Your rant, as you put it, has made me feel the need to respond.
I will address the points that you have made 1 by 1.
1. It is easy to put the wrong proposition when typing or talking, so I wasn’t meaning to jump down your throat, though it may have appeared that I was but simply pointing out that the difference between ‘for’ and ‘from in the context of your posting is essential. As I said in the post you are not speaking for me or for the entirety of the U.K., you are however speaking from the U.K..
2. As for wearing masks every time I leave the house, which I admit is infrequently, I genuinely do. This is advised by every medical expert I have heard to help everyone- including you. I don’t anticipate wearing them for ever but at the moment they are recommended strongly and insisted on in some places. I will continue to wear them as long as the recommendations remain in place. Why do you think Disney has mandated them?
3. I am genuinely sorry if wearing a mask, of any kind, causes you to suffer bacterial infections, that would most certainly impact on my enthusiasm for wearing masks. It is possible to get an exemption from wearing a mask for medical reasons and to my non medical mind it would seem that you may qualify for one. I have absolutely no problem with people who can’t wear masks for legitimate medical reasons. My argument is with individuals who would have no problem with wearing masks but choose not to.
4. I do believe that restrictions should remain in place until we can be certain that the virus will not regain its grip on our society. If that is months away then unfortunately, so be it. Not what I want, but if that is what prevents thousands of deaths per day, which is what we were seeing last month, then I’ll accept it. The government has repeatedly said that this must be the final lockdown so it is imperative that we are as certain as we can be that it is wise and safe to lift restrictions. I do not believe that we will be able to eradicate the virus, nor that we will achieve zero deaths from COVID-19 but we should aim to make it as small a number as possible.
5. You say that our country is dying on its feet. Maybe we are seeing the country from different perspectives, because that is not my viewpoint. My elder son lost his job when furlough finished in August but got a new job within ten days. I feel desperately sorry for businesses who can’t open, for the travel industry and those working in hospitality, amongst many others but the furlough scheme, business rate assistance and the agreed, rather pathetic increase in Universal Credit amongst other support have helped. The predictions from the financial experts for our economy rebounding remain positive and I know they have greater knowledge and experience than I do and with respect probably more than you do either.
6. We agree!! You say that you have read my posts and that I continuously state that things should remain closed until there is no risk. I don’t think that will be possible but I believe that the risk should be as low as possible. Yes 15,000,000 million people have received vaccinations but that means that approximately 50,000,000, including me, are still waiting. Just hold on a little longer till the majority, rather than the minority are vaccinated and then reassess. We both believe opening everything at once would be wrong,.
7. As for schools, I acknowledge and agree (again!) with all the negative consequences you mentioned for children who are not benefiting from in school learning and socialising. I taught in one of the poorest socio-economic areas in the U.K. so am acutely aware of the “computer “ inequalities.
I am somewhat reassured that children are resilient and once all pupils return to school permanently, rapid progress will be made. I base this on pupils I’ve taught, who were off school for a year or more due to cancer and other long term illnesses. Within about six months they were working at their expected levels. What I think we need to avoid at all costs is the possibility of schools having to close again. The uncertainty is a large part of the stress. This is why I advocate waiting a little longer to open them.
8. You are a teacher, which KS? I am interested that you say Y1 have regressed more than any other year group and would be very interested in seeing any reports or studies on that. This is honestly out of interest and not because I doubt you.
9. I had no intention of angering you by my response but felt I had to reply as many of my opinions are diametrically opposite to yours! That doesn’t make me right or you wrong any more than it makes you right or me wrong.
It just means we both care. At the heart of things we seem to both want the same thing:- a safe return to normal as soon as possible. We just disagree a bit on the timeline.
10. Finally, which I’m sure will be a relief to anyone who’s ploughed through this epic post, my sincere sympathy for the loss of your dear friend.
Also thanks to your sister for her work in the ICU department at Derby hospital, that must be unbelievably stressful and difficult.
Take care, stay safe.
Edit: My apologies for mentioning mask exemption, I hadn’t seen how much grief you’d been given whilst I was typing.
Thank you so much for your considerate reply
I really am open to any opinion and I appreciate people will be different from me and that is fine - we have a different opinion on acceptable risk and that is okay too. I managed to go on holiday last year, and spend a few wonderful days in Disneyland Paris, and get out as much as I could right up until the 2nd lockdown and spend christmas with my family. We were all careful and isolated ourselves as much as possible beforehand for christmas, and then isolated ourselves after our holiday so please do not think we dont take this seriously. I am key stage 3/4 - the story I saw was the sky news story. I apologise I said regress whereas I think that shows the most lack of progress' upon returning to school. There levels of attainment are shocking right now - and this is prior to the latest lockdown. I ma of the genuine opinion that there is an argument to have children repeat years - but not sure how this would work down the school pyramid https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...g-during-the-pandemic-study-suggests-12215628
You are totally correct that we both care - I dont want schools all back on 8th march. Primaries and key years yes but not full schools. I just got riled up again when I saw the NEU are canvassing for strike action and pay rises - I just feel it is slightly opportunistic under the circumstances. There online presence is also antagonistic.
And thank you for your condolences, he was a wonderful man and only 47 with no health conditions; his only vulnerability seems to be his ethnic background tbh (and he was a teacher so I am sensitive to the issues surrounding safety). My sister is a star, im so proud of her and what she does.
And haha its one time I genuinely wish I hadn't opened my mouth about masks!! I really didnt mean anything by it except to assure that although I wear them when I have to and dont use an exemption as I dont feel I can - they really do cause me distress
Take care and thanks again for your considered response.
