Parents furious at Government drive to send poorly children to school
A Government campaign that encourages parents to send their children to school despite them having a runny nose or stomach ache has been criticised as âpatronising, insulting and dangerousâ.
Families with serious health issues reacted furiously to the campaign to boost school attendance, accusing the Department for Education (DfE) of âdangerous messagingâ that ignored the needs and safety of the clinically vulnerable.
âI couldnât believe it when I saw these attendance ads,â said Michelle Bulloch, the mother of clinically extremely vulnerable twins.Â
âThese advertising posters are not only ridiculous, they are patronising, insulting and dangerous for families like ours.
âFor children with a weak immune system, all youâre doing is passing on whatever your child has got to children who cannot fight it off as easily and could become very poorly and end up in hospital.â
The DfE has been sharing a series of posters across social media in a bid to target persistent absence and highlight the importance of school attendance.
One shows a child smiling, with the caption: âThis morning he had a runny nose⌠but look at him now!â
A second poster, with the âMoments Matter, Attendance Countsâ strapline, features another schoolboy and says: âThis morning he had a stomach ache⌠but look at him now!â And a third poster of a schoolgirl has a similar message: âThis morning she was worried about school⌠but look at her now!â
Ms Bulloch, who lives with her husband and four children in Medway, Kent, said the Governmentâs attendance campaign was âdangerous messagingâ.
âThis advertising campaign is making parents feel itâs absolutely acceptable to send their poorly child to school to infect other pupils because they might be fine later on.â
Her 12-year-old twins, Tommy and Nathan, have a rare chromosome condition called 6p deletion, which causes numerous health conditions including a weakened immune system. Ms Bulloch said their special needs school is understanding of absences and does not want parents to send children in when they are ill as it could be risky for other pupils.
She accused the DfE of trying to âguilt-tripâ parents, adding that the campaign created a âclimate of fearâ as some may be concerned about the consequences of not sending their children to school despite their illness.
âIt should be down to the parents as they know their child better than anyone and will know if theyâre genuinely ill or not,â she says. âBut what this campaign seems to be saying is if your child says they are ill, ignore what they are saying; donât believe them and send them to school anyway.
âI feel like they are trying to push parents to send their children to school saying: âTheyâll be fineâ. But either they could become incredibly ill themselves or could pass their illness to another child which could have serious repercussions.â
Ms Bulloch said of the campaign: âTheyâre not interested in the individual child at all or the risk to clinically vulnerable families. It is all about boosting attendance numbers.â
Another mother who is herself clinically extremely vulnerable told i that her 10-year-old daughter was terrified of bringing an illness home and putting her at risk.
Alison (who did not wish to reveal her full identity), called the DfE campaign âshockingâ and âsickeningâ, adding it felt like âbums on seatsâ were more important than the needs of clinically vulnerable families.
âThe tone is very patronising and infers parents donât know what is right for their children and the narrative is they should make their child push on through regardless,â said Alison, who has lung and liver conditions, as well as a condition affecting her airways.
âFor us as a family, this will make going to school risky and itâs so unnecessary. Itâs no good for a child trying to learn when theyâre feeling unwell and their illness will spread within the class.
âMy daughter is so scared of picking up an illness at school and bringing it into the home â even though we tell her that wouldnât be her fault â that she even said the other day: âI need to stay away from everyone in my classâ, which was heartbreaking to hear.
âTo me, this campaign shows the Government is not putting the child first, but are putting the economy first.â
Stephen Reicher, a professor of psychology at the University of St Andrews, who was an adviser to the UK and Scottish Governments concerning the behavioural science of Covid and a member of Independent Sage, described the attendance adverts as âinaneâ.
âThese adverts are problematic in a whole series of ways. Like everyone, I am aware of the issue of attendance at school and concern about children not coming back to school post-Covid.
âHowever, if you were really concerned with those issues, you would think about how we should support the mental health of children at school, the provision of which has always been extremely difficult.
âWe should also be thinking about how to make schools safer places with more ventilation and things like hepa filters and better designed airy spaces.â
Professor Reicher said: âIf a child says they are ill, either they are ill and if that is the case, you donât want to send them to school because they will not perform well and it will be likely to make them ill for longer as well as infecting others.
âThe other possibility is that they are not ill and are using it as a cover for some other reason for not wanting to go to school.
âIf that is why, you donât simply ignore them and tell them to go to school because that suggests there is a wider issue going on. Parents should be talking to their children to find out why they donât want to go to school. If they are being bullied, the bullying needs dealing with. If theyâre anxious, you need to find out why.
He added: âThe one thing you donât do is dismiss what they are saying and say âgo to school anyway.â It is the worst of all worlds and an entirely stupid thing to do.
âThis attendance campaign raises the issue of trust. It is telling people not to trust their children and instead of taking them seriously, send them to school anyway.â
Lara Wong, spokesperson for the Clinically Vulnerable Families support group, said: âThe message that children should attend school, even when they are unwell, is fundamentally flawed.
âIt not only risks the health of those children by potentially ignoring serious conditions such as appendicitis, but it also places unjustifiable pressure on parents and schools, compelling them to prioritise school attendance over our childrenâs wellbeing.
âThe fact that these adverts focused on stomach aches and runny noses â known Covid symptoms â while encouraging attendance is alarming. Public health efforts from the early pandemic years have been undermined by this as it sends a confusing message.â
She urged the Government to address increases in absence since Covid by buying cost-effective air filtration units to reduce the spread of infection to create safer and healthier learning environments.
The DfE said: âWe recognise that some children face greater barriers to attendance, like pupils with long term medical conditions or special educational needs and disabilities and our campaign encourages schools to work with pupils and families to respond to each pupilsâ individual needs.
âOur Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan will also ensure all children get the support they need to reach their potential.â