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'It is getting tougher': The toll home schooling is having on students and parents

“I don’t know how I can show my face in the school again. Everyone has been pitted against each other,” one parent said.

PARENTS AND STUDENTS have expressed concern about the continuation of schooling from home for another month at least, particularly for vulnerable children and Leaving Cert students. 

It comes as a HSE briefing document seen by TheJournal.ie warned of the effects that being out of school would have on young children’s learning.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland has said that the reopening of schools should be prioritised by the Government, as ”women are at breaking point as they continue to provide additional childcare and home schooling while closures remain in place”.

A mother of primary school children told TheJournal.ie that “people are falling apart”, and that relations between teachers and parents have become very tense.

“Absolutely it is [getting more difficult], relationships between parents and the schools have suffered, you have to fight for live Zoom calls – I don’t know how I can show my face in the school again. Everyone has been pitted against each other.”

“People who don’t normally get involved in campaigns have flipped,” she said.

The mother said that teachers seem to be “much more willing” to go back to school than unions would suggest, and are doing “much longer hours” than they would in a physical ‘in real life’ environment.

“The Government, NPHET, the unions all need to make this work,” she said, adding that it needed to be a whole-of-government response to get children back to school. 

‘Voices of children unheard’

A HSE briefing note dated on 5 January this year, and signed by three paediatric health experts, noted how the reopening of schools had been “widely debated”.

When asked, the HSE couldn’t provide clarify to the context of the briefing note.

“The voice of children, however, is once again left unheard,” it said. “It is important that decisions on the future education of children are based on the factors and facts that are important for them.”

The document notes that the closure of schools “reduces the opportunities for the acquisition of new knowledge, development and maintenance of peer-to-peer relationships and also results in loss of recently acquired skills”.

At a Tusla briefing held for parents of primary school children this week, TheJournal.ie was told that it was stated children aged 8-12 are most likely to suffer during social isolation, and that this is amplified over length of time. A request for confirmation of this was sent to Tusla, but a reply was not forthcoming at the time of publication.

The briefing note also states that the three months of education lost last year, coupled with any days this year, will result in losses that will not be “easily recouped”, with Junior and Leaving Cert students; children attending DEIS schools; children from families in low socioeconomic groups; and those with special educational needs worst affected.

In the most striking part of the document, it states:

It is predicted by the OECD that the current cohort of children in grades 1-12 can expect a 3% lower income over their lifetime. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be more severely impacted. Longer school closures will lower future potentials and incomes even further.
 This data is very robust. It’s based on extensive research showing that each additional year of schooling increases an individual’s life income by 7.5% – 10%. The strong correlation between years of schooling and income is probably one of the most robust findings of all empirical economic research.

The area of learning most affected by school closures is mathematics, the document said, adding that reading is adversely affected in those children from a disadvantaged background.

Secondary school students

Alison O’Sullivan, education officer at the ISSU, said that “it is getting tougher” in recent weeks for secondary school students.

“It’s important to say that the senior-cycle curriculum was not meant to be taught online, it’s made to be taught in a classroom. It’s never going to replace face-to-face learning. If we expect students to sit an exam, they have to have face-to-face learning.” 

“I live in rural Ireland, and Wifi is a huge issue. Resources are another big issue, where there might only be one laptop per family.

“This may surprise a lot of people, but a lot of students don’t have a digital device, or are doing their school work off their phone. Some may be looking after a younger sibling.”

David O’Gorman, a parent of secondary school students and a spokesperson for the parents’ group ETB National Parents Association, representing around a third of secondary schools, said that students were “running out of steam”.

“When it first kicked off, there was a bit of excitement. In the last two weeks the motivation has just gone.”

He said that many parents are reporting the sleep patterns of their children is a “big” problem, with some teenagers staying up until 2, 3 or 4am.

He said that the biggest problem was the inconsistency of schooling: “This isn’t online schooling, it’s emergency classes.”

O’Gorman said that some classes last just 10-15 minutes, while others last 35 or 40 minutes. Some schools want students to have their cameras on, which some parents aren’t happy with. Other schools are only focusing on teaching the core subjects, he said. 

Timeline of schools reopening

At the beginning of the year, the Government announced that schools would stay closed until at least February as Ireland’s health system grappled with a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Although the Government and NPHET emphasised that schools were environments that Covid-19 was very unlikely to spread in, it took the decision to stop the movement of around 1 million people to and from school buildings.

Reopening schools would start with children with special educational needs, the Government said.

Although talks continued with unions and other stakeholders to do this, the closure of schools was extended as SNAs and teachers remained concerned at the safety of returning to schools during high numbers of Covid-19 cases and the new variants.

A briefing held on 18 January with 16,000 SNA teachers, lead by Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn, failed to reassure teachers that schools were a safe environment to return to, particularly with a lack of data on the effect of new Covid variants.

This Thursday 11 February, 124 special schools reopened at 50% capacity. On Monday 22 February, classes for children with special educational needs in mainstream schools is due to resume.

At a NPHET briefing this week, Dr Glynn cautioned against reopening schools just yet.

“We still have more people in hospital than at any point last year, still more people in critical care… We are still seeing a level of disease transmission in the community that is far too high for a million people to go back.”

A campaign ‘Reopen Schools in real life’ has begun online this week, asking people to sign a petition to support schools being reopened as soon as possible. 

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157 Comments
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    Mute Abbie Cranky
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    Nov 24th 2018, 6:32 PM

    This dope deserved it.

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    Mute MyDreamEscapade
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    Nov 24th 2018, 6:45 PM

    @Abbie Cranky: absolutely

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    Mute David Stapleton
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    Nov 24th 2018, 6:55 PM

    @Abbie Cranky: he was a Christian who went there to try and convert them. Idiot.

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    Mute David Stapleton
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    Nov 24th 2018, 6:56 PM

    @MyDreamEscapade: sorry, just in case I am misunderstood, the idiot comment was about the guy who was killed…

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    Mute John Mullin
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:09 PM

    @Abbie Cranky: I don’t believe he was trying to do them any harm, he was just a little narrow minded and thought they would appreciate him bringing the word of God simply because he himself appreciated knowing about Christianity. I don’t think he deserved that to happen to him anymore than a man or woman deserves to get mugged or raped or murdered for going down a well know darkly lit dangerous alley at night time knowing the possible consequences in advance or a surfer/swimmer deserves to get mauled by a shark for daring to swim in the ocean or a mother deserves to have her toddler taken and eaten alive by a dingo when camping in the bush. He might have been a bit clueless but he didn’t deserve that to happen to him anymore than that tribe deserve to be interrupted again.

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    Mute Kay Murphy
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    Nov 24th 2018, 8:01 PM

    @John Mullin: He showed absolute disrespect to their wishes and had been warned off enough. Instead of Evangelist read Fundamentalist!

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    Mute FrustratedASDMum
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    Nov 24th 2018, 8:22 PM

    @John Mullin: John, he risked wiping the tribe out by exposing them to viruses and illnesses that they’ve no immunity to. No matter what his intentions were, he was unbelievably selfish exposing them to that risk.

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    Mute Karen Lord
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    Nov 24th 2018, 8:26 PM

    @Kay Murphy: So showing disrespect deserves a death sentence?

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    Mute Robert Callaghan
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    Nov 24th 2018, 8:30 PM

    Is victim blaming OK now? Hard to keep up

    39
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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 8:38 PM

    @Karen Lord: Unfortuntely we arent 100% sure why the islanders behave in such fashion but going to an island reported since the late 17th century to be hostile was a level of stupidity I cant even comprehend. However saying that Christianity has been merely looked upon from a very narrow perspective without looking at its achivements in Art, science, Architecture and philosophy etc etc. Also is murdering someone considered a crime on a island without law as we understand?

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    Mute MyDreamEscapade
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:43 PM

    @David Stapleton: I know…..he knew the dangers….typical American arrogance

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    Mute eamonn farrell
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    Nov 25th 2018, 8:16 AM

    @John Mullin: arrow minded !!

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    Mute John Mullin
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    Nov 27th 2018, 10:04 AM

    @eamonn farrell: ouch!

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    Mute John Mullin
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    Nov 27th 2018, 10:07 AM

    @Robert Callaghan: exactly. Victim blaming is perfectly ok if it is a man, the victim is religious or if the person is in any way associated with Trump or anything connected with that which rivals US Democrats agenda

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    Mute John Mullin
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    Nov 27th 2018, 10:14 AM

    @FrustratedASDMum: & @kaymurphy. I know he was selfish but more ignorant than selfish. Just as the mother of the baby eaten by dingoes had been warned not to go camping in the Bush but I still believe she didn’t deserve to lose her baby, just like a rape victim would have been warned in advance not to go down dark alleys in the most dangerous parts of South Africa and then does it anyway while drunk and at night wearing very little clothes. Are we saying that he/she deserves that? I certainly am not and before anyone says it’s not the same thing then I know… no two incidents are ever, ever the exact same but these examples are all relative. We can’t just pick and choose when it’s ok to victim blame.

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    Mute Jonathan Foley
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    Nov 27th 2018, 4:27 PM

    @John Mullin: He went to the island. Got arrows fired at him while shouting “My name is John. I love you and Jesus loves you.” That clearly wasn’t enough of a warning as he returned the next day for more of the same and it didn’t end well. Not exactly a genius.

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    Mute John Mullin
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    Nov 27th 2018, 7:46 PM

    @Jonathan Foley: that’s exactly my point, he was naive or simple minded but not evil like some here are painting the poor man. He didn’t deserve that ending

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    Mute Stephen Duffy
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:19 PM

    Aside from this tragic incident it is fascinating that there are tribes that civilisation hasn’t reached..

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Nov 25th 2018, 10:15 AM

    @Stephen Duffy: amazing with only 50 inhabitants how they haven’t wiped themselves out

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    Mute Dave O'Hanlon
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:26 PM

    Its a lot like Dalkey really isn’t it.

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    Mute Thomas Devlin
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    Nov 25th 2018, 12:06 AM

    @Dave O’Hanlon: no the Islanders are real people

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Nov 25th 2018, 12:10 AM

    @Thomas Devlin: the same isolated tribe as those who ate Michael Rockefeller

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    Mute travelminder
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    Nov 24th 2018, 6:52 PM

    Nice article oh wait its a copy paste!

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    Mute The Supreme Being
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:46 PM

    Christianity. Ruining lives since the year 0.

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:55 PM

    @The Supreme Being: Depends on what calender you work off

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 6:56 PM

    And the Award of fool of the year goes to…….” Drum roll please”………John Allen Chau. Unfortunately John cant be here with us today to collect his award. Anyway I think we can all agree, leave the Sentinelese alone they dont want to have anything to do with us. The diseases we carry will kill them and we dont need another “Human Safari” sure we have the once nobel Jarawa tribe for that, who line up beside the road now begging for sweets while tourist take photos of them.Good times

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    Mute Tom Ryan
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:12 PM

    Ffs no wonder they don’t want any thing to do with the outside world for it was the British that put them in display in Calcutta zoo for the public in 1857

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:16 PM

    @Tom Ryan: Infact they apparently went on display before that in Australia ,two died if my memory serves me right and the other three returned, however saying that their notoriety was well known before that.

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    Mute Marie
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    Nov 25th 2018, 9:25 AM

    @Graham Light: back to the days of Marco Polo who was not welcomed either.

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    Mute Jeanniejampots
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:09 PM

    There is a great thread on Twitter with some of the history and rewritten history of these islands and links to the YouTube videos of the guy who did “befriend” them with coconuts

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:15 PM

    @Jeanniejampots: I think what your talking about happened in the 70s and should have never happened. They didnt befriend them, They just wanted the coconuts as they dont grow on the island. Also as soon as they had the coconuts they began to get aggressive again. Apparently the males start to shake their genitals around before they attack, so a bit like Copperface Jacks

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    Mute Jeanniejampots
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:17 PM

    @Graham Light: totally agree! hence the “” in befriend. Should just have been left alone which was the theme of the thread.

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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:14 PM

    While there is little doubt that this guy got what was coming to him, others ended up on the island not by choice but by storm or shipwreck, do these people deserve to have their lives protected. There is a huge moral debate, that is bypassed by the fact that this was an adult who we assume made an informed decision and is responsible for the consequences of his actions.

    However a little further south in the Andaman sea live the isolated Jawara tribe who, for several reasons, are suspected of the ritual killing babies of widows, and in one case, the killing of a baby of an unmarried mother as the baby was paler then normal. The question here, and the debate, is whether it is appropriate to ignore these activities or to interfere with the lives and ancient rituals of peoples. It does open up a moral debate (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/world/asia/india-jarawas-child-murder.html) which can be hard to reconcile with modern declared human rights.

    Thankfully this seems to be a case where the human knew what he was doing and the risks – but what if a plane were to crash or a ship to wreck near the island?

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:44 PM

    @Niall Ó Cofaigh:Sorry and I dont want to sound brunt but these allegations are unfounded and only came to light after the Jawara trail i.e human safari was closed in India. Since these allegations the trail has been reopened and the Jawara have continued to die from diseases from tourists while fed sweets from the side of the road.

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    Mute David Daly
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:17 PM

    We live in a mad oul place, they go to great lengths to track and kill animals like not too long ago a tiger for killing people but if these “untouched” islanders kill people it’s all about leaving them alone and “that guy was an idiot”. Before anyone gets on their high horse about my comment I’m simply just pointing to how we have no idea how to deal with these things really and it’s just a case of mob rule or majority votes.

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 7:30 PM

    @David Daly: Not too long ago we jailed gay men in this country but I think I understand what you are trying to say. However the difference being these people live in a very remote location and pose no danger to anybody they cant leave the island.

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    Mute David Daly
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:06 PM

    @Graham Light: just the same as a bear or a lion can’t hold a gun. Put yourself in a dangerous position either known or unwittingly, you can’t put a blame on someone or something in these cases. Killing the animal isn’t going to send a message to the animal kingdom. I was just making the point that we seem to demand action in some cases but others were quite happy to sit back but it’s based on absolutely nothing. These guys killed that man because that’s what they do, bears kill people because that’s what they do but there would be a manhunt to find the bear. I dunno just an observation

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    Mute White Rabbit
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    Nov 24th 2018, 10:27 PM

    Carpet bombing is required to protect American lives.

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    Mute Graham Light
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    Nov 24th 2018, 9:12 PM

    No very valid point and I cant argue with your logic. All I can say is I dont believe the lion nor the Bear should be destroyed. Respect should be given for such magnificent beasts and unfortunately although rare these events happen.

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    Mute paul jones
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    Nov 24th 2018, 11:25 PM

    I agree he shouldn’t have been there but if he was a loved one of mine unfortunately I’d have no choice but to wipe that tribe out, just as I would if I had a child and he was bitten by snake then the snake would die. I’d probably send in some diseased fruit.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Nov 25th 2018, 12:02 AM

    @paul jones: so, if bitten by a snake, you’d kill the snake. But, if attacked by a man, you’d wipe out their entire ethnicity?

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    Mute David Daly
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    Nov 25th 2018, 12:34 AM

    @Graham Light I rest my case

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    Mute paul jones
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    Nov 25th 2018, 4:17 AM

    @Brian Ó Dálaigh: yes

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    Mute Trotter Rodney
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    Nov 25th 2018, 10:55 AM

    And this is the word of the Lord.

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    Mute Liam Russell
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    Nov 25th 2018, 12:00 PM

    50 people, must be like our indigenous tribe interbred.

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