A MUM-OF-THREE has slammed today's teacher strikes - revealing a harrowing photo of her son curled up on the ground having an anxiety attack over the walkouts.
Becky Bohan, 43, from Hertfordshire, claims the school strikes have triggered her eldest son back to the mental toll of lockdown.
In the photo, Becky's eldest son can be seen cradled in a blanket lying on the floor of their home.
While only her eldest daughter needed to stay home today, the mum-of-three claims her whole working day has been adjusted – and as a result, she fears losing clients.
Becky's three children, aged 12, 10, and 7, were only notified of school closures a few days prior as teachers across the UK went on strike today.
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"I’m trying to juggle my life, my kids, my mental health and our financial situation in a bid to make ends meet.
“Even in the school WhatsApp group, parents have expressed how unhappy they are about it all, with some even having to take their kids to work or take the day off unpaid entirely.
“It’s going to have a knock-on effect with all industries soon”, she said.
Becky said she wants to support the school strikes, and even planned on striking in solidarity, but she feels if other people were considered more, they would have more support.
She claims her kids' school only gave parents a few days' notice, and the message provided didn’t clear up why certain years were in, and others were out.
Speaking about the issue, she said: “I think the main problem here is that there’s no conversation.
“I wholeheartedly support what they're doing, but it needs to be more organised.
“I agree the funding and teaching conditions need to be increased as if they’re not in a good place, then neither are my kids.
“My younger children have been left confused as half of their school is in and others aren’t, which they don’t think is fair.
“If I had all the kids home, it’d be fine, but as I’ve got two in school and one at home, it’s getting very confusing – especially as the unions don’t all strike on the same day.
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Becky said the uncertainty caused by the strikes has caused her son to feel sick and he has been hysterically in tears and having anxiety attacks.
“All of this trauma is resurfacing due to the lack of routine”, she said.
Now, she believes the Government need to act quickly to ensure no further disruption is caused – but also thinks teachers should use this situation to teach kids about morals.
Becky also thinks should support and allow teachers to put their focus on children's needs, rather than their financial issues.
“As far as I’m concerned, the education system needs a complete overhaul and if I could, I would take them out of school entirely.
“It’s not healthy for them and the way they’re asking to learn isn’t right – it’s no longer on track and isn’t supporting our children’s needs at all.”
Up to 4.5 million kids have been forced to stay home today as teachers began the first of seven National Education Union (NEU) strikes over pay, jobs and conditions, which will take place throughout February and March.
Up to 150,000 teachers are estimated to have been on strike today, with 23,000 schools expected to be affected.
As a result, hundreds of parents were left fuming as they claim they were only informed of the closure of their child's school just hours before the walkout.
Parents were left scrambling to find costly last-minute childcare and permission to work from home or have a day off to supervise remote lessons.
The National Education Union has warned school staff will do "whatever it takes" to achieve an inflation busting salary hike, meaning strikes could last into the summer.
