Teen refusing covid test

[cantbeforeal]

My son is 14 and has spent all last week with someone who has tested positive, he now has symptoms which started 6 days ago but he is refusing to do a covid test (to be fair to him he has a phobia of anything medical and faints etc) I am keeping him off school and isolating him away from the rest of the family but now the school are insisting he does a PCR test but how the am I supposed to force a 14 year old to do it? I've tried explaining how important it is etc but he's insisting he doesn't want to do it.

As long as he isolates for 10 days from the start of symptoms I'm not sure what difference it makes. No one can make him and probably better not to try.

Yes he is isolating for the 10 days. I'm just worried that the school will mark it as unauthorised absence now if I don't have proof with a positive test 😑

@cantbeforeal

Yes he is isolating for the 10 days. I'm just worried that the school will mark it as unauthorised absence now if I don't have proof with a positive test 😑

I don’t think school has the right to insist on this.l and certainly not to see “proof”. I’d just tell them that he’s covid positive and send him back after 10 days assuming he is better.

Can you check with parents of other children whose kids were positive what the school actually wanted? I bet they just took their word and that was it

@cantbeforeal

Yes he is isolating for the 10 days. I'm just worried that the school will mark it as unauthorised absence now if I don't have proof with a positive test 😑

Does it matter if it goes unauthorised? It affects school stats not your child, as long as he has good attendance in general 10 days unauthorised absence across the school shouldn't trigger any ewo visits or fines and in the current climate would never hold up in court should it ever come to that, though I doubt it would.