Coronavirus: those parents who will not put their children back to school on Monday

Of the nearly seven million primary students expected in class on Monday, how many will miss? Sunday, June 14, Emmanuel Macron announced a widespread resumption of school for all children from June 22, with a streamlined protocol, after three months disrupted by the coronavirus crisis. But many parents do not intend to comply. Health risk, practical aspect… There are many reasons.

Questioned Thursday on France Info, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer had insisted on the compulsory nature of this recovery. With sanctions to the key for recalcitrants? It's unlikely. Contacted this Sunday by Le Parisien, the ministry simply states that "absence is the exception and must be justified to school principals".

Three mothers explain to us why their children, who attend primary school, will stay at home on Monday.

"It's a bit like the snake biting its tail"

Helena, 39, boy and girl

For the past week, Helena has "sent" her two children and two parents to a gîte in the heart of the Alps. More than 600 kilometers from Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine), where the family usually lives, the climate is "much less heavy" and people "live much less in the psychosis of the Covid", justifies the elderly mother 39 years old.

Her boy and daughter, 10 and 11 years old, respectively, had never returned to class. For the eldest, the question did not arise anyway. The cadet could have been there on certain days, but only from 1 to 4 pm. Except that Helena, who works in a production company, and her husband, an employee of a sports store, have resumed their work for a while. They therefore no longer have the means to take care of their children during the day, especially if they have to be picked up at lunchtime or early in the afternoon.

Usually it is their maternal grandparents who look after them until the evening. Except that Helena fears more than anything that her mother, "elderly and vulnerable", is contaminated by the coronavirus. So, so as not to take any risks until the summer holidays, it is out of the question for her children to go to school and risk bringing the virus home. “In order to work again, someone has to babysit the children. If we want it to be the grandparents, the children cannot go to school. It's a bit of a snake biting its tail, ”sighs the young mother.

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Helena does not want the management of the two establishments in any way. "We cannot blame them because they are forced to adapt according to hygiene measures," she said. On the phone, the directors seemed to him "understanding". "I think they were as surprised as we were (when Macron announced the widespread resumption of classes from June 22, editor's note)," she said.

"I don't want to encourage the circulation of the virus"

Julie, 30, two boys

It is not for the health of her children or for hers that Julie decided to keep her two boys at home but ... for that of others. This former employee in commerce lives in Seine-et-Marne, with her husband. A week ago, the family invited a person who, after the fact, had all the symptoms of Covid-19. This guest may have been tested negative, not enough to reassure the young mother who read in the press the existence of a significant part of "false negatives".

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"I did not want to take the risk that my boys could pass the virus on to other children, teachers or someone fragile by going back to school," says Julie, who took over today training in psychology. “I was super straddling the respect of the different rules during confinement. Even if you can catch the virus simply by doing your shopping, I don't want to encourage circulation, ”adds the woman who calls herself“ hypochondriac ”.

For her too, the management of the establishment was attentive. While specifying to him that his two boys, educated in middle section of nursery school and in CM1, would be welcome. "I was told what the health framework would be if I wanted to put the children back in school, but without any injunction," says Julie.

So, it will be home school for at least another week, in order to respect the period of fourteen since the meeting with the possibly contagious person. Julie, who “preferred to focus on the education of (her) children”, had put her training on hold from the start.

VIDEO. Home school: computers distributed to students from precarious families

But she hopes to be able to send her two children to school from June 28, for the last week before two months of summer vacation. "It is extremely important that they go there at least a few days, to make them aware that the school still exists," she smiles. In any case, "I will continue to make them work during the holidays".

On sick leave, "I can't afford to send my child back to school"

Pascale (*), 52 years old

A teacher herself in Île-de-France, Pascale (*) has a certificate for not having to return to work, because of her "vulnerable" state of health. "If I protect myself from my health, then I cannot afford to send my child back to school," she asserts.

The mother of a 10-year-old boy, enrolled in CM1, says that she “does not believe” in studies which tend more and more towards low contagiousness of young. She remembers what happened to her three-year-old nephew. On Friday, he and the other seven children at the crèche were tested for suspicion of Covid-19 - the result is still pending this Sunday.

Having lost her two parents-in-law due to the coronavirus, Pascale finally decided a few days ago to go with her son to her parents, near Le Touquet (Pas-de-Calais). "It was a very heavy decision because we did not want to bring the virus there," she says. Before leaving, the family reconfigured for a fortnight. On the spot, even if life is "less hard" than in Ile-de-France, "there is no longer any spontaneity, we don't kiss anymore, we eat at a good distance, etc.", says she. Under these conditions, it is impossible to imagine that his son will return to class immediately.

(*): the first name was changed at the request of the witness