If you think the world has gone bonkers, how will this period be judged?

[Daffodil101]

To be clear, this is a thread for people who think the works has gone bonkers.

How will we look back on this? How will history judge it?

My feeling is something about the lack of consideration for children. I think we will look back and think that children’s needs were overlooked, their education and mental health was affected by adult hysteria.

They couldn’t meet their peers, schools were so worried about having them back that they treated them like dirty, walking viruses, talked about them in bubbles and wanted them to play inside hoops.

Also something about utterly bonkers behaviour with no scientific basis, however willing to argue on social media that we were right ‘just because’ and reflection on the government’s own goal in use of the word ‘safe.’

Also, I really don’t think ‘having some face to face contact with other children over a six-month period’ equates to ‘high expectations’, to be honest. Seems quite a basic requirement to me.

Sorry not to rail and wail and fret about it all but I'm not following the herd just to suit other posters.

This is really the first time you have heard about TB and isolation?

Seems odd as you are full of helpful advice when it comes to mh and isolation.

There were also these really weird people who thought women should be looked away to protect themselves from themselves. That also caused a lot of females some long term mh.

Are you kidding me EdwinaMay ? Did you think they all just bounced back and it was, shrug, one of those things? Childhood polio is one of the 'within our living history' illnesses that profoundly affected a generation. I've talked to a lot of older people who tell really sad stories, about the effects on them, maybe a sibling, a classmate. They are in their 70s and 80s and still profoundly affected. It's really sad
I was off for a year in secondary school. It fucked me up really. That was hard because everyone else was still in school. This at least is a shared experience. And the internet helps.

How will we look back on this? How will history judge it?

Probably the same way we judge the spanish flu? Tbh I've only learned about the high death toll and tragedy, nothing about economic aspects or masks shortages or social distancing, but that must have been there too.

Economy goes up and down, once it's up again people don't care anymore. How many people are still whining about the 80's or 2008 recession? Even when it's mentioned people have moved on from it.

What’s annoying me now is that people are able to play golf, tennis, go for walks etc. So now my retired parents have pretty much resumed their normal life - while my kids (y7 & 5) have been told they won’t be at school till sept. The children - who don’t really get the virus are suffering to protect the elderly. It’s the wrong way round imo, children should be the priority.

Children aren't having their mental health affected - none that I know anyway. They can't play with their friends - so they are playing with their siblings and their parents . They are learning in a different way, but they are still learning

Other than children who have no siblings and parents who are trying to work full time. Not all are still learning. It's naive and frankly stupid to think they are not being negatively affected.

I think history will look back on this period as 'what the fuck happened'. We've got the corona hysteria- panic buying loo roll and pasta, the TikTok obsession and rise of the MLM hunbots, disproportionate fear causing all sorts of weird behaviour, long term damage to the economy and public health, and then we have trump....

I'm sure with hindsight people will look at this period and ask why it was deemed necessary to cause millions of deaths and long term health and social unrest to save a few thousand.

They are in their 70s and 80s and still profoundly affected. It's really sad

Sad things happen in everyone's lives. The older generation dies, and that can be pretty awful depending on how it happens. Yes, these diseases were awful, no denying, but people carry on. There weren't public platforms to rant on which will have made it different but my point is , as walkingchuckydoll says, we move on and forget.
If you take the attitude that your child's life is now blighted well, that's not good for them.
We remember 9/11 largely because of the videos of it. But the Falklands war seems to be forgotten, though it make me sad just thinking of it, the Aids epidemic was horrible. But people move on and in my view we will from this.

@walkingchuckydoll
Oh, it's all there and not just Spanish flu.
Ironically I found out more about history bunking off and sitting in a library than I did from school. I gave up going to history classes because I got fed up with key parts completely. missing.

It'll be interesting to see what judgements are made in future

I know two families who aren't shielding and have no underlying issues, but who have voluntarily gone into a sort of lockdown on steroids. The children have not been outside of their house in eight weeks. One family has no garden and the other isn't using theirs due to fear of the virus. Curtains are drawn. I have seen pictures and videos of the children and they have doubled in size and are on screens all day. They will not be going back to school until September, I suspect not even then.

I am not judging the parents, they are clearly terrified, but these children could be looking at 6 months of living this life. They aren't families that you'd pinpoint as odd/tinfoil hat before this, they are perfectly normal. They are taking it to extremes, but they aren't going to be the only ones living like that. In a non covid19 world, everyone would agree that it was a dreadful situation for children to be living in, but now it's all "they're fine, they have Zoom".

I do broadly agree with lockdown, but a balance has to be struck at some point.

Aids epidemic is an interesting one. Remember when we thought we’d die of that?

Surely a part of moving on is learning from the past cock-ups?

It simply cannot be ignored like so many would like.

You may have forgotten those things, but others clearly haven't. You have no idea the impact 9/11 caused to people to this day.

But I find bots are devoid of thinking outside their programming.

Children aren't having their mental health affected - none that I know anyway. They can't play with their friends - so they are playing with their siblings and their parents . They are learning in a different way, but they are still learning.

So naive.

What about the kids with no siblings and parents who are working? What about those living in awful conditions of neglect or suffering abuse, where school is their only respite?

You are enabling, a clueless generation

I think some people need to learn a bit of resilience, and to pass it onto their children.

DS is one of the most independent toughest kids I know, he's laid back and nothing usually fazes him. Takes everything in his stride and cracks on.

Even I can see the effect that sitting in the house with no face to face contact with his friends, limited exercise and time outdoors compared to normal, no contact with teachers (he loves school) oh yeah, and his grandad dying of covid are having on him.

He lives in a safe, loved well rounded and pretty privileged environment

It terrifies me how children less fortunate or less privileged are having to deal with all this.

Utter madness.

This sums it up for me.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.spectator.co.uk/article/jonathan-sumption-you-cannot-imprison-an-entire-population-/amp

The infantilisation of the population, taking away our ability to judge risk for ourselves and our families. Fear mongering by the government and within communities by coronaphobes.

Mass brainwashing “stay home, protect the nhs, save lives” the nhs coped just fine. Mass worship of the nhs. Prioritisation of the old over the young.

The devastation to livelihoods and businesses caused by forced closures of workplaces.

The yet to be seen catastrophic economic consequences from locking up the predominantly healthy working population.

Yes I think we will be judged for over reacting in the cold light of day.

Economists will produce the most interesting & contested studies in about 3 yrs time.

The generational un-unevenness will be much commented upon.
The young paying such high price to save the old.

I still think the loopiness of the Trump presidency & the demonstration that climate change could have been stopped will be more commented upon.

I also noticed a golf course full of oldies yesterday!
Oh, and garden centres open. Oldies are the main people who do gardening.

Meanwhile every outdoor playground is still taped off with big scary Keep-Away signs on it. Sigh.

@BeatrixPottersAlterEgo
Its mad isn't it.
And then those crazy people tell us who are shielding we are doing it all wrong.

Elsewhere demands are being made to force everyone to wear a face mask. If you cannot because medically told not to, you get called selfish.

Couldn't make this shit up.

That will probably be an interesting one. - How were all these batshit people and their crazy ideas made? Or is it just part of the trolling the government are doing with their "updates"?

*In answer to the OP, it's likely to be judged by historians as a turning point - socially; economically and societally.

The way we live, travel, countries self sustain etc are likely to change forever.*

I think this is probably true to some extent. I also wonder if being fat will become less socially acceptable now that it is known to be one of the highest risk factors (fully prepared to be flamed for that).

Whoever said that it's not affecting children's MH needs to look a bit further outside his/her own house. It absolutely is. There are children who are going to have major issues with health anxiety, separation anxiety (when finally they do get back to school), difficulty getting back into social interaction. Not to mention the issues already starting. Also, the blind, stupid assumption that everyone lives in a middle class home where parents have the time to help with home education and has an obliging sibling of around the same age to play with. For goodness sake, cop onto yourself.

Yes, I really can't see how you can open a golf course and expect kids to be back at school in a few weeks, but keep the playparks chained up. Children will obviously touch equipment but surely that's what hand-washing and hand sanitisers are for

Also, the blind, stupid assumption that everyone lives in a middle class home where parents have the time to help with home education and has an obliging sibling of around the same age to play with. For goodness sake, cop onto yourself.

Absolutely this. One defining characteristic of MN is so many posters’ total inability to grasp that others don’t live exactly like them.

I think that while most of these measures are necessary .The impact on young children especially is huge .Even if they return to School, the whole set up has changed .Will they even be able to ask a friend over for Tea? Only a couple of days ago a little boy on here was scared to go outdoors FFS! I doubt there was a massive shutdown in the Measles Outbreak of the 1960s! This period will be judged as Mass hysteria !OK we had to be quarantined ,but pleas lets return to normal now!

canigooutyet yes, the people I know who are shielding are probably the most sensible about it all. As a friend of mine pointed out, she has to be careful about certain things anyway, but she still has to live her life.

In the case of the people I know, just can't see how months of no fresh air or sunlight and a life lived only through screens can be anything but catastrophic to those children and young people's mental health and education. And they are two families that I know personally. If everyone knew two such families, that's quite a lot overall. Our track record for young people's mental health is fairly appalling as it is.

Completely agree with lots that has been said on this thread.

I think it will be judged as the time when the old were so scared of dying that the young were no longer allowed to live.

When you read some posts on here you'd think that we should be protected from death at 80/90/100. Yes it's said when people die but it has to happen at some point. I say this as someone with an elderly much loved relative in a care home.

And can I just add I am completely pissed off with the ongoing world war 2 analogy ( mostly said by people too young to remember the war). In the war young people went out, laughed, had fun, had relationships. Yes there was horror but there was also much excitement and joy if you were young. Compare that with our current 16-20 year olds who are bored, lonely and generally fed up. Completely different.

I think it’s hugely interesting to stand back and think how we will reflect on it, certain elements just leap out at you, like the loo roll, or the lady on the beach complaining about people on the beach.

And everyday interactions and attitudes, the tone of emails from school, how some people are willing to do as they’re told when some of it is entirely illogical and without scientific basis. Like this 2 metre rule.

It is going to be judged very harshly and quite soon to. The model we used will be proven to have been flawed beyond belief. The virus proved it doesn't spread exponentially (already proven by a Nobel winning scientist). Total excess deaths in Europe will be like a bad flu season, which we have never locked down for and boomers once again (and I include myself in this) will be comfortable while the up and coming generation will be screwed.

Face masks and school closures helped control the spread of previous pandemics, if we have any interest in learning for history.