Something that has been passing the thoughts of many people across the world is ‘how do we get back to school?’. There have been many answers to this question, but most important is how are the UK dealing with this problem. You may have heard that Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, has recently announced that the risk of children catching and seriously suffering from COVID-19 is incredibly low when compared to the losses they face by missing more school. We have already missed 6 months of school, and for some of the students, this time would have been incredibly important.
After the exam results mess that has happened over the last 2 or 3 weeks, this is incredibly important for the Government to get right. So what are they doing? Well, firstly, all students are required to wear masks - this comes as a school in Scotland experiences an outbreak of Coronavirus a week after they open. As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, masks are effective at stopping both infections in both directions (depending on the mask of course) and so are a good way to try to limit infections in a school setting. For a cautionary tale, just look to Germany. In Berlin, masks are not compulsory in lessons but are around the rest of the school. This lack of stricter restrictions has led to Coronavirus cases in 41 schools. But despite the positive effects of masks, they may not be as effective in the primary schools and younger years. When I worked at Waitrose, I saw many children fiddle and change the position of their masks while shopping, complaining to their parents. These children may not understand the importance of wearing a mask, and the reason behind their use - what would happen if they took them off, or even left them lying around if they are uncomfortable? There are a plethora of potential problems, but teachers have been working over the last 5 or 6 months to ensure that the problems have solutions, and make sure that everyone in the school is protected.
Another big change is the social aspect of school (walking around, talking to friends on the playground, etc.) is going to be completely different. Students will be placed into bubbles such that the social interactions between lots of different students are limited. You will be taking lessons with the people in this bubble, eating with the people in this bubble, living your school life with the people in this bubble. The size of the bubble depends on your school - it may be that each year is a bubble, or each form is a bubble, or even the whole school is one bubble. Nonetheless, the guidance still applies no matter the size. This is a good idea: we have been encouraged to practice social distancing, where we stay at least 2 metres away from each other so that the risk of infection is low. The distance that Coronavirus can travel in the air is only around 2 metres or just over 6 feet. This means that the chance that you contract Coronavirus is relatively low if you follow social distancing guidance. This is one thing that has been adopted in almost every country - it is almost the best way to stop infections short of a vaccine. Social distancing will be expected of both the students and the staff, so interactions between the two groups will be different from what it may have been like in the past. But above all, the most important thing is that you, as a student, maintain and follow all of the guidance to not endanger yourself or your teachers.
Despite all of these changes, you may be asking why are we going back to school when there are so many cases of COVID still, and when there is still a global pandemic going on? Well, as I said at the beginning of this post, the risk children and students face by going to school is very small when compared to the danger of missing even more school. As you may know already, younger people have a more effective immune system, meaning that the effects of Coronavirus and COVID-19 will be less damaging than it would be for older people. The effects of skipping even more school, whereas, are much more detrimental. For those students in the most important years of their education, going back to school is of utmost importance. Missing more education is not only going to put us further behind where we should be, but also widen the gap between the students themselves, with regards to their socioeconomic situations.
In conclusion, going back to school is the correct option right now. If we do not, we might end up being in a much worse situation than other years before us. The chance that we actually suffer from COVID is marginal, and the schools have taken enough precautions to ensure the safety of the pupils and the staff. Masks and social distancing, if everyone follows it, is a safe way to be sure that going back to school is safe enough for everyone. Hopefully, we can be safe and sound as we go back to school. I for one, am desperate for something to break the monotony of lockdown, even if it does mean that I am going to be getting homework again.
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See you next week!