Most liked posts in thread: Home Learning (Schools)

First of all I doubt the 15% figure. We aren’t talking about everyone who are key workers having to do this. It’s those whose jobs have contact with others and who live in a household with kids or other people doing key work in another industry. A Bin man for example has no customer contact and their job can practice social distancing. There are a massive amount of people who fall into the key worker group who are the same boat whose risk of cross contamination is very low.

And again it’s either something like this or we have to accept that kids for the next decade will be stupider than those before and those after. We can’t not do something about that and then effective lie to the kids by having teachers who can’t be trusted with predicated grades decide what to give them or for dumbed down exams to be given to them. That’s just not fair on other generations. Kids either have to go to school or if parents aren’t willing to make the sacrifices to make that viable it’s the duty of the parents, the kids and the teachers to ensure they get the level of education they would have otherwise and take the same level of exams they would have anyway.

 

There will always be some situations where there are problems, you can’t have one size fits all and it would need need some alternative things put in place for outliers but what we have now is key workers kids getting a better education than non-key workers kids while these same key workers and their kids are in a lockdown the most likely to get it and spread it amongst themselves to a major impact.

And the thing is if what was being talked about was kids all doing an extra year at school or even perhaps something like intensive summer schools to catch up that would be fine but we aren’t. Teachers aren’t willing to do upto an extra 6 weeks a year of work and it doesn’t seem anyone wants their kids to be held back a year. All that’s being talked about is letting teacher decide grades despite the fact 60% of predicted grades have historically been wrong (and with no exams to keep them in check they can inflate them further to make them and the school look better) and then after that dumbed down exams.

And fine watching your kids grown up may be important to you but do you not think it’s important to people in industries which require them to be away for weeks, months or years at a time? It’s a few months sacrifice for benefit of the masses. A sacrifice has to be made somewhere but it largely seems key workers are the ones least willing to so. We have things like hospital workers throwing parties for their kid who is too young to really even know what’s going on which involves having several different bubbles in their home, including those old enough to be at serious risk and other hospital workers who are off work supposedly in isolation having people around (friends, family and even workmen) while supposed isolating and also going out for the day.

 

For the record I’ve had to turn down work because I couldn’t justify jumping on a plane to leave to country for a month to somewhere having bigger issues with it than we are and then coming back so don’t act like I've not been impacted. I did that as I didn’t want to have to be responsible for killing someone to do a job that was in no way essential (no-one needs to play a video game which is the industry the job in question was in and which they were insisting all employees were on site)

And where have I said delivery people should stay away from their family, I’ve expressly stated that I’m talking about those whose jobs require DIRECT contact with others in ways that make social distancing almost impossible. A delivery guy needs no real contact with anyone during their process of work

 

It doesn't matter if they choose that career. How does them choosing that job make it any better on the kids? If they can do it repeatedly and over multiple years without it being deemed irreversibly damaging on the kids then a compromise being made by others over a few months isn't going to do a great deal of harm.

And before you say unworkable perhaps tell that to certain key workers in other countries such as medical workers in the US where they did just what I have suggested.

And I've said its a pretty extreme measure BUT what we have right now is those who aren't key workers having their kids get an inferior education to the key workers kids while the key workers and their kids are all mixing with each other meaning you have a major issue with all the key worker groups cross-contaminating each other. I mean you have a nurse who picks it up in the hospital, they bring it home and infect their kids who then go off to different schools and infect their classmates and teachers who then all go home and infect their families who then take it to their schools and workplaces etc etc. During a lockdown its certain types of key worker who stand by far the greatest chance of getting it but there are no 'firebreaks' in place to stop its sweeping through the whole of the keyworker groups when you could have many of the key worker groups.

And yes I don't have kids but I would like to think if I did I would put them before my own selfish desire to see them. Be that by isolating myself if I was a key worker so they can go to school OR by being open to having all kids 13+ repeat a year and those u13 doing extra classes over the holiday break so by the time they get to 13 they have caught up, all while also taking time out of my day to make sure they are being productive while off school due to lockdown so they are learning something not just dossing around. I certainly wouldn't want them getting qualifications they don't deserve just because their teacher wants to mark 60% of the class up just to make them look better at their jobs or by dumbing exams down as that doesn't help them.

*edit*

And stop making out I'm being selfish, do I like having the choice to go out and do lesuire things taken away from me? hell no. Do I like not being free to go and see family and friends? Again hell no. But I can accept doing what is right for the country as was whole. It's not the length of the pandemic that annoys me, I had accepted that we may be looking at 2 to 3 years before we had a vaccine so it's on track for things to be better well before I expected. What annoys me is the hypocrisy. Parents don't want their kids at school but also don't want to take time out of their day to teach them. They also aren't exactly crying out for their kids to be held back a year like you suggested or for younger age groups where they have more time to catch up for them to goto 'Summer school' in the holidays. No the solution they and the teachers want is to let the teachers decide grades (who again are totally clueless as shown by the difference in predicted grades and actual grades each year and with no checks and balances is open for abuse to make teachers/school look better) and for later exams to be dumbed down.

Many of these key workers are also the biggest rule breakers when it comes to restrictions. Want to have a party as a key worker? hey that's fine I'm special. Want to go out on a day trip while you are supposed to be in 14-day self-isolation? That's fine, who cares if you infect others. During the first lockdown, I had SEVEN police officers standing outside mine all standing in a circle who were way closer than 2 metres who were just waiting to jump into action anyone walked, cycled or drove past to lecture them on social distancing and what was deemed essential travel.

 

Maybe you haven't but others have claimed its damaging to the kids. And how many people started their career in the military when they had kids. Most start in their teens before they have a family so is it that they want to be going away or is it that they have no choice. And rig workers for example, is it a choice or is it the only thing they are qualified to do and the only way they can do to support the family. People at times have to make difficult choices for the wider good.

It's not embracing family life but rather people wanting their cake and eating it. There is a compromise somewhere that needs to be made. As I said either it needs to be made so that schools can remain open fully without causing mass spreading (Right now it's a major issue as those attending schools are key workers, its potentially causing major spread amongst just key workers which is a major issue. Its certain key workers who are most likely to get it while in lockdown and you have no firebreaks between key groups) or they need to be open to holding kids back a year or having them take classes during holidays to catch up