should children be returning to full time education in a pandemic?

[Stratmangler]

The little darlings have to go back to school because home schooling is such a rampaging success
https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...20200901200014

[nonuffin]

From what I have witnessed from the youth of today, they are about as smart as they were when they started school as when they left. From an early age they are plonked in front of the telly, rarely engaged with their parents who are "too busy" for any kind of one on one communication. I know of 8 year olds that spend most of their time on their I-pad or mobile phone tucked away in their bedrooms, called down only for their meals in which they are fed with junk foods that contain salt and sugar that leads to obesity. Go into any McDonalds and see countless children hooked on their brand of food.

Most have zero work ethic and fail to turn up for work on the flimsiest of excuses, they see the "woke" movement as a new religion, they want all the trappings of adulthood like sex, booze and drugs, but none of the drawbacks. Ask any of them what the capital city of any country is and you get a blank look or the wrong answer entirely. A blown lightbulb really challenges them.

They aspire to being a pop star or an "influencer" on facebook, rolling in easy money from "looking good" like the Kardashians and living off the bank of mum and dad in the meantime. Yes there are some that are driven to better themselves, but that is in spite of their upbringing not because of it.

It annoys the hell out of me when the parents of today are whining about having their kids at home constantly under their feet, but they are missing a rare opportunity to actually CONNECT with their children and teach them social values like manners, respect and discipline.

[Macca]

As the parent of 4 and 8 year olds I can tell you that setting them something to do at the start of the day is not an option, it could work for (well behaved) teenagers though.

My children needed someone with them constantly unless you gave them screens to play on. (That was our strategy at the start and behaviour levels collapsed to unbearable within days.)

4 years old I can understand but an 8 year old should be able to sit and read a book and write an essay unsupervised. Okay I don't have young children but in my own childhood during school holidays we never had any adult supervision. We would read (mostly comics but also proper books - Enid Blyton et al) or play with Lego, or, weather permitting, play cricket or football in the back yard.

I don't really understand what has changed that children of 8 years old need constant parental attention. On a Saturday morning my parents would have a lie in, but we would be up early to watch the children's programmes on TV, we'd boil the kettle and make tea and light the gas grill (required pulling a stool over to the cooker in order to be able to reach) and make toast.

Now parents tell me they cannot sleep in at weekends as the children are in their bedroom at 6 am jumping on the bed and getting them up. We would never in a million years have contemplated doing that! Aside from the threat of physical punishment we also understood that our parents were up early and worked hard in the week and deserved to be left undisturbed on weekends.

[Marco]

Some good points have been made here, chaps, outlining the REALITY of the situation, rather than what's believed as a result of having been brainwashed by government and media propaganda. I'll comment more later, but Rob is spot on here:

Worldwide deaths (allegedly*) from COVID-19 (total so far): 879,028 (according to today's figures)

Worldwide deaths from stroke/heart disease (2016): 15,200,000

Worldwide deaths from Pneumonia (2017): 2,560,000

Worldwide deaths due to road traffic accidents (2018): 1,350,000



Yet nobody says a thing about Pneumonia year on year on year. Nobody is banning everyone from vehicles. Strange times. COVID is merely a drop in the ocean of annual causes of death, even Tuberculosis still kills almost 2 million a year!

Indeed... There's an obvious agenda at work, in terms of how this 'pandemic' is being falsely portrayed by governments and media worldwide, ramping up the fear factor and turning it into something MUCH more serious than it *actually* is, and which as yet hasn't been revealed.

And with respect to Geoff (Sherwood), I've no idea where he's getting the notion that Covid-19 has "quite a high death rate", as the figures tell a rather different story, and indeed indicate the exact opposite:

Total deaths so far in the UK: 41,537, out of a total population of 67 million!

That's a (thankfully) piss-poor death rate, not "a quite high one" - and remember that was when it caught us by surprise and we knew next to nothing about it, so if there's a 'second wave'. which I doubt, we'll be far better equipped this time round to deal with it. Therefore if it happens, one would expect the death toll to be far less. Plus we also know now how to control the spread better.

We've also discovered that drugs such as Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine are effective in helping treat some of the effects of Covid-19, giving those who've got it badly a much better chance of surviving, which again will help.

And of course how many death stats from Covid have been falsely registered in the way you've described? I've been hearing all sorts of tales of underhand shenanigans going on in hospitals, in that respect, from people I know with family members who work in the NHS, as doctors and nurses. Something fishy is afoot...

Get the kids back to school I say!

Indeed. As Martin's pointed out, it's not JUST about the impact on their education, with kids not going to school, it's everything else attached to that, and the knock-on effect it has on many others, which must also be taken into consideration - and which, cumulatively, is substantial.

No, kids must get back to school, ASAP, and both they and society as a whole start getting back to some sort of normal life, before the normal life we once knew is consigned to history!

Marco.

[Marco]

From what I have witnessed from the youth of today, they are about as smart as they were when they started school as when they left. From an early age they are plonked in front of the telly, rarely engaged with their parents who are "too busy" for any kind of one on one communication. I know of 8 year olds that spend most of their time on their I-pad or mobile phone tucked away in their bedrooms, called down only for their meals in which they are fed with junk foods that contain salt and sugar that leads to obesity. Go into any McDonalds and see countless children hooked on their brand of food.

Most have zero work ethic and fail to turn up for work on the flimsiest of excuses, they see the "woke" movement as a new religion, they want all the trappings of adulthood like sex, booze and drugs, but none of the drawbacks. Ask any of them what the capital city of any country is and you get a blank look or the wrong answer entirely. A blown lightbulb really challenges them.

They aspire to being a pop star or an "influencer" on facebook, rolling in easy money from "looking good" like the Kardashians and living off the bank of mum and dad in the meantime. Yes there are some that are driven to better themselves, but that is in spite of their upbringing not because of it.

It annoys the hell out of me when the parents of today are whining about having their kids at home constantly under their feet, but they are missing a rare opportunity to actually CONNECT with their children and teach them social values like manners, respect and discipline.

Spot on, and it fucks me off like you wouldn't believe... There's *SO* much I could say about the points you've raised, and will do later!

Marco.

[Marco]

I have had a few conversations with people who are working from home and have children. In all cases they have complained that the children are bored and getting on their nerves and preventing them from working. I've asked them what they have done to educate their children at home (aside from the small amount of work remotely assigned by the school). In all cases the answer has been 'nothing'.

That amazes me. No wonder the children are bored. I suggested that maybe they could do something simple like assign the child a book to read and then for them to write a thousand word essay about the book. That keeps the child busy and requires none or minimal interaction with the parent, allowing them to get on with their job.

The suggestion has been met with astonishment and incredulity. One parent advised me that this was impossible for them since they didn't have any books in the house!

What about all their freaking 'Kindles'?

Marco.

[guy]

The "test" of whether or not it has been a wise decision will be whether there is a spike in deaths of (over) fifty year old teachers. I doubt whether any data relating to this would ever be released though.

I find it hard to believe that distancing will be possible in state school classrooms where there are over thirty pupils. My personal feeling is that most schools would need to run a rota system of one week in, one week off (with set work) for any semblance of safe working practices.

[struth]

seems to be working in scottish schools. covid is just a small part of absenteeism. most are from colds, and why we had a run on tests etc as parents panicked a bit.
The tests themselves seem to be too sensitive at moment producing too many false positives(picking up old viral strands) . As you increase tests, and they are too sensitive, you will get a lot of positive results..more than are actually positive.
its not a failing as such by anyone, just something that will have to be considered going forward.
Also i think flu deaths this year may well be down by a fair bit...time will tell on that.

[Macca]

What about all their freaking 'Kindles'?

Marco.

No, they just don't read at all and don't see any reason why their children should either.

I'm working from home and if I had an 8 year old I would give them something reasonably challenging and educational to read, 'Lord Of The Flies' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird' , something along those lines. Doesn't matter if it is a physical book or on a kindle. I'd make it clear that I have to be undisturbed to work or I'll get the sack and we'll be out on the street with nothing. An 8 year old can grasp that concept and understand that they need to cooperate.

At 5 o'clock I'd give them an hour of my time to discuss the book and answer any questions they have. When they have finished the book they can spend a day writing the essay. Non-compliance would mean video games and TV privileges would be revoked. When the work is done to my satisfaction then they would be allowed to play games or watch TV. Set the routine and the boundaries early on, don't allow any nonsense from them, they'll soon adapt and knuckle down.

Parents seem to be afraid to be strict with their children these days, and they get overly familiar with them. One of my brother's children didn't seem to be able to distinguish adults from other children, ignoring instructions and being cheeky. I didn't find it that difficult to dissuade them from that notion by simply pretending to get angry. Now if I am there they behave themselves and do what they are told without hesitation. I just introduced a slight element of fear, that's no bad thing.

[Discopants]

+1 Lawrence , we have an 8 year old and both work , shes too young to be self lead in learning. The school was very good in providing both paper and online learning resources of a high standard but its still an enormous challenge to support that at home as a parent. Shes been watching TV half the day, we have dragged her out for dog walks and bike rides but shes missed all the usual swimming, brownies, afterschool activities and time with grandparents and friends.
The risks to her physical health from this virus are minimal. The impact on her emotional and physical wellbeing and development was not insignificant for those 6 months.
She was so excited to get back to school and see her friends that she was dressed and by my bed waking me up at 6:30 on the first day back.

Im 100% behind schools going back at the current rates of infection within the community. We will monitor the data locally and adjust how we interact with grandparents if the infection rate rises here.

Its now about personal risks and informed choices for the more vulnerable but even those have to be balanced.


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