I think the children of this generation...

[TheDailyCarbuncle]

Will, in future years, legitimately ask us why we let them down so badly. Why we allowed them/their peers to be left at home for months with abusive/neglectful/drug addicted/alcoholic parents, with no outside contact, no adult help, relief or respite whatsoever. Why some of those children disappeared, never to be seen again, or were so badly hurt as to have years and years of horrendous struggle ahead of them.

It's only now beginning to be talked about, months too late: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52876226

When everyone is talking about 'protecting' children, where is their concern for those children for whom home is a dangerous place? For whom school is their only sanctuary?

Or only the ones you know are vulnerable? Because you must be aware that plenty goes on behind closed doors that no one knows about.

I agree that we let down many children, lockdown or not. But I am genuinely perplexed - if nobody knows what is going on behind the closed doors, lockdown or not, what are you expecting to be done about the things we know nothing about, and who should be doing it? Perhaps you could outline your suggestions for policy and practice going forward, because you seem to have nailed "ranting" but not "action". Teachers and social workers (and many others) work as hard as they can to protect the children that they know about, but it's a thankless job. If you don't stop abuse, then it's your fault. If you spot what you think is abuse and say something, then you are an interfering busybody. And now it's also your fault if you don't even know about it. When does it become the fault of the people who do know about it?

Agree with pp- thousands of children with SEND do not have a school place.

This crisis has highlighted the chronic underfunding of education, social care and the NHS for the past 10 years.

The real question is what do we do about it.

I wonder if our children will ask why schools are now meant to take on health and social care within their remit and why the tories have destroyed these budgets.

Also, l think mumsnet is in its own little bubble about school closures

Reopening is not supported by a lot of parents who still want to keep their dc at home.

What l think is awful, is the way a lot of people are using vulnerable children for their own ends. That is really disgusting. I’m looking at you Bojo after 10 years of austerity. Point the finger at the right person, not at the schools

Ah, OP, your agenda is showing. This isn't about vulnerable children. This is about getting children back to school and releasing lockdown. There are so many reasons why we should not just send them all back to school. The main one is that we are in the middle of a pandemic, which only approximately 6% of the population have had so far, which may or may not create antibodies in children, and have had upwards of 50,000 deaths.

Pretending this is not the case is magical thinking that could result in ten times that amount of deaths. Personally, I prefer my one day a week solution to your half a million deaths solution.

I think you have a very valid point @thedailycarbunkle . I remember dreading all school holidays as it confined me to weeks of unrelenting abuse.

Climate change, too, is something our generation will have to answer for, yet so many people are selfish, proclaiming they'll be dead before it becomes a problem, and poo-pooing the effects it will have on their children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.

@Moondust001

Or only the ones you know are vulnerable? Because you must be aware that plenty goes on behind closed doors that no one knows about.

I agree that we let down many children, lockdown or not. But I am genuinely perplexed - if nobody knows what is going on behind the closed doors, lockdown or not, what are you expecting to be done about the things we know nothing about, and who should be doing it? Perhaps you could outline your suggestions for policy and practice going forward, because you seem to have nailed "ranting" but not "action". Teachers and social workers (and many others) work as hard as they can to protect the children that they know about, but it's a thankless job. If you don't stop abuse, then it's your fault. If you spot what you think is abuse and say something, then you are an interfering busybody. And now it's also your fault if you don't even know about it. When does it become the fault of the people who do know about it?

My point is that if a child is being abused, in normal times they at least have school to go to, friends to talk to, the possibility of the abuse being noticed and dealt with. I agree the system is shit and the pressure on teachers is huge, but my point is that sending children home for months takes that shit situation and turns it into a living nightmare for thousands, by cutting them off from all possibility of outside respite and help.

Completely agree with you OP. It is indefensible what we as a society are expecting children to suffer in the name of 'saving lives'. Even well adjusted healthy children will suffer. With no friends parks or extended family. Plus there will be king term and short term health consequences.

Yet we don't vote to ban smoking and alcohol, pay for taxes to fund the nhs, spend more to stamp out malaria and worldwide childhood poverty. Accept more children to the U.K. from refugee camps.

Makes complete sense to me

Do you think children didn't get abused before this? I was abused all through my childhood and no one did anything despite there being no lockdown.

The effect this had had on all children is disproportionate to the risk to them of covid.

During my childhood, I would've taken my chances with CV19 than be in an unrelenting abusive environment day-after-day. I often think being dead would've been preferable to all the abuse, and I do not say that lightly.

@nellodee

Ah, OP, your agenda is showing. This isn't about vulnerable children. This is about getting children back to school and releasing lockdown. There are so many reasons why we should not just send them all back to school. The main one is that we are in the middle of a pandemic, which only approximately 6% of the population have had so far, which may or may not create antibodies in children, and have had upwards of 50,000 deaths.

Pretending this is not the case is magical thinking that could result in ten times that amount of deaths. Personally, I prefer my one day a week solution to your half a million deaths solution.

If you believe that half a million deaths is possible, despite all the evidence out there that it would never happen, then I can see why we don't agree.

You believe the lockdown is preventing deaths. I believe it is causing deaths and suffering. So we're not going to see eye to eye on that one.

It's like it was in the 1970s in terms of potential for abuse except that then nobody cared.

My point is that if a child is being abused, in normal times they at least have school to go to, friends to talk to, the possibility of the abuse being noticed and dealt with. I agree the system is shit and the pressure on teachers is huge, but my point is that sending children home for months takes that shit situation and turns it into a living nightmare for thousands, by cutting them off from all possibility of outside respite and help.

Exceedingly nice rant again. Yes, I got your point. My point was what you are going to do about it? Not what you expect everyone else to do about it but what you are going to do about it?

The huge majority of children are not ‘ suffering’ in any way. They’ve missed a few weeks of school.

How can it compare towhat children in war zones or famine hit areas are dealing with? That’s suffering, not missing a few weeks of school.

The children of this generation will surely be asking why they had such shit/abusive parents if they are indeed suffering now.

I'm sick of everything being blamed on schools.
It's time parents take on more responsibility for the life THEY have created.

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince, the OP's point is that they as a teacher are against lockdown because the abused children will not get any respite from their parents. In my opinion it should still be possible for her as a teacher to keep an eye on these children. I didn't want to say that all teachers have to do this, but since OP is concerned I wanted to offer solutions.

@Moondust001

My point is that if a child is being abused, in normal times they at least have school to go to, friends to talk to, the possibility of the abuse being noticed and dealt with. I agree the system is shit and the pressure on teachers is huge, but my point is that sending children home for months takes that shit situation and turns it into a living nightmare for thousands, by cutting them off from all possibility of outside respite and help.

Exceedingly nice rant again. Yes, I got your point. My point was what you are going to do about it? Not what you expect everyone else to do about it but what you are going to do about it?

The best I can do at the moment is donate to the charities that will have to pick up the pieces. Starting this thread is another thing I've done, small but not nothing. I would like to do more but I can't. That doesn't mean I can't talk about it.

And the flipside is... For some kids being at home is actually a relief, because where the abuse happens is at school (bullied by peers, but also sometimes, dare I say it... bullied by staff?)

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

The huge majority of children are not ‘ suffering’ in any way. They’ve missed a few weeks of school.

How can it compare towhat children in war zones or famine hit areas are dealing with? That’s suffering, not missing a few weeks of school.

So the minority of children who are suffering don't matter?

@camsie. At what level does a society need to care for and protect children when parents can't or don't? It is not as simple as saying they're your kids. Not my school's problem.

Op what are you going to tell these children, who are asking what we should have done.

How should we have handled it.

Schools have an important role in spotting and helping support kids who are being abused.

Schools absolutely should not be a place of respite for these kids. Thats the problem. We have been letting several generations down with this. A child shouldn't need respite from their home life. And if they do, they shouldn't be in that home.

I am all for ss supporting families in the first instance. But where that doesnt work, children need to be removed. successive governments have put more pressure and more responsibility onto the schools, rather than look at the actual issue at home and deal with that. Because its cheaper to tell schools they should do more.

Thats how we have let children down.

The effect it has had on EVERYONE has been terrible, but no more for children than elderly or ill people. Children have many more years to enjoy, the elderly not so many. Have some perspective.

Half a million deaths is absolutely possible if we choose to simply pretend this virus doesn't exist.

6% infected - 50,000
60% infected - 500,000

The fact that we have not continued along this path is because we have had a lockdown.

There may be other effects that might potentially limit this number, but those are the total unknowns, not the death rate, nor the amount currently exposed, for which we now have approximations.

Frankly, I'm not sure why it is suddenly the case that only schools can protect children from abusive situations when the government has spent the last ten years stripping them of welfare funding.

I'm not by any means arguing that schools don't have a responsibility to protect children but this pandemic has made it pretty clear that they are now not just the frontline who may spot that something is wrong but often the only support children have. Why is the lesson of this not that we should be putting more funding into wider children's services rather than bashing schools? We've learnt nothing from the historic child protection cases and this has been another tragedy waiting to happen for a long time.

@endlesswashingbaskets I totally agree. You worded it so much better than I have.