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Should schools really be open

janer1967
janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
Hi all 

Just venting some frustration here 

Having spent since the beginning of the pandemic doing all I can to keep myself and son safe from covid I am now wondering if schools should be open, education is important but so is health and life

My son returned to school in September like all kids did and with the half term he has done approx 10 weeks and is now self isolating for the 2nd time in this period as his class bubble have had 2 positive cases . He sits in a class of 30 everyday with no masks (they only wear them walking around school ) yet out of school he cant even meet with one of those class mates he has sat with all day inside, or indeed any of his family

I know it is difficult to get the right balance to reduce the infection rate but feel there are more cases now than before yet the restrictions are not the same

Just wondered on other peoples thoughts ? Please dont attack me for this everyone is entitled to their own opinion 

Comments

  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2020
    I know what you mean about being able to mix with 30 children but not being able to see them outside of school or see family members. It does seem a bit silly if you look at it that way.

    Also, I did hear some expert on the news state that closing schools would reduce the spread by a massive amount.

    Personally I just let the experts do their job debating it and making the rules, and I will just follow those rules. What people like me think about it doesn’t really matter because I don’t have enough knowledge to base my opinions on.
  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,521 Disability Gamechanger
    Grandson was sent home just before half term to self isolate for 2 weeks as the uncle of a kid in his bubble had a positive test, his mum had booked a week off working from home so they could have a few days out but wasn't to be
    Grandaughter is older and in year 8 and had she not gone back in September when she had already been off school for 6 months it would have been a disaster for her education and possibly even her overall well being. Like everything to do with CV19 its been a difficult call for the govt.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

  • Cress
    Cress Community member Posts: 1,012 Pioneering
    I dont know how I feel about schools being open, it's a long time since mine were school age but I think I'd be worried sick, especially as the rules seem so flippin ridiculous...as you say, he can sit inside with a class of thirty all day but once the bell goes they're all supposed to be  contagious again? 
    I think the people going without cancer treatments is the one that has shocked me the most...I cannot believe they've done that...
  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,741 Disability Gamechanger
    I understand your concerns @janer1967 Although I'm not a parent or carer, many of my friends who are have the same worries.

    Also, did anyone see that Wales have cancelled GCSE and A-level exams for 2021?  If not, here's the BBC news article about it.  Who thinks England should follow suit?
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,521 Disability Gamechanger
    I understand your concerns @janer1967 Although I'm not a parent or carer, many of my friends who are have the same worries.

    Also, did anyone see that Wales have cancelled GCSE and A-level exams for 2021?  If not, here's the BBC news article about it.  Who thinks England should follow suit?
    Scotland cancelled their equivalent exams for next year, England has delayed gcse's until August 2021, but I do have to say that from what my daughter has told me what's been put in place has been really good.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    I also saw what @66Mustang mentioned that closing schools during this 2nd lockdown would help minimise the spread of Covid-19. I also appreciate the impact potentially keeping children off school does, not just for their educational needs, but their need to have some form of socialisation. However, & this is just my personal opinion also, I do feel that keeping the first lockdown going for a little longer may have helped, as well as not re-opening schools again so early. It's easy to look at things retrospectively, but I feel these 2 things may have helped.
    We sort of knew that going into these winter months that it would be likely we'd see an increase in Covid-19 as the virus prefers colder temperatures, so I also feel this 2nd lockdown is also too short; lives matter more than the economy, & opening things up so we can all do our Christmas shopping. It will take time for the economy to recover, but lives lost cannot.
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    @chiarieds

    That’s an interesting point you raise about the economy vs. lives saved and it is hard to disagree with your last sentence.

    That said I would say do we ever get to a certain number of lives that the economy is worth more than? What I mean is, obviously tens of thousands of lives are worth more than a few billion pounds, but what is the lowest number of lives we can save before we say: no, the economy is worth more than those few? Looking at the extreme: is one life worth £500 billion, say? I would feel very guilty if I was that one person that cost £500 billion and tens of thousands of people and millions of person-hours were going into paying off the debt to save my life.

    I believe there is a quite interesting area of study whereby people work out how much a human life is worth in currency. Apparently governments sometimes use this value of life when deciding if things are worth spending money on, for example if a safer road network costs x billion pounds they will work out whether it will save enough lives to be worth spending the money.

    I’m not trying to create any argument here just throwing this out there as it is a really interesting topic. I studied philosophy and economics and the issue came up in both of those subjects and as you can probably guess there were many different answers!!

    Sorry this is a bit off topic!
  • leeCal
    leeCal Community member Posts: 7,550 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2020
    @66Mustang I was chuffed to once receive a card saying ‘you’re one in a million!’ Then I realised that meant there are 7,500 more just like me! ☹️ Doh!

    “This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” 
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,521 Disability Gamechanger
    @66Mustang interesting points you raise there, I do think that so far during the pandemic the govt. has tried hard to put health before the nations wealth, as an example the BofE pumped another £150 billion in last week to buy govt. bonds (effectively lending the country money) and the furlough scheme has been extended till March, but 314,000 jobs have been lost in the last 3 months and 15% of 16-24 year olds are now unemployed, yet still the death toll rises. I don't think anyone really has the answer.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks all of you turning into a great thread to see what every bodies opinions and thoughts are on some of the topics 
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
    I think one of the biggest factors that has contributed towards schools staying open, as well as the need to educate the kids, is that younger people are less likley to suffer serious symptoms. Which I understand, but with a school there is more than just the pupils to consider. 

    I think keeping them open is placing an enormous amount of strain on the staff, some of who might be in a higher risk group of people. I would lean towards the side of caution and close them while cases are at high levels, but that's just me.
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  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2020
    @woodbine I do agree that no one has the correct answer and that, whatever party you support, you have to agree that the government currently in power has had to make some very difficult decisions. Some in the media are using the pandemic to make political sniping comments i.e. that other parties would have done this or that better but they have the benefit of hindsight. I’m neither a Conservative supporter nor a Labour one but I do think the current government has done the best they could.
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Personally, I believe they should be open BUT with more social distancing in place.  Halving class sizes and having one day in school and the next day at home would be a better balance between getting the education and social time that they need, while also reducing the amount of risk from Covid.  I'd also open schools on a Saturday while under that scheme to get 3 days of work for pupils per week.  It's not like they'll be playing football or visiting relatives on a Saturday atm anyway!

    For those that have a quiet space, their own laptop or tablet, and have 'clever' parents that can help, working from home for weeks at a time might be fine.  But a lot of kids don't have that, they're already the ones that are struggling, in a noisy, cramped house with one smartphone to share between three and it's those will be most heavily impacted by closing schools as well.  As we've recently seen, there are many who can't even have a proper meal without the school being open, I don't think closing them is the correct solution.
  • RacheleLeahSilvera
    RacheleLeahSilvera Scope Member Posts: 77 Courageous
    @janer1967
    I am a 2nd year student myself and found that being in lockdown extremely difficult due to the lack of and limited support available because of remote learning and because of my disability and physical limitations of what I can do independently made everything even worse so I personally feel that education should remain open but should be more strict in making people aware of the measures to prevent the spread of Covid 19 as I have found that things have become very relaxed in my college and the minority of students are not following the rules.

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