Is it ok we are just letting our kids get Covid?

[Moonopoly]

DD5 has just tested positive for Covid. There have been several cases in her Year 1 class but school remains the same. Under the old rules the ‘bubble’ would have closed and she would perhaps have stood some chance of not getting it.
Is it ok that we are letting the government pursue a herd immunity policy with a novel virus amongst our kids?
We seem to be the only country doing this?

@theemperorhasnoclothes

No, it's not ok. As you correctly point out no other country is doing this.

There is evidence there may be long term neurological damage from covid, even mild cases. We don't know what the impact is on developing children's brains yet. We just don't have the data. Maybe it'll be fine, maybe not.

No other country is doing this. Many private schools are implementing ventilation, small class sizes and masks. That should be a clue.

We're so close to having a vaccine for all kids over 5, it's madness to let it rip now with unknown long term impacts.

I hope their gamble with our kids health pays off. That's all we have to cling to - that it MIGHT be ok.

Sending hope your DD is better soon OP and is only mildly affected.

Personally I'm writing to my MP letting him know that I don't consent to this massive experiment with our kids and will hold him and the government responsible if my kid catches it and gets long covid, PIMs etc.

Highly unlikely that this country will vaccinate under 12s.

I think it's wrong. As a parent of a child who has had long covid (14 months but now recovered) I am very concerned that parents are not being told the full story about the impacts on some of this virus. I am not saying schools should be closed but I feel if parents knew how ill this can make some children they would be happier with some restrictions remaining in place and / or vaccinating kids and then perhaps 'going back to normal' once more are protected. The 'let it rip and build immunity' does not sit well with me due to the sheer amount of casualties. The latest Inde Sage meeting said 1 in 200 Covid cases in kids is now ending up with a hospital visit, 30 children admitted to hospital with Covid each week, 1 in 7 getting long Covid. This is not a 'cold' it can present like that for many and then result in months and months of debilitating symptoms (for some).

The other major problem in my mind is parents who wish to keep their children off school when case numbers are high are legally not allowed to. They have to send them in whether or not they may have immune problems and are unvaccinated etc and I personally think that is very wrong. Yes they can de-register but most parents can't home school full time because they have jobs to do.

I appreciate though that there is quite simply no good answer to any of this and I also appreciate that we do need many areas of society to get back to some sort of normal but I do believe there was a balance to be struck over the coming 6-12 months as vaccinations reach kids.

Link to the independent sage meeting this week (Dr talks about impact Covid is now having on kids from 17 mins in). This is NOT being reported fully in the press from what I have seen.

I think everyone ones opinion depends on their experience. I totally agree children need some normality and no more school closed but not all children have mild covid, even if its not serious. When my daughter had it she was not seriously/dangerously ill but she was the most ill any of my 4 children have been. Raging fever for two weeks, rapid breathing, no sleep, no food crying continuously because she felt so terrible. After two weeks she was better but it was awful. We should be at least trying to stop them getting it especially winter time.

@Moonopoly

I hope your DD feels better ASAP.

I agree with you, when I walk around the large secondary I work in I still can’t believe it’s totally back to normal, our head doesn’t even mention covid at all any more. We don’t even get told if there’s a case, I have no idea of the figures.

It’s like hope and pray for the best and survival of the fittest!!!

I've read this article today, which is consistent with what's been said about damage of covid in the past.

It's really not ok for kids to just get it, because it's mild. I don't want my dc to get any damage at all. Thank god we are offered vaccine next week.
theconversation.com/preliminary-research-finds-that-even-mild-cases-of-covid-19-leave-a-mark-on-the-brain-but-its-not-yet-clear-how-long-it-lasts-166145

I can't see the point in speculating on potential future harms of the virus for kids when half have had it already. The other half will get it soon, even with ventilation/ isolations and whatever else you want to implement, you are just prolonging the inevitable.

Also disagree with PP about school disruption, we haven't had any this term, presumably cos we had it so bad in the spring and autumn. It's joyous to see a school running completely like normal.

I’m curious what percentage of UK children are vaccinated against chicken pox? Obviously it’s not available on the NHS, so the cost will be prohibitive for many. Yet, we don’t talk about the potential long term impact of chicken pox. It’s very contagious.

The kids in my school actually have been hit quite badly: exhausted, and really not well enough to attend online lessons.

Faffinator, maybe it's different depend on where you are. I actually don't know anyone who had covid, so is my dh, as well as my dc. I know someone had it in one of my dc's class, because he had to SI once end of last term. But now our school started with no cases, I really don't want my dc to have it at all, if we can help it. So I really don't believe half of children had it already.

No idea if it's 50% either @megistotherium but I think that's what Chris Whitty estimated as a UK average. It wouldn't surprise me if it was even higher in our area ( West Mids)

The British government has gaslit parents in this country into thinking that the options are either the hassle of endless school disruption/isolation periods OR just let it rip and it is inevitable that all children get it so we might as well just accept it.

These aren't the only possibilities. Other governments are handling things entirely differently. We are the only country accepting that all of our children will get ill.

Those of you who don't want to risk your children being exposed to covid are free to take them out of school whenever it suits you. You can homeschool them if you'd rather. That doesn't mean everyone else should have to do that just to suit you.

@PurpleOkapi

Those of you who don't want to risk your children being exposed to covid are free to take them out of school whenever it suits you. You can homeschool them if you'd rather. That doesn't mean everyone else should have to do that just to suit you.

And you don't have to post this nonsense on a parenting site?

Didn't we have enough of this utter tripe last year?

@herecomesthsun

Neither you nor I nor the OP has to post anything anywhere. What's your point? Does being a parent render a person mentally incapable of reasoning out that children catching illnesses from other children is an obvious consequence of sending them to school with other children?

OP decided she'd rather risk her child getting covid than keep her child home. OP's child now has covid. OP has belatedly decided that this wasn't worth it. I'd be sorry for OP were it not for her self-absorbed belief that she should be allowed to make that decision for everyone else's children rather than just her own.

@Megistotherium

Faffinator, maybe it's different depend on where you are. I actually don't know anyone who had covid, so is my dh, as well as my dc. I know someone had it in one of my dc's class, because he had to SI once end of last term. But now our school started with no cases, I really don't want my dc to have it at all, if we can help it. So I really don't believe half of children had it already.

A lot of people are asymptomatic so more people might have had it than you think, they just don't know they've had it.

PurpleOkapi, luckily my dc's school seems like they rather not want to expose children to covid either. We had staggered start of school, mask is still needed in communal area, and even though they are not forced to wear mask in class, a lot of children still do, according to my dc.
So luckily, I don't need to take out my dc from school.

Waxonwaxoff0, if it's true, that's great. Recent data suggests even those who had mild cases have some sort of cell damage, if they had it and didn't experience any changes, that's great, really.

@Megistotherium

Waxonwaxoff0, if it's true, that's great. Recent data suggests even those who had mild cases have some sort of cell damage, if they had it and didn't experience any changes, that's great, really.

DS and I have both had Covid and we're fine, as is everyone I know who has had it. If there's any brain damage to us it's not noticeable!

[quote PurpleOkapi]@herecomesthsun

Neither you nor I nor the OP has to post anything anywhere. What's your point? Does being a parent render a person mentally incapable of reasoning out that children catching illnesses from other children is an obvious consequence of sending them to school with other children?

OP decided she'd rather risk her child getting covid than keep her child home. OP's child now has covid. OP has belatedly decided that this wasn't worth it. I'd be sorry for OP were it not for her self-absorbed belief that she should be allowed to make that decision for everyone else's children rather than just her own.[/quote]

1. Your tone is extremely unsympathetic and encourages readers to form an unfavourable opinion of your character. That is putting it politely.

1. We have had an utterly shit government response to covid re education.

1. Following years of squeezing resources out of schools, which put them in a poor position to start with to weather a crisis of this magnitude.

1. If we did not have a proper covid plan in schools (we didn't) we could at least have organised ourselves to vaccinate children before rather than after they went back to school following the fucking summer holidays (the MHRA approved the vaccine on the fucking 4th of fucking June.

1. The government has made it extremely difficult throughout the pandemic for parents who want to home school temporarily.

1. Try to have a modicum of compassion in your tiny little heart and brain.

My kids are in school and as vaccinated as they can be, but I completely recognise it is a shit situation and telling anyone unhappy about it to shut up and homeschool their kids is just plain mean.

@Waxonwaxoff0 That's great you had no lasting effect of covid. I just find it odd that so many people are against adverse effects of vaccine which is really tiny, but so unconcerned about effect of covid which is way more significant.
But no, I 'd rather my dc don't take chances.

[quote Megistotherium]@Waxonwaxoff0 That's great you had no lasting effect of covid. I just find it odd that so many people are against adverse effects of vaccine which is really tiny, but so unconcerned about effect of covid which is way more significant.
But no, I 'd rather my dc don't take chances.[/quote]
I think you have to weigh up the risks and decide what's best for you. I'm vaccinated but I won't be vaccinating DS should it ever become available to him (8 years old). From my personal experience I do not know anyone that has any long term health problems from Covid and as I work in a factory I know plenty of people that have had it - we had 2 separate outbreaks at work, one in January before vaccines were available to us and one last month which is how I caught it. DS himself also had no problems, he was mildly ill for 2 days so I don't feel a vaccine for him is necessary.

Great post @herecomesthsun

I feel like my choices are - homeschool or send to school with no mitigation against covid.

Both are shit choices. Homeschooling is bad for DC mental health, socialisation. Catching covid could lead to long covid and huge educational disruption. As my DC are healthy I'm taking the gamble but I'll regret it if they get long covid, PIMs, kidney damage, long term neurological damage etc. OK it's a (hopefully) tiny risk but it's an unneccessary risk. It's like if the school just decided fire doors and fire extinguishers weren't necessary at all. I'd still send my child to school but I wouldn't be fine with the total lack of mitigation of fire risk.

The 'choice' for parents is between two shitty options (for most, I know some like homeschooling). It's like telling me that from now on the only food available to me is food laced with shit or food laced with urine. Sure, I'm taking the urine option but neither option is one I want.

Oh and I know someone who's just had (very delayed) heart surgery due to damage from covid - relatively young and fit before this. And quite a few with long covid.

Covid is not the flu.

@Faffinator

can't see the point in speculating on potential future harms of the virus for kids when half have had it already.

It isn't speculation, there is actual evidence emerging that even mild infection can lead to long term damage to brain cells. The percentage of children who have already had COVID is irrelevant because we know it can infect more than once.

It seems at the moment that the government's policy is to allow children to repeatedly become infected with a virus that might be damaging their brains a bit more each time. Are you honestly not concerned about that?