Anyone else not going to test children anymore

[Baileysforchristmas]

My daughter is 15, she said none of her friends are testing anymore. Why should I make her test twice a week now? All it will do is stop her going to school and us getting on with our lives, it will also stop her bubble going to school and she will get blamed. My daughter didn’t go to school for 3 months while flights were coming into the country from other parts of the world which could do as they please. Why should I take the risk of putting my daughter’s life on hold, also the more we test the more the numbers go up, Europe’s not testing secondary school children twice a week so obviously their numbers won’t be showing as high.

The tests were voluntary in the first place - they were not compulsory. If it is a choice people are entitled to make it.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@QueeniesCroft is there a reason they can't test themselves? DS(16) showed me how to do my first test, as he was used to doing them for school[/quote]
None at all except they refuse.

"Some children can't cope with haircuts, some are afraid of needles, some freak out at loud noises or crowds, people are afraid of all sorts of things. It's invasive, uncomfortable, it's over and over, not just when they are ill. Can you not see why a child might have one or more tests then refuse any more?"

This is the kind of child that I have. Brushing his teeth can be traumatic. We missed half of his brother's last birthday party a couple of years ago because of the 90 minute Great Toothbrushing Meltdown.

I am not going to restrain and assault him without a bloody good reason i.e. he is symptomatic. Fortunately he's the upper end of primary so regular testing is not expected. If he was secondary age, I'd take the test for him.as an indicator.
He's still marginally smaller than me, but can overpower me as when threatened he will use 100% force which is more power than my attempt to be gentle and strategic. I don't want to cause unnecessary mental trauma or physical harm (or receive a black eye)

I'm double vaccinated (40) last week my area was double vaccinating 35+ and first vaccinating 20+. Our rates are steady, despite surrounding local authorities going up quicker in recent weeks.

Mine have never been tested at all.

@Baileysforchristmas so doing nothing will help the situation how? Surely it is the combination of various restrictions, vaccines, testing etc that is going to mean we can get to the level of the virus we can live with, without then having all these restrictions, but we are not at that level yet.

I never started testing. My three (all teenagers) will only be testing if they have symptoms.

My kids are teens. They do it themselves. It takes a couple of minutes. Their school of over 2000 hasn’t sent anyone hime or had a positive case for a long tome so hopefully the children being so responsible is working. For young teens though you can’t really force them . Just seems silly not to.

GlomOfNit

I don’t want to know if she’s positive or not if none of us have any symptoms, no one round us are poorly then what’s the point. I could’ve already had it and have spread it, who knows, no one in my daughters bubbles are testing, we don’t have to do it so we’re not going to do it anymore, it will spread anyway because people allowed to come in out of the country

therein lies the reason why schools currently are closing bubbles left, right and centre. Two of my children's schools have groups of children (including one of mine) isolating at home until next week.

@0None0

These teens that won’t test/ wear masks etc. I wonder how they are goi g to feel about themselves in 5 years time. I wonder how they are going to present their decisions to others in the future. How are they going to explain to their future 12year old son, for example, that in a time of international crisis, they personally did not step up and tolerate a bit of mild inconvenience and discomfort. How will they justify this to a future 19 year old grand daughter.

I suspect many of them won’t y admit it. I suspect it will become a shameful secret that they hope no one knows.

My then 12yo son will remember the 6 months of school with fuck-all to do but stare at screens and go for walks. Plus another 2.5 months in the winter. The autumn he cried regularly because his key worker friends carried on in school and grew up without him while he had no interraction with another child of his age, and losing the social confidence to make new friends. Not being able to do simple things he loves like playing football or swapping pokemon cards. Not seeing his family for 18+m and counting and there is a serious possibility that one relative may not survive long enough to see him again.

And you expect him to feel bad about shoving sticks uncomfortably up his face?
He has no shame to bear.

@ineedaholidaynow

Why do some people look at other people doing something idiotic in a pandemic, and decide, instead of following the guidelines, they will become an idiot too!

Exactly. It's like saying oh look, that politician thinks he's too good to wear a seat belt, they're all the same so why should I bother? I'm done with seat belts. They're hot and uncomfortable and why should I anyway when they're not? I'M DONE.

@Conchitastrawberry

My kids are teens. They do it themselves. It takes a couple of minutes. Their school of over 2000 hasn’t sent anyone hime or had a positive case for a long tome so hopefully the children being so responsible is working. For young teens though you can’t really force them . Just seems silly not to.

My children of 11 and 14 also do it themselves, as do their friends. However, there are others that don't bother and so spread it without realising it then lots get sent home.

@BogrollBOGOF

Once he has grown up, yes, I think he will feel ashamed of himself.

Can you imagine how he is going h to justify that when his grandchildren question him.

‘Well, I didn’t enjoy the lock gown, so I decided to refuse to contribute to the national and international effort to bring the pandemic to a close. Because what I was being asked to do was a little bit uncomfortable for a moment, twice a week, for a few months’

I suspect that in the years and decades to come he will experience far more discomfort trying to justify this to himself, and hide it and cover up to others

Yes, people are not doing the school children any more. There is no personal benefit, and at this stage of the pandemic, people need to see a personal benefit. They have done over a year of doing things for the common good and as we can see, they are done.

This is why over 12's need to be vaccinated (as approved by the MHRA as safe and effective, after having assessed the risks against the benefits, and this assessment having been done by independent experts - people more expert and more independent than anyone this corrupt government will be consulting).

@RaspberryCoulis how old are your DC? Did you discourage them from testing or is it their own decision?

• optional vaccination obviously, not mandatory so if you are against vaccinating children, please don't stop other parents doing so. That would be evil

This thread is horrendous. Seems to be people would rather the teachers catch the COVID and get symptoms so parents can see it's going round than check if their kids an asymptomatic carrier. Nice.

It’s so important for the testing to continue.

I'm sure once the Coronavirus hears that @Baileysforchristmas is bored of it, it will stop infecting and killing vulnerable people because that is exactly how viruses work.

Ffs it's almost like pandemics aren't meant to be convenient and interesting.

Anyway, good point OP, I'm going to sit out this pandemic (me & mine will be fine so fuck everyone else) because of how tiresome it is.

I'll participate in the next, more exciting and convenient global public health crisis, that's hopefully better organised than this one- Zero Stars!

I won't even mention the thinly veiled xenophobia present in half your comments.

@yearoflostyouth

Yes, people are not doing the school children any more. There is no personal benefit, and at this stage of the pandemic, people need to see a personal benefit. They have done over a year of doing things for the common good and as we can see, they are done.

This is why over 12's need to be vaccinated (as approved by the MHRA as safe and effective, after having assessed the risks against the benefits, and this assessment having been done by independent experts - people more expert and more independent than anyone this corrupt government will be consulting).

There is a personal benefit. The spread is controlled in their school. The school stays open. Their child is less likely to become ill: left disabled. The whole of society opens up faster.

People who can’t be bothered to test want all these benefits, without 2 minutes inconvenience twice a week, but can’t seem to work out that they are more likely get all these benefits if they do test

Teenagers and the young have been and are continued to be vilified - they have the ones who have born the brunt of the lockdown for the sake of the old and vulnerable.

You can where many self entitled kids get their attitude from

@sleepwouldbenice

You can where many self entitled kids get their attitude from

Yes. But actually parents might be self-entitled and train their children that way, but it doesn’t mean the children actually are self-entitled by nature.

We are already seeing a backlash from some children against some parents who have been encouraging sloppy adherence to rules during the pandemic.

Just one more year’s maturity, and some individual teens I know have already realised that the ‘cool’ parent that allowed them to break lockdown last year, was not actually ‘cool’ at all. Stupid and irresponsible in fact.

Which is why I’m earning parents to look ahead. Some of the behaviour you are facilitating or encouraging in your children are going to bring lasting shame.

They will be ashamed of themselves and ashamed of you

My daughter won’t feel guilty she’s given plenty in this pandemic, the guilt trip won’t work here.

People really disappoint me at times ☹

I won’t be ashamed either if my daughter wants to do the tests she can but I’m not forcing or nagging her.