Year 7 the lost generation

[Marzipan12]

I've heard this a few times now, the thinking is that year 7 have missed out more than anybody else. This annoys me surely at this point every year group has missed out. My child is year 8, missed over an entire term of year 7, disrupted learning so far in year 8 and home learning for half a term. Every other year group has missed the same. Some year 7 parents think their kids have missed out more, regardless that they had time back in school to finish year 6 and didn't miss an entire term of their first year in high school. I would say this puts year 7 at an advantage over other year groups. They certainly are not the lost generation that some are making them out to be in fact they are one of the more fortunate year groups.

I have DC in year 2 and 7 and their cousins in years 3 and 8 at the same schools, no vested interest in any particular year group.
I would argue that the year 7 has lost most in that lockdowns cancelled all their rites of passage from Primary school and the transition to secondary has been so weird. However they have all lost out in other ways and it's not a competition so why does it matter who lost the most?

Sis, a generation encompasses people born in adjacent years - relax, your kid is still part of it

Try telling that to my year seven @Marzipan12. She tried to kill herself the other week.

“I would argue that the year 7 has lost most in that lockdowns cancelled all their rites of passage from Primary school”

These “rites of passage” are a relatively new thing though. Generations of children moved from infant, to junior, to senior schools without needing any of these “rites”.

bluezoo I am talking about things like transition days, end of year awards - not a primary school prom!
And yes those things happened in the past - I had transition days to secondary when I went up in early 90's, and I have a book given to my grandma as a school prize in 1947.

We are allowed to feel sorry for what our children have missed - all of them, not any particular year group - without people telling them/us to stop being pathetic.

Well having a Year 13 who is very stressed about how her results will be calculated and having to choose her uni for the next 3 years virtually, is very hard.

Equally my second year uni student son who had a very disappointing first year with lock-downs and now a second year lock-down isn't quite getting the experience he signed up for.

But the my friend's son who had last years Y13 debacle to contend with and a rubbish freshers and first year has also lost out.

and so it goes on .......

Every year group has suffered.

The biggest groups to suffer are obviously going to be those who were on 2 year courses - I.e starting their GCSEs, nvqs, and a-levels, etc. They’ve lost most of the teaching on those courses. Some of them won’t have had the full iT connectivity required to participate.

Disruption of social lives really is just not as important.

Aw I've not heard of this before but it does seem like it'll be harder on the y7s. And last years y11s. Missing their final year of their school and missing out on transition etc must've been so hard so I do think they have had it much harder.

Disruption of social lives really is just not as important.

I get where you're coming from with this, but I'm not sure if I agree. My dd is in year 11, and obviously, the disruption to her GCSEs has been a major concern. However, I think the impact on mental health for some of her peers has been devastating, and the disruption to social lives has been a massive part of that.

I think the basic premise of this thread is flawed, though. It is not meaningful to identify which year groups have suffered the most, because every kid in every year group is different, and the impact on some will have been infinitely different from the impact on others for a whole range of different reasons.

With regards to transition days you could argue that year 7s this year have had the benefit of a much longer transition. They are still in class bubbles and working in a way much closer to that in primary school. Transition for older years was mainly a 1 or 2 day visit then a break for summer and then straight into high school life from day one. Year 7s really haven't missed the huge transition that parents think they have.

It's not so much social life as social skills and soft skills that they are learning as they move from primary school to taking far more responsibility as they get older, including in their social lives.

The current Yr7s have come off well, compared to others.
Firstly, they got to choose their secondary school by entering the building and meeting people face to face. The current Y6 had to make do with virtual tours.
Secondly, they got to finish Y6 and get a sense of closure. Most year groups were not allowed back to school from June to the end of the academic year.
The pod system has offered a very gentle transition to secondary, and they benefitted from secondary style online learning from January to March. Granted, not all were able to access it. But it was amazingly effective for most.
So of all the year groups, they are the least scathed.
Actually, none of them are that scathed at school. Maybe a lot of parents need to change the narrative and start talking their kids up rather than down. My last week and a half has been full of teens happy to be back, grateful to be in the room with the teacher responding to their needs and making the most of their opportunities. Yes, we are working a bit slower and having to adjust the academic demands a little. We are all adapting. But it’s fine: let’s chuck out the ‘woe is our children’ nonsense and crack on with the future.

However, I think the impact on mental health for some of her peers has been devastating, and the disruption to social lives has been a massive part of that.

I really do have to echo the baby boomers here and question the fragility of those who think social lives are more important than gaining the education and skills to be able to feed and house themselves in future. The current levels of hyper socialisation brought on by the internet and other connection devices is not in any way normal for humanity. Perspective is needed: you can survive 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food, and an entire lifetime without socialising.

I have a Y7 and Y8 child and although it's not been great for either I definitely think for us it's been tougher for the Y8. One full term then sent home to teach themselves. Last March their school tried but didn't have a clue how to do decent home learning, returned in Y8 for another term before more home learning, although much better than last year. But they're Y8 now, so not much allowance made for them.
Y7 child got to return to primary school, and once SATS were cancelled the school work was very manageable, and home learning now is much better with more support.
So although it's not been great for anyone I definitely wouldn't say my Y7 has been any more disadvantaged than anyone else.

While you are all on here arguing about which year group of children had it worse....

Millions of people have lost their jobs
Millions more might lose their jobs
Over 120,000 people have died leaving behind them devastated families and friends who were unable to say goodbye
Thousands more people are left with long term problems due to covid
Care home residents have not seen their families for over a year and have been the most vulnerable in terms of infection
Couples who are unable for many reasons to not live together have spent much of the year apart
Peoples life plans have been put on hold - some may never have the baby they desperately want, others are facing financial ruin

And yet you think that children, who have time to catch up, who are not responsible for feeding a family, who have, literally, all the time in the world to learn, grow and develop.....are the worst affected?

I really do have to echo the baby boomers here and question the fragility of those who think social lives are more important than gaining the education and skills to be able to feed and house themselves in future. The current levels of hyper socialisation brought on by the internet and other connection devices is not in any way normal for humanity. Perspective is needed: you can survive 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food, and an entire lifetime without socialising.

I get what you're saying. I'm an introvert. I don't really feel the need to socialise that much. However, my dd is an extrovert. She needs to be around people to recharge her batteries. The lack of social contact has affected her deeply - her energy levels, her sleep, her mood and her motivation. However, she is proactive about managing her mental health and she is thankfully ok.

Some of her friends are categorically not ok. Especially those who usually cope with difficult home situations by offloading to their friends. Whether you think that social contact is important or not is irrelevant. Several of them have started self harming, self medicating with alcohol or developing eating disorders; others have developed severe social anxiety. All issues which may impact on their education and their ability to feed/house themselves in the future. Are these issues caused solely by the lack of social contact? No, of course not. Has the lack of social support contributed to their mental health problems? Yes, definitely.

At the beginning of all this, I was very much of the view that people were catastrophising about the impact of lockdown. That the vast majority of kids would be fine and suck it up. I even posted along those lines on MN. Unfortunately, I was wrong. A lot of kids have really suffered from the lack of social contact, and we should not minimise the impact of that.

YABU for thinking a single year group is a generation.

@SecretSpAD I'm pretty sure most people on this thread are aware of the wider issues Covid had caused 🙄. Are you one of those posters who replies 'you're lucky this is your biggest problem' when somebody's complaining about their overbearing MIL? I can be concerned at the impact this may have on children and feel desperately sorry for families who've lost loved ones.

It is quite silly and over dramatic of parents to be making these pronouncements and quite irresponsible too as talk such as this can have a big influence on the mental mindset of children. My youngest is year 7. They did miss out on some fun stuff and he would have preferred to be in school with friends. He is young and adaptable though. He is loved and has lots of time ahead. My older teen has lost more but again it has happened and he has gained some positives such as developing independent study skills.

@MsVestibule no, I don't think I've ever said that. You've missed the point of my post. There are real problems in many peoples lives due to covid. A few months of missing school, a bit of time having to socialise online (and how many of us worried about our teenagers spending too much time online in the ore covid days?) is annoying and upsetting - but the bottom line is....children will be ok. Many other people - adults - won't. They are the ones who have my empathy and sympathy.

I’m an adult who has real problems in my life due to Covid... a close relative has died from it and we’ve lost 50% of our income.
I still have sympathy and empathy for teens/children who have struggled over the past year with the changes to their lives. My empathy isn’t rationed, fortunately.

@SecretSpAD I don't think I missed the point of your post at all. You think this will only adversely affect some adults; I think it will adversely affect both some adults and some children. Just a difference of opinion 🤷‍♀️.

I have a yr 7 and a yr 8 child and I do feel my younger child missed out on a lot more than my older child socially. They didn't just miss out in sats but leaves assembly's, end of school disco's, transition days to their new schools, social interactions with new friends (even more important if like my daughter, they have moved to a school few of their friends have gone to).

I work in a school and a number of colleagues have told me that the current yr 7 are much more immature than previous yr 7's.

So yes, all children have missed out but I do think yr 7's have probably missed more than some other years in my experience.

OP you seem very aggressive about this. Remember you are talking about kids so stop with the belittling and minimising of other children’s experiences. And stop making a mountain out of a molehill. Concentrate on your own kids and stop judging others.