Three weeks to the holidays.
Jun. 5th, 2020 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
olorielJust got new information: Starting on June 15, the primary schools will return to (almost) normal teaching.
Why? Because it has been decided that the lack of social contact and schooling is more harmful to children under the age of 10 than the danger of infection.
To which I have several questions, the first being, do these politicians realise that children up to the age of 10 may nonetheless have family members for whom the danger of infection is possibly a bit higher, and the more kids you put in a classroom (and the more often you do this), the higher the risk of infection?
And the second being, do they realise that the summer holidays start on June 26? They are literally re-opening schools for two weeks. They're putting the kids back with (all) their classmates for two weeks, claiming that this will save their little spirits, before they all split up for the holidays anyway. How much of a difference do they think these two weeks will make?
I'm honestly baffled.
Secondary schools like mine are told to continue with their current practice but also to provide more classes, whatever that means. So this mostly concerns Felix. (Nonetheless, I am now in school on Thursdays as well. Although we now have more teachers (b/c no more blanket high-risk group exists) and fewer classes (b/c the Grade 10s are done with their exams and have had their classes reduced as a result), for some reason I ended up with two lessons more. This is fine, although it's not my favourite class - although split into two smaller groups, they're certainly more manageable. If there's one thing I wish we could keep from this crisis, it's classes of 12-15 students max! Although today's grade sevens certainly demonstrated that even a class of 12 students can be impossible to work with.)
Don't mind me. I've done something stupid with my back again and have a splitting headache as a result, and also got my period yesterday. Maybe I'm just unreasonably grumpy.
Why? Because it has been decided that the lack of social contact and schooling is more harmful to children under the age of 10 than the danger of infection.
To which I have several questions, the first being, do these politicians realise that children up to the age of 10 may nonetheless have family members for whom the danger of infection is possibly a bit higher, and the more kids you put in a classroom (and the more often you do this), the higher the risk of infection?
And the second being, do they realise that the summer holidays start on June 26? They are literally re-opening schools for two weeks. They're putting the kids back with (all) their classmates for two weeks, claiming that this will save their little spirits, before they all split up for the holidays anyway. How much of a difference do they think these two weeks will make?
I'm honestly baffled.
Secondary schools like mine are told to continue with their current practice but also to provide more classes, whatever that means. So this mostly concerns Felix. (Nonetheless, I am now in school on Thursdays as well. Although we now have more teachers (b/c no more blanket high-risk group exists) and fewer classes (b/c the Grade 10s are done with their exams and have had their classes reduced as a result), for some reason I ended up with two lessons more. This is fine, although it's not my favourite class - although split into two smaller groups, they're certainly more manageable. If there's one thing I wish we could keep from this crisis, it's classes of 12-15 students max! Although today's grade sevens certainly demonstrated that even a class of 12 students can be impossible to work with.)
Don't mind me. I've done something stupid with my back again and have a splitting headache as a result, and also got my period yesterday. Maybe I'm just unreasonably grumpy.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-06 05:53 pm (UTC)It's not even that I'm worried for myself (or even Jörg and his mother); it's just the idiocy of the whole thing that angers me. Whenever people have been allowed to meet in larger numbers, there has afterwards been a resurgence of Covid cases. So the risk is still very real. And all this talk about the psychological damage might have been credible a month ago, but with two weeks to go? The damage is done and won't be undone by two weeks of "normal" lessons. (And most kids have a good chance of recovering from it.) But I'm fairly certain that it will be worse - both the psychological and the death toll! - if we rush into a second wave...
no subject
Date: 2020-06-06 08:55 pm (UTC)I should have added something like "what the others said".
Here they have only just partially opened schools again for some classes, with restrictions, and I am not at all certain it is not too early to be safe, despite the fact that some of my friends who have been attempting to homeschool their kids and work their normal hours at the same time have been feeling the strain quite badly.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-07 06:14 pm (UTC)With restrictions (and with the kids and their families following those restrictions, of course), a partial reopening seems to be doable. At any rate, that's what was done here a month ago, and unlike, oh, crowds meeting up for parties or religious services, it didn't lead to any major spike in cases. Not sure one single day of school (or even two) will be of much help to parents who have to work full time, but I suppose every hour can be a relief...