Petition to close schools

[mac12]

Controversial topic, I know, but there's a petition here for those who think schools should close.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300403

Fucking ridiculous idea! How exactly would that go for my GCSE year son (& how would they sit the exams if the schools were closed!?) & how would I go to work? That’s just me, if there are millions of kids sitting GCSEs & A Levels in about 8 weeks, do they just not bother learning the last bit & sit them anyway, not sit them, then what?

What about the millions of working parents - will every employer have to pay for them to have unlimited time off, presumably including all the ones who work in the NHS & delivering the supermarket food to your door, in the chemist dispensing medicines, for the police force, in the care homes... not remotely practical really is it!?

We have to do what's right. I have a dd taking GCSE's she tells me all the kids are worried about corona virus, not for themselves but their families, grandparents and wider society.
They aren't getting any decent work done and a friend secondary teacher said she is spending more time settling and answering questions, the kids just aren't switched on to education atm. Shutting down now like other countries have done will surely stop it spreading apart from our own families.

Don't be fucking ridiculous.

Fucking hell - bonkers

@nellodee

Your maths is over my head so I can't check that but it does not factor in the damage done by shutting schools. How will the death rate from other issues be altered by people not being able to get access to GPs, hospitals or potentially all the food they need? If we shut the schools we will lose a large percentage of our workers. I work for the NHS. if we shut the schools 1/3 of our staff cannot come to work. Services will have to reduce. A lot.

Oh, FFS.

That's fine, close the schools but then I'll not be able to work the hours I do, as nhs staff, currently setting up a new testing centre for the virus.
Whilst I understand concerns there has to practical solutions and closing schools is not one of them

To be honest, I think it's still a bit early to close schools, even with my "better sooner rather than later" maths. I think right now, many school have no cases, and you wouldn't actually be benefitting them by closing. I think the time to close them is when most schools have had some kind of near contact or actual case. Then close them for maybe 3 weeks, preferably tagged on to a planned holiday.

So I'll get an extra week or two of annual leave will I?

We're just moving this over to our petitions topic.

My daughter is taking her GCSEs this year, I'd rather they didn't close schools, for a virus.

If we close the schools then who is going to feed the kids on free school meals? Sometimes that is the only decent meal a child will have in a day. During school holidays some schools act as foodbanks but that can't happen if it's forced to close.

I really do not think 'all the kids are worried about corona virus.' Although the very anxious people on this thread are likely pass this anxiety onto their children.

73 Sunglasslover, if we are going to lose health care workers for 3 weeks as they look after their kids, it would be better to do that BEFORE the hospitals were overflowing with covid patients and before supply lines are closing due to large amounts of absenteeism through sickness. I think it's another reason for closing them sooner, to stem growth, rather than later, when the total number of cases is larger.

@nellodee

Bless you for at least attempting the maths, but closing schools only works if parents then quarantine the children in the home and prevent access to other children.
Can't see many parents able if willing to exercise such a control.

It's probably just the kids signing.
Tbh I'm curious if you have signed it can you answer the following.
Why?
How long for ?
And if all schools close who did you expect will look after the children and do you honestly think that employers will be happy to let everyone stay home to look after their children indefinitely?

Some people are utter, utter idiots.

Ahhhh if I see another stupid thread like this I will scream!!

As if it would have been started by a teacher - we will probably still be expected to teach via email, with our own kids at home!

Cool, OP.

You gonna kick in some cash to get my mortgage paid? No?

Then keep your bright ideas to yourself.

@nellodee the maths isn’t anywhere as simple as that. To model spread it’s a complex equation model, of which R0 is only one input. There are a number of other factors to take into account too. I can guarantee you the modellers are doing various sensitivity analysis to see what the predicted effect of spread on closing schools and other ‘preventative’ measures are. This absolutely needs to be balanced against economic impact, especially as for the vast majority this will be a mild illness. The people advising the government do know what they are doing. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710332/

Difficult. If childcare wasn't a problem, or if the virus was more dangerous for children directly, how many more would sign it?

Are you on glue?

I think we should lockdown for 3 weeks now. People who work in services that keep us alive need to be facilitated to work. Whether that is childcare or protective gear or whatever, that needs to be provided. Nobody else should work. Close all our airports. Nobody in or out.

I actaully don't have anxiety about covid, I am not stressed about it. But I think that we are being utterly wicked to our elderly and vulnerable not to prevent the spread now. I feel the response to the virus is a bit like getting dog shit on your carpet. You should clean it up right away, not wait for it to get tramped all over your house before starting the cleanup, which is now exponentially larger and in some cases beyond salvage.

I think that the government is prioritising corporate profits over stopping the virus. If the FCO advised against travel, people wouldn't travel and insurers would pay out and be so badly financially impacted, they'd probably go under without a state bailout. Other people's income would suddenly dry up but the state should also help those people out. Basically the government has calculated that the financial impact of people dying is less than the financial impact of shutting down for 3 weeks.

The supermarkets should be getting the absolute maximum amount of stock in and people should all be advised to stock up. Then shut us down so we can stop the virus. Every day the government waits makes the cleanup operation more difficult.

Skiing hospital visitors, that's pretty cruel unless there's a defined threat. I've had days crying in a hospital ward because I was ill, lonely and homesick. And often visitors help family members eat, check in on their progress etc.

A policy has to do more good than harm to be worthwhile.