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Original poster

I'm so angry right now.

140 replies

User3billion · 16/07/2021 16:03

I'm really angry and upset over the hugely disproportionate number of children being told to isolate.

It's completely ruining their mental health and for what?

I fully expect a whole bunch of catastrophises to come along and tell me how terrible it is and "long covid" but the actual data does not support that narrative and definitely does not show isolation to be in any way effective at preventing spread of the virus.

OP posts:
ineedaholidaynow · 16/07/2021 17:29

Schools are told what to by DfE and PHE. Have a go at them not the school

noblegiraffe · 16/07/2021 17:30

Pity they made no effort to curb the spread of covid which has led to so many people needing to isolate.

OxanaVorontsova · 16/07/2021 17:31

Schools follow the PHE advice they don’t make it up themselves Hmm from next week schools have nothing to do with track and trace, which I’m sure will work splendidly

2boysand1princess · 16/07/2021 17:35

@Thunderpunt

We are on the second lot of isolation since half term - first one they ended up sending whole school year home for 2 weeks, he was back in for 5 days and sent home again.

I believe there are 39 weeks in the academic year (England) DS has attended in person for 23 weeks since September due to lock down and periods of SI due to being a close contact. I'm not great at maths but even I can work out he's missed face to face teaching for over 40% of the year.

He's never once tested positive.....

Shocking

Have you considered that perhaps he’s not tested positive for covid because his schools been getting him to isolate? If a kid is positive and goes off, and has passed it to the kid say next to him who doesn’t go off and isolate, but remains in schools. He could have very mild symptoms not typical for covid amd pass to another member of his class who then may or may not have symptoms and goes on to pass to another etc etc Isolation is what has helped in preventing every child in school from catching covid. My own kids have had to isolate several times and never tested positive. I’m glad their schools have taken the steps to minimise transmission as best they can. My DC are not vulnerable and neither am I or my DH, however I also know it’s not just about my kids in the class, but the other 29 too who may have vulnerable family at home. Like a PP said, we will soon see the impact of not isolating soon enough. It’s not been great for our kids, however I don’t think their mental health has had a massive negative impact that has caused permanent damage in the long run.
MarshaBradyo · 16/07/2021 17:37

It’s ending now isn’t it? Or in a week

Repeated isolation was very bad for dc though I agree

PearlNextDoor · 16/07/2021 17:41

@chocolateorangeinhaler

It's not ruining their mental health at all for gods sake, stop being so dramatic.

If anything it's teaching them that stuff doesn't happen as planned and it's not their fault.

What does damage anyone's mental health is being told you have a mental health problem by someone totally unqualified to make that judgment. That's called emotional abuse in my book.

Exactly
noblegiraffe · 16/07/2021 17:48

I do like how the OP labels people who bring up long covid as ‘catastrophisers’ while claiming that isolation is ‘completely ruining’ children’s mental health.

ilikecheesecake · 16/07/2021 17:51

my child has being told to
Isolate due to burst bubble.Not a chance in hell.

lljkk · 16/07/2021 17:51

DS was overjoyed when he got free week off school. A classmate in DS's bubble literally shouted her thanks to the corridor too.

DS spent the week gardening, baking & gaming. Nirvana.

ILiveInSalemsLot · 16/07/2021 17:57

My ds was isolating last week, even though he tested negative and has no symptoms.
He’s had so much work to do that he’s been sitting at his laptop, barely moving, for a full school day every day. It’s so unhealthy, both physically and mentally.

NakedAttraction · 16/07/2021 18:03

Plus there's the fact if you've been on holiday you can test and release on day five. 🙄😡

Yeah, it’s total bollocks when you look at it in that context.

But, do you remember back to earlier in the year when they floated the idea of using regular testing instead of isolation and people went mental?

This is a classic can’t please all of the people scenario.

walksen · 16/07/2021 18:08

Well the government sent kids back with no masks, no SD and no ventilation and optional testing or none at all in primaries. The guidance hadn't really changed after alpha emerged or after delta.

It was obvious covid would spread and bubbles of 300 were unworkable and many many posters on here pointed it out but most people didn't care as 'my school is fine'

It's ironic that so many industries are complaining of isolation decimating staff etc when this has been going on in schools all year. We are about to change to masks being legally unenforceable which has always been the case in schools. Time for everyone to get on with it I suppose..

Barbie222 · 16/07/2021 18:11

@walksen

Well the government sent kids back with no masks, no SD and no ventilation and optional testing or none at all in primaries. The guidance hadn't really changed after alpha emerged or after delta.

It was obvious covid would spread and bubbles of 300 were unworkable and many many posters on here pointed it out but most people didn't care as 'my school is fine'

It's ironic that so many industries are complaining of isolation decimating staff etc when this has been going on in schools all year. We are about to change to masks being legally unenforceable which has always been the case in schools. Time for everyone to get on with it I suppose..

Absolutely this - honestly what did you expect? That you'd be fine because it hadn't happened to you yet?

The government won't care for the last few days of term. They barely cared about the first few. They know parents will have to suck it up.

Noterook · 16/07/2021 18:18

Its pointless off overall spread anyway, so Johnny has to isolate as he has been in contact with a positive case in his class, but unless he develops symptoms (not all children do) or takes an LFT which is positive and so needs a PCR test everyone else in the household can go to work, go to their schools, go shopping. Is it overly common in households for just school age children to get it seen as though they can't really be segregated from the household? I doubt it. It comes firmly under better than nothing but not great.

User135644 · 16/07/2021 18:20

Schools have always been the hotbed of the virus.

WhoWants2Know · 16/07/2021 18:26

I think isolation makes more sense now than ever before. The delta variant spreads more easily than previous versions.

Last Sunday a local pub had people in to watch the England match. So far 35 positive tests have been traced back to that gathering.

DobbleAgainAndAgain · 16/07/2021 18:56

@chocolateorangeinhaler

It's not ruining their mental health at all for gods sake, stop being so dramatic.

If anything it's teaching them that stuff doesn't happen as planned and it's not their fault.

What does damage anyone's mental health is being told you have a mental health problem by someone totally unqualified to make that judgment. That's called emotional abuse in my book.

I'm sorry but who has appointed you the expert here? Of course it impacts the mental health of families' its'a huge problem the lack of routine. FFS Angry
Jourdain11 · 16/07/2021 19:26

Schools should be online for the whole of 2021/22. We're obviously going to be breeding a vaccine-resistant strain by continuing to encourage mingling in petri-dish schools. And what about Long Covid?

LazyViper · 16/07/2021 19:38

@Seriouslymole

Couldn't agree more. It is totally disproportionate. Unless they have kept records to show that e.g. 40% of the rest of the bubble go on to develop Covid it is a TOTAL nonsense.

It feels like this is going on forever. I'm sick to death of it now.

The Guardian today reported that 34% of people told to self-isolate go on to develop Covid symptoms: www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/jul/16/uk-covid-live-hospitalisation-numbers-chris-whitty-coronavirus-latest-updates
HugeAckmansWife · 16/07/2021 19:38

Jourdain.. You're not serious?? You want an entire school year to be done remotely, with no social interaction, no group or practical work, no pastoral care, no safeguarding. And employers are supposed to do what? Give staff a 12 month paid sabbatical? Get a grip. Covid won't be gone in a year, or ever. Isolation of kids doesn't really work as long as their parents and siblings can go out (and it would be unworkable to do otherwise) and it IS disproportionate to the risks now, in our mostly vacc'd population.

TableFlowerss · 16/07/2021 19:39

@noblegiraffe

I do like how the OP labels people who bring up long covid as ‘catastrophisers’ while claiming that isolation is ‘completely ruining’ children’s mental health.
The difference is, the majority of children will have negative MH implications, the majority of children won’t have long covid…..
Jourdain11 · 16/07/2021 19:49

@HugeAckmansWife

Jourdain.. You're not serious?? You want an entire school year to be done remotely, with no social interaction, no group or practical work, no pastoral care, no safeguarding. And employers are supposed to do what? Give staff a 12 month paid sabbatical? Get a grip. Covid won't be gone in a year, or ever. Isolation of kids doesn't really work as long as their parents and siblings can go out (and it would be unworkable to do otherwise) and it IS disproportionate to the risks now, in our mostly vacc'd population.
You're dead right, I'm not serious! But some people do seriously believe this... And it's always BUT Long Covid, BUT T1 Diabetes (where does this one come from?), BUT it will be worse for children if their whole families die, BUT it builds resilience ... I could go on.
HugeAckmansWife · 16/07/2021 19:57

Oh good.. Thank fuck!! 😄

Jourdain11 · 16/07/2021 19:59

Lol, my bad. Ironic tone doesn't come over without a suitable emoji Hmm

Backofbeyond50 · 16/07/2021 20:12

do like how the OP labels people who bring up long covid as ‘catastrophisers’ while claiming that isolation is ‘completely ruining’ children’s mental health
This.
No impact on dd1 mental health despite suffering the most with cancelled exams etc
For Dd2 Lockdown was a relief as school was actually making her mental health worse. Yes Lockdown resulted in cancelled therapy but that was nothing new.
Dd3 loved it. No mental health implications at all.