I'm so angry right now.

[User3billion]

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.

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.

Why is 40% your chosen acceptable number? In some cases there have been large % of bubbles that go onto develop covid, in some cases there have been 0%. There aren't published records for this.

What if it was proven that only the CEV children caught it, would that be acceptable to you in isolating other children? What if only the CEV children caught it from another child? Would that be acceptable?

Problem is, no one knows which classroom environments are best for this in the UK. We know in theory, there have been lots of studies regard ventilation and so on, but most British schools don't have adequate ventilation. We also don't understand the prevalence of super spreaders.

Dd3 loved it. No mental health implications at all.

My child (only) didn't enjoy lockdown last March - May, but absolutely LOVED a recent 10 day isolation period. She slept loads, caught up, laid around reading books, did some chatting on the phone, spent a bit of time doing online learning.

@duffeldaisy

“definitely does not show isolation to be in any way effective at preventing spread of the virus.”

It’s a virus. They have to have a human (or sometimes animal) nearby to jump to. If they don’t then they die out.
What about isolating possibly cannot work?

The only thing that might not work is if people don’t take isolating seriously. Otherwise of course it’s successful.

Of course someone who is actually ill should isolate and prevent it from spreading to someone else.

But 250 children who may have been in contact with the one person who tested positive, but most of them probably weren't and even those who were were on the other side of the classroom... doesn't make a lot of sense for them ALL to isolate.

I would be very interested in the statistics of teenagers forced to isolate as their "bubble" closed, who actually went on to develop covid.

@Jourdain11

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?

How is that going to work for parents who have to go to work?

@Backofbeyond50

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.

Good for you and your kids. You don’t speak for the majority though

Totally agree with you @User3billion

There will be those who say their dc loved it for whatever reason but overall harms due to lockdown / isolation for dc will be greater.

Jourdain yep to your then this and this post as reasons

DS missed the last 1.5 weeks of term because he had to isolate as a close contact even though it was only 6 weeks since he’d tested positive for covid. Unsurprisingly he didn’t get covid. What a pointless exercise that was.

My teenage ds just completed his ten day isolation. It was absolutely tortuous. It's incredibly damaging for children and teens to not even be able to exercise outdoors. We have a tiny garden. He was very down and pretty much glued to a screen despite my pleading with him to do something else. Hellish. It's inhumane for children to be treated like this. What about kids in flats with no outdoor space? Or kids in abusive homes. It's absolutely disgusting.

We weren't told to isolate after DD 10 was in contact with a case. Apparently test and trace didn't think sitting opposite a positive PCR in McDonald's was close enough to be a risk. We decided to keep her home anyway. She is in a bubble of 90 and has a positive PCR. If we hadn't isolated her she would have closed down her bubble just before the summer holidays. Our secondary (DS) bases it on seat plans and friendship groups and I think that is a better approach as it doesn't take our whole years.

*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*

Hear hear. This rapidly increasing amount of pathologising is a huge concern.

Isolating as a contact is crap. I’m a teacher, it’s happened to me three times in a term. Bloody awful for everyone involved, especially children.

Not the school’s decision though- they answer PHE questions about their setup, then isolate who they are told to isolate.

Ditto re fines for term time holidays - these come from LAs/MATs.

I’d love it if state schools actually had the power and autonomy that people seem to think they do.

But 250 children who may have been in contact with the one person who tested positive, but most of them probably weren't and even those who were were on the other side of the classroom... doesn't make a lot of sense for them ALL to isolate.

Published DfE figures from before Christmas had the average number of kids sent home to isolate per positive case in secondary school as around 24. We don't know what it is now because they stopped publishing that data. However it has not been DfE policy since probably end of September last year to send home whole year groups for 1 case at secondary. Certainly at my school we have had multiple cases per year group at a time and not sent home the year group.

Schools act on PHE advice.

It is a bit rich to accuse others of catastrophising over COVID as you simultaneously catastrophise that being asked to stay home for 10 days will ruin a child’s mental health.

The whole thing should be evidence based, on both sides of the equation.

A child isolating at home in a flat with no access to outside space is actually being treated worse than an adult in prison.

We made sure adults could exercise in lockdown but repeated isolation for a child would mean they couldn’t.

Still people think this is all fine. God knows why.

Anyway should be stopping now tg.

@MarshaBradyo

We made sure adults could exercise in lockdown but repeated isolation for a child would mean they couldn’t.

Still people think this is all fine. God knows why.

Anyway should be stopping now tg.

Agree completely

Mine have been in and out all year. I haven’t isolated them for a while now though. Been there, done that, and too many times. Took their MH into my own hands, and quite frankly the government can fuck right off now. I have two currently off school isolating sorrynotisolating

@MarshaBradyo what stopped kids exercising inside. Put some music on have a dance. Joe Wicks every morning. So many possibilities.

Or kids in abusive homes. It's absolutely disgusting.

Oh I've not heard anyone bring up kids in abusive homes on covid threads since people were using them in January to argue that schools should be open.

Kids in abusive homes are now in those abusive homes for 6 weeks with no school, as they are every summer. Maybe we need to fund better social care?

Very few people (certainly not me) would keep an isolating child indoors.

As long as they are outdoors and not close to anyone, the odds of an asymptomatic child infecting anyone else is minimal.

But keeping them out of a crowded classroom probably makes sense.

[quote Backofbeyond50]@MarshaBradyo what stopped kids exercising inside. Put some music on have a dance. Joe Wicks every morning. So many possibilities.[/quote]
Lovely.

Did you do that in lockdown?

No going outside. Do you live in a flat?

People are happy for dc to have less. So off.

[quote Backofbeyond50]@MarshaBradyo what stopped kids exercising inside. Put some music on have a dance. Joe Wicks every morning. So many possibilities.[/quote]
Try getting a teenager to do that!

I guess it depends on the teen. One of mine did the dance The other took up running as we were lucky enough to be able to purchase a treadmill as dh was shielding. Ie was unable to leave the house for way more than two weeks.

Obviously now runs outside but in those early weeks and whilst self isolating twice we improvised more.

@chocolateorangeinhaler you don’t know what you are talking about. My TWELVE YEAR OLD tried to kill themselves at the start of the year after numerous isolations from school and at the start of another lockdown. No previous mental health problems. Has only ever stated that COVID/lockdowns/isolations etc was to blame. Just because you have no personal experience of it effecting a child’s mental health, does not make that untrue. I also know of two friends who’ve killed themselves due to the conditions brought on by the pandemic and one gentleman who got depression so bad he was minutes from death when found.