The school year is just days old, but parents are already outraged about having to Rapid Antigen Test their children twice a week.
Back-to-school rules requiring parents to perform a rapid antigen test on their kids several times a week have been slated for causing additional stress and trauma for vulnerable students.
Parents of children living with various neurological disabilities are up in arms over the requirements, which in NSW requires that kids undergo two RATs a week for the first four weeks of school.
The process has already caused severe distress for children who live with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit disorder, sensory processing disorder, and autism spectrum disorders, a large community of parents has complained.
Several reported extreme difficulty with performing the unpleasant nasal swap testing on their children, with many agreeing the tests created more problems than they solved.
Parents were concerned that “traumatising” their children with such frequent RATs would put their role as their child’s “safe place” in jeopardy.
“We’re their safe place! They have enough to make them dread school we should not be adding to it … it’s not ‘keeping them safe’,” a parent wrote in an online forum on Tuesday.
“Not worth traumatising your child in my opinion. Our little people already have enough things to deal with and manage with all of their specific needs, we as parents don’t need to be adding an extra to their lives simply because the government said so,” another said.
A third parent implored others not to bother with the testing because it was too stressful for them.
“Just don’t do it!! It is not mandated and it is more traumatising (in more ways that one) than what it’s worth,” they wrote.
Several parents said they had already decided not to RAT test their children because they had “enough of a saga going on” before school in the mornings.
“It’s not mandatory it’s just recommended. Don’t even bother traumatising them,” one wrote.
A parent employed as an emergency department nurse said the only way to she had been able to perform the testing was while her child was sleeping.
“I do my procedure-phobic kid in his sleep … May I add I’m an ED nurse and extremely skilled at swabs,” she said.
Some parents had managed to source saliva testing kits, which they found their children more tolerant of.
Six million RATs were delivered to Victorian schools ahead of the commencement of term, with the same number dispersed to about 3000 schools in NSW.
Students in NSW are required to perform two tests a week, while primary and secondary students and staff in Victoria were asked to test themselves twice weekly, and five times a week at specialist schools.
While it’s strongly recommended that school communities follow the state government’s requests, there will be no legal punishment for people who don’t comply.
Survey results this week revealed that 30 per cent of Victorian and NSW parents didn’t plan to follow their respective state government guidelines.
Originally published as Parents say rapid antigen testing is ‘too traumatising’ for students with disabilities
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