling children. They are now targeting you, like I said you can't teach stupid, all the best going forward with these idiots.[/quote]
Or perhaps some people actually care about their "little darlings " realise they have thoughts and feelings, they are growing humans physically, socially and emotionally and also have opinions that matter. Instead of being treated like dirty disease-ridden 2nd class citizens that should be seen and not heard and made to put up and shut up, like they are by many adults on these threads

Or perhaps some people actually care about their "little darlings " realise they have thoughts and feelings, they are growing humans physically, socially and emotionally and also have opinions that matter. Instead of being treated like dirty disease-ridden 2nd class citizens that should be seen and not heard and made to put up and shut up, like they are by many adults on these threads.

Here here ❤️

[quote PumpingPauper]@0None0 there are organised action groups of ill informed parents against any further 'inconveniences' to their darling children. They are now targeting you, like I said you can't teach stupid, all the best going forward with these idiots.[/quote]
There are also organised groups who are peddling nonsense like the OP wanting schools to be closed or over the top restrictions to be placed on children who are not affected by the virus.
There are extremes on both sides but we need to think of the children in this. They are not here to protect adults - adults can do that themselves if they so wish.

There are so many times they can take masks off including break times, if its an issue add a further ten min break here and there use flexi and initiative.

Instead of being treated like dirty disease-ridden 2nd class citizens that should be seen and not heard and made to put up and shut up, like they are by many adults on these threads.

^^ many of the little darlings care about their big darlings who maybe ill. shielding, have other issues and do not want covid on top, they have been fearful of lax and loose wishy washy "guidance" and do not feel safe in school.

The feeling of fear, of breathing in this unseen killer has most effect on those poor kids than the ones who either cant be bothered, do not understand covid, or those who do not like to fall in.

many of the little darlings care about their big darlings who maybe ill. shielding, have other issues and do not want covid on top, they have been fearful of lax and loose wishy washy "guidance" and do not feel safe in school.

Who are you talking about and why aren’t they vaccinated if they are so vulnerable?

@ICanSmellSummerComing

There are so many times they can take masks off including break times, if its an issue add a further ten min break here and there use flexi and initiative.

Masks are still required by many schools in communal areas which would mean break and lunch times they would need to wear one (unless they are able to be outside)

My teen little darlings want to be at school and have noticed the mess our government have made of this and don't have a problem with masks. If the rates rise there's a chance of them having to go home. I care about their education, I'm not squinnying about "freedom".

And they are germ ridden when they're little. It was a nightmare as working parent.