Coronavirus

[Sintiger]

I get that the closure of schools is causing a lot of people difficulty but one thing that is very noticeable in the commentary I see on social media and main stream media is the lack of consideration for the teachers.
Schools are not just a place where children go, there are many adults there interacting with them and each other.
I still can’t work out why if office workers should work from home to be safe why it’s ok for teachers to go to work at a school?
SCOMO is telling my relatives who are teachers that it’s not ok for them to visit their own families but it’s fine for them to go to work in a place with 100s of others people in a confined space.
Don’t get it.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

Case count (updated at midnight)

2,940,993 cases
203,822 deaths (6.93%)
57,655 severe (2%)
1,838,027 mild (62%)
841,489 recovered (29%)

 

[Tigers of Old]

I get that the closure of schools is causing a lot of people difficulty but one thing that is very noticeable in the commentary I see on social media and main stream media is the lack of consideration for the teachers.
Schools are not just a place where children go, there are many adults there interacting with them and each other.
I still can’t work out why if office workers should work from home to be safe why it’s ok for teachers to go to work at a school?
SCOMO is telling my relatives who are teachers that it’s not ok for them to visit their own families but it’s fine for them to go to work in a place with 100s of others people in a confined space.
Don’t get it.

Morrison should just but out on schools altogether as it's a State issue. The mixed messages are only creating confusion.
This seems more of a power play than anything.

 

[eZyT]

I get that the closure of schools is causing a lot of people difficulty but one thing that is very noticeable in the commentary I see on social media and main stream media is the lack of consideration for the teachers.
Schools are not just a place where children go, there are many adults there interacting with them and each other.
I still can’t work out why if office workers should work from home to be safe why it’s ok for teachers to go to work at a school?
SCOMO is telling my relatives who are teachers that it’s not ok for them to visit their own families but it’s fine for them to go to work in a place with 100s of others people in a confined space.
Don’t get it.

yeah its really counter-intuitive. 1000 grubby kids packed in small rooms, wiping snot under the desks and slobbering over bubble taps, then jump on the bus and head home?

I'll follow the directions and send my young fella back to school if they say so,

but it will pretty much signal the end of our families pretty tight isolation, because I would see it as pointless.

There's gotta be something they aren't explaining in the schools struggle.

 

[Harry]

No signs of slowing down in the US. Another 35k cases overnight.

 

[TV Josh]

Morrison should just but out on schools altogether as it's a State issue. The mixed messages are only creating confusion.
This seems more of a power play than anything.

Morrison is making public statements that all children need to return to schools because he knows it puts unreasonable pressure on the State Labor party in Victoria. Morrison is well aware that this isn't a federal matter, he knows it makes no scientific sense (how is it less likely that the virus won't spread in schools?? has the virus agreed not to infect children or parents at pick up time? Or people on public transport that is packed with children?), he knows it puts the teachers at risk, but importantly to him, talking this trash puts pressure on the opposition as the opposition has to come out and say "No we won't". He is a dog act, trying to score political points off a medical crisis. If all children returned to school and there was an outbreak hub at a school, O'Brien, Morrison and the rest of the right wing would be the first to shirk any responsibility.

 

[Ossie]

I get that the closure of schools is causing a lot of people difficulty but one thing that is very noticeable in the commentary I see on social media and main stream media is the lack of consideration for the teachers.
Schools are not just a place where children go, there are many adults there interacting with them and each other.
I still can’t work out why if office workers should work from home to be safe why it’s ok for teachers to go to work at a school?
SCOMO is telling my relatives who are teachers that it’s not ok for them to visit their own families but it’s fine for them to go to work in a place with 100s of others people in a confined space.
Don’t get it.

Agree Sin. My wife is a primary school teacher, I am an administrator at a school and we have two teenagers in secondary school. We keep thinking we must have missed something when ScoMo talks about schools returning, as it makes no sense to us and seems dangerous.

 

[Tiger44]

Agree Sin. My wife is a primary school teacher, I am an administrator at a school and we have two teenagers in secondary school. We keep thinking we must have missed something when ScoMo talks about schools returning, as it makes no sense to us and seems dangerous.

I can't understand why this isn't a mainstream issue - there is no way schools should reopen. Totally illogical and against the whole isolation protocol that we have been living for the last month or so. I can't take my grandkids to the local playground but send them off to a place full of other people (adults and kids) and that is ok? Scomo and his Hillsiders musn't have any teachers amongst them! Put them on a cruise ship though and we will get them off - regardless of consequences for the entire community.

 

[eZyT]

interesting article on kook, influencer, 'think-tanks'. basically saying they are consistent in thinking climate change and Covid-19 are scientific hoaxes

I have some cognitive dissonance, finding myself actually thinking this consistency gives them more credibility, albeit off an extremely low base.

I respect the logic train that make lack of faith in scientific data, an all-or-nothing proposition.

Climate science deniers at forefront of downplaying coronavirus pandemic

Vocal influencers such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and the Heartland Institute are hitting back at a time when people’s trust in science is rising

www.theguardian.com

 

[Ossie]

I can't understand why this isn't a mainstream issue - there is no way schools should reopen. Totally illogical and against the whole isolation protocol that we have been living for the last month or so. I can't take my grandkids to the local playground but send them off to a place full of other people (adults and kids) and that is ok? Scomo and his Hillsiders musn't have any teachers amongst them! Put them on a cruise ship though and we will get them off - regardless of consequences for the entire community.

Yes Tiger 44, it creates confusion and seems like mixed messages. My daughter asked if we go back to school and are around everyone there, why wouldn't they be allowed to visit them or hang out with them socially?

 

[Tigers of Old]

Is Morrison sending his own kids to school yet?

 

[CarnTheTiges]

Is Morrison sending his own kids to school yet?

Not yet, I think, but he has said repeatedly that as soon as he can, he will. I also don’t get his insistence on this one issue. It’s almost like an obsession. And this comes after a clarification from him last week that schools are a state responsibility and not one he has any interest or desire to make federal.

 

[tommystigers]

No signs of slowing down in the US. Another 35k cases overnight.

Fake news. Democrat scam.

 

[Ossie]

Not yet, I think, but he has said repeatedly that as soon as he can, he will. I also don’t get his insistence on this one issue. It’s almost like an obsession. And this comes after a clarification from him last week that schools are a state responsibility and not one he has any interest or desire to make federal.

 

[TrialByVideo]

Just ventured into a supermarket for the first time in a month.

If what I saw is reflective of what is happening around the country then we may as well forget any restrictions because it is just pure luck the virus isn't spreading.

Yeah gotta agree @The Big Richo .... been doing the online drive thru at woolies, which works great I must say, but need to hit Aldi for their coffee pods..... pulled up out the front, looked through the window and there ain't no social distancing or 4sq mts per person goin on, so no chance I'm standing in a queue for 15mins +!

 

[Coburgtiger]

yeah its really counter-intuitive. 1000 grubby kids packed in small rooms, wiping snot under the desks and slobbering over bubble taps, then jump on the bus and head home?

I'll follow the directions and send my young fella back to school if they say so,

but it will pretty much signal the end of our families pretty tight isolation, because I would see it as pointless.

There's gotta be something they aren't explaining in the schools struggle.

Scomo has been over simplifying/misleading about schools from the beginning.

In his first messaging, he actually said closing schools would make the spread of the virus worse.



We started to get a handle on it once school holidays started.

Forget that there's a thousand plus kids at a lot of city schools. You could even forget that there's a hundred plus staff members (not just teachers - ES staff are normally forgotten in all this).

One of the big benefits to having schools closed is the reduction in all the subsequent travel. Parents dropping kids off, kids on public transport, high school kids travelling far and wide during lunch times/free periods/after school etc.

Plus there's the big one: attitude. As soon as schools open, there'll be a lot of 'Well if I can be around a thousand people at school, surely I can hang out with my ten mates afterwards.' And it'll be hard to argue with that.

So I guess the question is, when can we open them. One of the best things I heard from our federal government is that they're trying to get the infrastructure in place to test, trace and target isolate. As soon as that happens, then you're in a much better position to be opening up.

If we could target test every single person in a school community (kids/staff/carers) then we should be able to open up. If that seems impossible, then that tells you just how many people there are in a school community that could spread it if we open up too soon.

I think we are (optimistically) also potentially in a position to eradicate the community spread of this virus. If we open up prematurely, that's off the table.

Side note: As I microbiologist, I don't want schools open yet. As a teacher, I can't *smile* wait. Teaching online sucks. 5 - 6 hours of zoom every weekday, nearly double the amount of parent communication, prep time has nearly tripled to the point that I'm now working 7 days a week, and marking/monitoring is a nightmare. Plus, I know some kids are slipping through the cracks, and it's a horrible feeling.

Also, there is no English word for the feeling of trying to video conference 26 year seven students while they each struggle to type in a password to an online textbook, and you're simultaneously being a maths teacher, tech support, lion tamer and emotional support.

Maybe 'Frustpointlesshausting'.

If teachers are saying schools shouldn't be open, it's not because they think that's the easier option.

 

[eZyT]

Side note: As I microbiologist, I don't want schools open yet. As a teacher, I can't ******* wait. Teaching online sucks. 5 - 6 hours of zoom every weekday, nearly double the amount of parent communication, prep time has nearly tripled to the point that I'm now working 7 days a week, and marking/monitoring is a nightmare. Plus, I know some kids are slipping through the cracks, and it's a horrible feeling.

Also, there is no English word for the feeling of trying to video conference 26 year seven students while they each struggle to type in a password to an online textbook, and you're simultaneously being a maths teacher, tech support, lion tamer and emotional support.

Maybe 'Frustpointlesshausting'.

If teachers are saying schools shouldn't be open, it's not because they think that's the easier option.

Im ex-teacher CT (ex because I couldn't handle 1. the bureaucracy dept. that didn't give the slightest *smile* about me and kept wanting more work for the same pay 2. parental demands and them modelling a lack of respect for teachers to their kids 3. the continual increase of special needs (I just wasn't special enough to meet them) and 4. never really getting any affirmation or positive reinforcement and always focussing on the kids I was failing. I lasted 5 years)

and I hear you and my hat goes off to you and your colleagues.

I reckon teachers are well within their rights to be on a spectrum between bemused and completely *smile* off,

1. that they are being offered up as trench fodder in some strange political/medical/social game, and

2. never seem to be in the 'hero' conversation.

If I was still teaching and had to do what you describe above, I would have either had a full nervous breakdown or quit.

 

[Ossie]

Scomo has been over simplifying/misleading about schools from the beginning.

In his first messaging, he actually said closing schools would make the spread of the virus worse.



We started to get a handle on it once school holidays started.

Forget that there's a thousand plus kids at a lot of city schools. You could even forget that there's a hundred plus staff members (not just teachers - ES staff are normally forgotten in all this).

One of the big benefits to having schools closed is the reduction in all the subsequent travel. Parents dropping kids off, kids on public transport, high school kids travelling far and wide during lunch times/free periods/after school etc.

Plus there's the big one: attitude. As soon as schools open, there'll be a lot of 'Well if I can be around a thousand people at school, surely I can hang out with my ten mates afterwards.' And it'll be hard to argue with that.

So I guess the question is, when can we open them. One of the best things I heard from our federal government is that they're trying to get the infrastructure in place to test, trace and target isolate. As soon as that happens, then you're in a much better position to be opening up.

If we could target test every single person in a school community (kids/staff/carers) then we should be able to open up. If that seems impossible, then that tells you just how many people there are in a school community that could spread it if we open up too soon.

I think we are (optimistically) also potentially in a position to eradicate the community spread of this virus. If we open up prematurely, that's off the table.

Side note: As I microbiologist, I don't want schools open yet. As a teacher, I can't ******* wait. Teaching online sucks. 5 - 6 hours of zoom every weekday, nearly double the amount of parent communication, prep time has nearly tripled to the point that I'm now working 7 days a week, and marking/monitoring is a nightmare. Plus, I know some kids are slipping through the cracks, and it's a horrible feeling.

Also, there is no English word for the feeling of trying to video conference 26 year seven students while they each struggle to type in a password to an online textbook, and you're simultaneously being a maths teacher, tech support, lion tamer and emotional support.

Maybe 'Frustpointlesshausting'.

If teachers are saying schools shouldn't be open, it's not because they think that's the easier option.

Great post Coburgtiger. I just shared your reply with my wife and we couldn't agree more. She shares your view on the extra workload, but it just seems crazy to be opening up too soon, especially with the positive progress we have made so far.

 

[Brodders17]

i am a bit more forgiving, and less cynical, of the Fed gov than some on the schools, though i dont agree with them.
I dont think they are trying to wedge Andrews, and other Labor leaders, or at least not Morrison.

Morrison has been quite consistent from the start that there is no evidence anywhere of the virus spreading through schools, though no one can explain why. i think he is weighing the risk of an outbreak against the economic benefit (and the educational benefit.)

i think it would be wrong though. An outbreak in a school has the potential to cause a big rise in cases, undoing the good results so far and as others have pointed out allowing school would lead to further ignoring of the social restrictions- such as classmates hanging out after school, and parents at drop off/pick up.

it would also make it harder, IMO, for teachers, not withstanding CT's thoughts above.
Even if schools reopen, many students will not attend. so because there parents do think it is safe, others because they, or someone close to them has health issues. schools would either need to ignore these students, or still provide online learning for a considerable number of kids, whilst providing face- to face for the rest.

while i am forgiving of Morrison, i am not of Dutton. His attempt to blame teacher unions on Queensland is his typical disgraceful behaviour. the guy is a pig.

 

[tigerlove]

There was a lot of talk early on about how well NZ have done and how Australia were slow to react in comparison. Well as of now per capita, NZ has more cases and deaths than Australia. NZ has done a great job but so has Australia. The source of the majority of transmissions are accounted for so I understand why the governments are now considering relaxing rules. Obviously we have to remain very diligent but it's not luck that we are where we are now. I think both governments and the community as a whole have done a great job.