Is anybody else worrying about potential terrorist attacks on primary schools?

[SunnyPearlFish]

Over the last week I've seen lots of videos/social media posts regarding potential terror attacks on primary/infant schools. Following on from them doing lockdown practice runs in school. It's got me so worried to the point where I'm considering home schooling my children (5 and 4). They absolutely love their school, it's a lovely small village school with brilliant teachers and they have a really close knit group of friends there.

I know it would break their hearts if I pulled them out of school but I can't stop thinking about something awful happening to my children.

On the other hand, I know I need to keep things in perspective and really consider the chances of something happening. I'm just so conflicted, I don't know how well I'd be able to home educate them, I don't really have the confidence to do it.

Just looking for some advice really and peoples opinions. TIA

Consider the 'attack drills' like fire drills. Would you worry about your child's school setting on fire, because they do regular fire drills?

I’m going to sound like a terrible parent here, but I honestly hadn’t given it a moments thought 😬

Couldn’t agree more!!
I got bated into my local anti immigration Facebook page a few days ago.
this is just one of many of the stories that are doing the rounds.
I almost spat out my drink reading those posts.
the idea that these people are now considering homeschooling their kids when they are barely able to hold a reasonable discussion without labelling anyone who doesn’t agree with their POV ‘leftie scumbags’, is quite frankly a laughable prospect.

I’ve been kicked off my local FB ‘protest’ page for just saying that I didn’t consider Tommy Robinson to be a role model to be looked up to.
I was soon put in my place by being accused of being an AI bot and an Antifa spy sent to disrupt and disorganise rational thinking.

mad as hatters the lot of them.

it’s frightening the hatred and misinformation that’s being spread at an incomprehensible rate of knots!

I’m sure hiding your children at home and them being taught by someone whose gets their information from social media and whose thinking is irrational is not going to be the best thing for your children.

The riskiest thing about attending school in the UK is the car journey there and back.

Absolutely. The terrible events in Dunblane were horrific. Our first child was just over one year old when it happened. We were probably overly-anxious, first time parents but it never even occurred to us not to begin nursery 18 months later or to home school on the basis of the actions of one very sick individual.

I’m not sure what you consider a “terrorist” attack, OP? What Hamilton did was clearly terrifying but he was, sadly, a local man who was clearly insane.

Such events are incredibly rare. You really can’t limit your children’s’ life experiences because of your extreme anxiety. You will not be helping them in the long run,

Andy and Jamie Murray’s parents could very easily have withdrawn them from school after the horrific events of that day. They steeled themselves and didn’t, though, because they probably knew that to do so would have had a far, far greater long-term negative effect on their boys than that awful day itself. I think they have been proven correct.

Get yourself some counselling, OP, but don’t withdraw your children from nursery/school.

Quite. The rational reaction of our country was to implement better gun controls.

The possibility of a terrorist attack in the UK is very real. It’s not if it happens, but when. Security forces will stop 99% of them ever getting off the ground, but there will be ones which will unfortunately get through the net. But the attack could happen anywhere. It could be a shopping centre, an airport, a train station, a hospital, a park. You can’t avoid all these places without severely restricting the lives of your family. All we can do is hope the police keep us as safe as they can. The world is a very scarey place to be atm unfortunately.

You have to be seriously stupid to believe such crap.

You’re not wrong, but just to caveat that the world has always been a scary place, we’ve just been relatively sheltered to its worst excesses in the UK.

I think that’s a bit unfair, tbh. I worried about all sorts of what I now realise was nonsense when our kids were small. I think most parents do.

I do think OP needs help with their anxiety though, it’s gone too far.

This is a deliberate campaign to worry parents. Not sure if the OP has fallen for it or is part of it but this is not the first time this has been posted.

Really? That is interesting. Why?

Oh hang on, think I’ve just woken up 😁 Bloody obvious, really.

How low is that?

SM is absolutely awash with right-wing propaganda at the moment.

This whole rhetoric of 'invasion' and 'scary, criminal immigrants' is everywhere and it's fuelled by utter bullshit.

You are considering making changes that could seriously hamper your child's education due to what amounts to a conspiracy theory generated by bots.

Treat yourself to a technology detox, Op.

It sounds like it's long overdue.

Just to clarify, I am a first time poster and I haven't seen the other thread being referred to.

It's such a shame people have to resort to insults ("seriously stupid") on a forum, I have to question whether you'd say that to someone you knew, or if you weren't posting anonymously? If you haven't got anything kind or helpful to say, there is nothing forcing you to add your comment! Perhaps I should be more worried about my children coming into contact with people such as yourselves who see fit to insult a worried mum on a public forum.

Thank you to everyone who has posted kind and empathetic comments, I really do appreciate the input

They know it's a tactic that works.

If you're gullible.

I can assure you I am not part of some scare mongering campaign, I am simply a worried mum who wants the best for her children

Thankfully, I think that’s was one poster?

We've all been there in terms of anxiety about our kids, but perspective is your friend. Such events are incredibly rare. It’s why they make headlines for weeks. If you live in the Uk, your family is in one of the safest places on earth 😊

It’s this sort of bollocks. The far right trying to whip up fear of asylum seekers. Same sort of people who claimed that the Southport attacker had just arrived on a small boat.

I absolutely would 100% tell someone in real life, face to face, that they’re seriously stupid to believe such crap, yes.

People have a responsibility to engage their brains and actually think about the information they’re reading and where it’s from.

You don’t have to let yourself be terrorised by right wing racist nonsense, it’s a choice you make.

Yes, I am. But it’s not going to stop me sending mine as they love school. But it is a big concern and causing me anxiety. I also don’t want to pass that anxiety onto them by taking them out of school.

But the way I’ve thought about it, is that IF it does happen it’s likely to be an isolated incident, so what are the chances? I have seen things mentioning a coordinated attack across the UK but surely that’s likely to be picked up and intercepted by intelligence agencies.

For the posters suggesting OP should ‘get help’ or ‘get off social media’ I remember about a thread I saw on here during covid where almost half of posters were all for school closures due to fear of covid 🙄 but bizarrely that was seen as a completely justified fear response at the time.

I think it’s normal to worry when you’re a parent, it’s an inbuilt mechanism to keep our kids safe. The trick is to filter out the minor and less likely risks (though it’s hard, I know).

There have been people posting on our local mums Facebook group about this. People are very worried.

Personally I think it’s a group stirring up worries on purpose. Then someone (Nigel farage?) can sweep in and take control and make everyone feel safe again 🙄 Deliberate tactics. I think social media is out of control.

sorry you’re so worried OP. I don’t think there’s any risk.

and no. I don’t think we should #beKind here. Because people spreading this crap and even believing it need to be roundly told to get a grip. Not indulged in any way shape or form. This thread is almost certainly a part of said scaremongering campaign and the OP has joined here to whip up fear.

Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one 🤣 being branded right wing for being worried about my kids seems mad to me. Likewise I didn't really get all the panic about covid! However this seems like a more pressing issue to me.

I know the risk of something happening is very very small in proportion, but like you say when you're a parent it's hard not to worry about anything and everything!