The inevitable happened. A few weeks ago, the corona virus knocked on the door of the Molenaar family (not their real name) from Utrecht via a group outing with colleagues. Mother Rosa tested positive. She hardly had any complaints: a mild cold, that’s all.
Yet they consciously chose not to test their three children. And as long as they were free of complaints, they decided at their own discretion, they could also just go to school and to the crèche.
According to father Rogier, the main reason for this ‘what doesn’t know, what doesn’t hurt’ approach is of a pedagogical nature. “Our oldest daughter really needs school, it’s super important for her mental health.”
Taboo
Rogier and Rosa are not the only parents who do not (any longer) test their children, although they will not just say this in public because of the taboo that rests on this. Interest organization Parents and Education recently had a poll conducted among 1,242 parents with children in primary and secondary education. This showed that roughly 22 percent do not take a test with mild complaints. In severe complaints, 11 percent skip a test.
Now that the measures have been relaxed and the number of hospital admissions has stabilized, the testing policy is under discussion. All the more so because the rampant omnikron variant disrupts crucial sectors and disrupts families. Particularly in primary education, where a corona infection with the overcrowded classes is always lurking, parents more often follow their own considerations.
Children usually hardly get sick from a covid infection, is a frequently heard argument. But a positive test means that they will be without education for a week, with all the logistical misery and increased stress that entails. Grandpas and grandmothers cannot be flown in to babysit and the work continues. This increases the temptation to ignore the cotton swab in case of a mild cold or a small cough.
Mother Sylvia ter Wal is now also making her own decision. A month ago, her children (3 and 7 years old) both became infected. “We know there’s a chance they could get it again soon, but we’ve now also seen that they only get cold symptoms from it. Then why would you test every time?’ What plays a role is that their oldest daughter has a vital teacher of 25 who has already had corona twice.
The subject is no longer taboo in her own environment. “Based on what I hear around me, everyone is in the same place.”
Parents are now reporting to Parents and Education who are very concerned about ignoring the test regulations and quarantine rules, says director Lobke Vlaming. ‘For example, people in poor health who have not been able to be vaccinated. Or parents who have a child with a vulnerable health. They will hold their breath if there is even more relaxation and even less testing.’
Indecent
The fact that there are parents who send their children to school untested is also not well received by the General Education Association. ‘It’s downright indecent’, says spokesman Simone van Geest. ‘Education has already had so much to choose from.’
Rob van Ooijen, spokesperson for the General Association of School Leaders, points out that it is precisely thanks to testing that education can continue as much as possible. ‘We see that many classes are still at home because the teacher has dropped out. Then you can say as a parent: I will send my child to school untested, but if you infect your teacher with that, then that is selfish to say the least.’
Ivo, father of a daughter (6) and vaccinated twice, thinks otherwise. He stands in front of the class himself, just gives children a ‘box’ and does not wear a mouth cap in the classroom. He is no longer afraid of the virus and after almost two years of the corona crisis, he concludes that the pandemic is now uncontrollable. ‘I just don’t do tests for school. It’s become a kind of ghost hunting.’
Schools are urging parents to do as much preventive testing as possible. The new rule that children from a family in which an infection has been detected can simply go to school, provided they do not have any complaints themselves, is causing unrest. It increases the chance that brothers and sisters – at that time still negative, but already contagious – infect other students or the teacher.
To prevent this, some schools ask parents by e-mail to ‘make a good assessment’. In other words: preferably keep all children at home if an infection has been established within the family. Other schools follow government protocol and leave the choice to the parents whether or not to keep brothers and sisters of infected students at home.
Think logically
The recently launched vaccination program for children offers no solace for the time being. The RIVM has announced that up to now 4 percent of children under the age of 12 have had an injection. According to father Rogier from Utrecht, spreading the virus among this group is a better option. ‘Then you build up natural resistance in the group that has nothing to fear from the virus.’
When asked whether it is not time to let go of all measures in the current phase of the pandemic, he answers a resounding yes. As long as the government does not yet dare to take that step, it will pursue its own policy. If the children are sick, they stay at home. If they are healthy, they can go out. It’s a matter of logical thinking, he thinks.
Isn’t that selfish? ‘That’s how most people will look at it,’ he agrees. ‘But it is not the case that we are causing a major social problem because of how we approach it now.’