What worries you more: 1) Your child catching Covid, 2) their schooling being disrupted?

[Warhertisuff]

I'm more 2) than 1) if I'm honest...

1. Education is the best way to improve your chances of living a full and active life. Anything that increases the risk of poverty reduces life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. There's already horrendous gaps. Universal education was brought in for a reason.

Both. We have vulnerable family members plus there is data from the states on increases in child hospitalisations after covid which is very worrying. I also don’t want their education to be disrupted but I genuinely believe that if we had more protections in school there would be less disruption than just letting it rip.

2

Excluding the CEV for whom it’s a different consideration, noone ever wants their children to get sick but it’s a fact of life - my DC get colds very regularly (including throughout COVID) and DD seems to have norovirus right now and it’s been an awful few days but I don’t regret the fact that we’ve been social and out and about lots in the last week just because it resulted in sickness.

My child's had Covid this summer and is is doing GCSEs next summer so obviously education

2 hands down. Continued closure is far more disruptive to the vast majority of children than actually having covid. Repeated bouts of isolation when there is nothing wrong with them versus a week of feeling a bit ill? That's the reality of the two options for most children. Yes, I said most, not all.

Phased returns, general school disruptions and circuit breakers . Def 2)

1. I'm very very worried about 2. There's already murmurings of possible school closures here in Scotland and they've only been back a week. My ds was home alone schooling himself for 5 months aged 12. I can't do that to him again. I will without a doubt have to leave my job if they close the schools again which will have dire financial consequences for this single parent family.

DD is 3.5 and starting preschool next week, unfortunately she is already under SALT and the additional learning needs outreach team for a speech and language delay which I think lockdown is largely responsible for.

@Lougle

This is one of those questions that has no clear answer for me. If your child catches Covid and is completely fine, you'll think 2 all the way. If your child catches Covid and is moderately ill with long Covid afterwards, then you'll think 1 was the answer. If they are in the tiny minority who die, you'll definitely think 1.

There are two girls (sisters) at DD2/3's school who caught Covid last year and still aren't well enough to return to school. They are having to have special educational provision because they have long Covid.

This!

If you'd asked me at the start of the first lockdown i'd have gone with 2. Now i'm completely in the 1 camp. I wouldn't want anyone's child (or their teacher) to go through what my DS is living with. Yes, long Covid is a small risk but it's still there and at the moment it feels like there's no end in sight.

Two of my 3 have now had it. My feeling is the middle one had it asymptomatically. Eldest had it after 1 jab and will have second jab and go to Uni anyway. So not worried about them catching it now.

1

Having seen children in the last few months getting very poorly including one with long covid.

Also worried for elderly relatives - double jabbed but vulnerable.

Don't know why we are not following the lead of most EU countries and the USA and vaccinating them before they go back to school.

He had Covid in May with no symptoms whatsoever.

1. Also because of parental mental health!

I'll be doing all I can to avoid testing them too, unless they can come up with a less invasive test.

Both.
1 will cause 2 and will cause much more damage on a national level especially on the nhs
They went for “freedom day” in the July as they wanted it to peak around then so we can reach herd immunity in the summer but it never happened as most activities were outdoors are relatively safe.
Now Winter is coming. ☹️

I just pissed off that this is the fucking choice people think we have to put up with.

I wish I lived in country where the government tried to protect health and education. Why is my child not offered a vaccine? Why so little investment in schools?

Because Johnson is an arse.

So overall I reject the shit choice in the OP, what I want is to have a lower risk of covid and a lower risk of missing school.

Covid has been ticked off the list so disrupted schooling but that was always more important to me with the evidence of how unlikely it was they would suffer badly or long term from it

2 and I think there's very little chance of an uninterrupted school year. My 7yo DD went back to school yesterday, today we got an email letting us know that someone in her class has tested positive and asking us to do a PCR test on her but no need to isolate while waiting for a result and no actual requirement to do the test.

I anticipate by Tuesday next week we'll be getting a message to say that more than 5 people have tested positive and public health have advised to close the class for 10 days.

Concern they spread the virus to older family members who we rely on and that I catch it and become too unwell to look after them. If that was the case, they would miss out on school anyway because there would be nobody to take them (single parent).

I work in a school. I sent a child home last year that was clearly very poorly and struggling with the school day. Parents got quite angry with me quoting their child had already missed so much school how dare I send them home. I think people choosing 2 creates 2.

It really is going to be shit

1. My DC have GCSEs and A levels next year.

Schooling. One of mine had covid and didn't suffer too badly but they have really missed out educationwise. It's a GCSE year for one and SATs for the other so pretty critical they are in school in my opinion. I'd love them to be vaccinated.

1. Not because of the impact on DD who I’m sure will be fine but because I know several previously healthy people my age (30-40 bracket) who are utterly debilitated by long covid. I’m worried about her passing it to me and DP.

2 all the way. Terrifying

2!
Not worried about 1.