To not understand why people go on about the impact of Covid lockdown on children

[PrunellaModularis]

It comes up all the time on MN and I don't get it.

They had several months off school, couldn"t see their friends or grandparents or do clubs. Then lockdown ended, back to school, friends, grandparents and clubs.

How come people say "because Covid" to explain young people's behaviour.

Disclaimer: I'm not talking abouy kids in abusive families.

Ignore poll - don't know how to disable it!

Because everyone's situation was so very different. I loved the lockdown, but I had twins who had a playmate, a nice garden and furlough. If id been stuck trying to wfh in a pokey flat myself and the children would have gone under.

Because those few months happened at a formative time in their lives.
Because for a large number those few months would have been filled with stress and worry, and not delightful homeschooling by a stay at home parent in a large house with a garden and no money worries.
Because they missed schooling and socialisation but then went back and were expected to be 'age appropriate'.

My own DD went into lockdown in y10 and never returned to school, and is still suffering the impacts on her education and mental health. (Not all down to the pandemic, but definitely exacerbated by it.)

It had a massive permanent impact on a lot of children/young adults who missed socialising, education, exams etc.

how old were your children during lockdown OP?

But schools were not just closed for a few months, so many dc missed out on certain experiences that they won’t ever get back & that’s before you take into account the different conditions families had as pp said.

It’s not just kids (and fwiw my 11 year old and his class are way more immature than any other class I’ve seen of they age), Covid seemed to take people’s manners and ability to interact properly away from them, please thank you excuse me and sorry just went out the window! They didn’t have daily interactions with others, of course that changes someone!

It is odd that you can’t imagine people being affected by it differently. What about kids from poorer families where 8 people were stuck in a two bed flat? What about families where a parent got long covid and was bed ridden for months? What about families where people died? And it doesn’t have to be so dramatic either. I know one little girl who developed a hand-washing obsession and anxiety after being told she was being kept off school because of germs. It’s really not so hard to imagine, is it?

Because they weren't closed for a few months it was longer, and when they did go back one pupil just had to have suspected covid and the whole class were sent home.

A lot of children missed out on important socialisation.

Well its great to know your child/ren were not affected too greatly by the lockdown, count your blessings that you dont understand.

I think it’s pretty obvious a global pandemic which causes such a dramatic lifestyle shift overnight, which carried through for well over 18 months has had an impact on children and adults alike.

No one is this clueless surely?

Because everyone coped with Lockdown differently in the same way everyone copes with different life experiences differently?!

Because it was terrifying.
Many kids will have known someone who died of covid or was seriously ill - grandparents, teachers etc.
There were long periods when they were back at school but in bubbles and unable to do the things they usually do.
Many kids have no access to a garden and spent those months of lockdown in flats with nowhere to play.
Many kids had parents who had lost their income with lockdown.
I also think the sight of adults becoming fearful, avoiding all contact, wearing masks and gloves etc must have been confusing and scary.

I think yabu.

Covid was seismic on global society. It was hugely traumatic for a lot of people. Many people lost loved ones. If all that happened to you was as calm as you say, count yourself lucky. Its great your dc weren't affected.

Because studies show that the lockdowns have had effects on young people. The average reading age of children has lowered since the pandemic, for example.

Not every school's provision was equal. Not every parent's input was equal. Not every child's access to resources (e.g internet) was equal.

What about kids from poorer families where 8 people were stuck in a two bed flat? What about families where a parent got long covid and was bed ridden for months? What about families where people died?

but those aren't the families MN is talking about. It's like every child in Britain is suffering the after effects of a few months inconvenience.

Covid broke the model that school attendance matters, and parents who were inclined not to bother sending their kids got worse post Covid. That's the long term impact for some - poor parents felt they were justified in not being arsed to take their children to school once they reopened.

The op can't be serious!

They had several months off school, couldn"t see their friends or grandparents or do clubs. Then lockdown ended, back to school, friends, grandparents and clubs. This is extreme minimisation/gaslighting!
In fact there were multiple lockdowns and long lasting disruptions, plus increased poverty, removal of support structures, reduced NHS/other services etc etc etc etc etc...

Read the academic research into the lasting impacts on humans across all age groups across the globe.

Do you have children? School was shut much longer than a few months. Classes were plagued with isolation after they reopened. Are you in the UK?

My child missed reception and majority class 1. I really struggled to ‘home school’ as he found the work so difficult. On return, he continued to find the work ‘difficult’ but so did other children because they’d missed so much school. I thought and was told he’d ’catch up’. Eventually, years later, he was diagnosed with profound dyslexia and dyscalculia. He’s 10 and just about managing to write his name. This has had a huge impact on his mental health. His social skills are behind.

My boy would have had severe literacy issues regardless, but if he hadn’t missed those vital years it would have been addressed much sooner.

I will feel forever guilty about this.

You’re minimising what children had to cope with.
My daughter was year 6 when the 1st lockdown happened. Her year missed all the leaving primary school rites of passage and had no transition into secondary school. Once at secondary school they had to wear face masks (not ideal for making new friends). They were taught in a single classroom with teachers coming to them (so no science in a lab, food tech in a kitchen etc). No mixing between tutor groups or year groups was allowed so if children were disruptive there were very limited options on how to deal with them (and bear in mind a lot of children had been completely out of education since March).
Just as it looked that things might hit a new level of normal, the second lockdown happened (just a day after they’d been back at school after Christmas).

The behaviour within her year group became worse and worse and the capacity of the school to manage it was becoming impossible. We eventually moved my daughter, but not before it all had a lasting impact on her self-esteem.

Not all of what happened there was down to Covid, but the inability for natural socialisation and boundary-setting definitely had a very significant impact.

My daughter had a breakdown due to the stress the school put them under to catch up when they returned. She has still not recovered. She has no qualifications, has never worked and cannot go to new places alone. It has basically put her adult life on pause and she's not the only one.

How old are your children @PrunellaModularis ???

Mine were born at the absolute tail end and while I dont think it has had a major impact on them it doesnt take much empathy (a crumb would do) to see and imagine the impact it would have from 3-5yr olds right up to 16-21yr olds

I think its impacted the general pop atitudonally tbh

I do think though that the general problems in education now are driven by broader social issues

There is plenty of ridiculous entitled behaviour from the so called snowflakes BUT on lockdown children and young people got a rough deal.

Human beings are sociable animals and lockdown was extremely bad for children for many reasons: emotional, social devt, academic, anxiety, bereavement, losing belief that parents could look after them, communication, nervous cortisol and the list goes on.

Academic is probably the least of it longer term. Just like the strain of a war, the ripple effect of lockdown will be seen for decades.

Agree OP. It's irrelevant to any children currently in Reception or Year 1 - and behaviour in schools was deteriorating way before 2020.

I think it was more than a couple of months?!

Completely upended the routines of childhood. Introduced in a very blunt heavy way ideas of mass death and illness. Face masks, no going out, no school etc or grannies die was the message everywhere.

School was uncertain for a very long time. Classes closed down when there was a diagnosis.

It was huge at a formative time.

Life shifted online when we are constantly trying to reduce technology in kids lives.

Honestly, I think this generation of children have been badly let down.

I think there should have been more resource poured into recovery for children and young people. I wonder could the syllabus have been changed to incorporate more physical and social activities given the behavioural problems since COVID. Just one idea, should have been so much more done.