Anti-lockdown campaigners using children to push their agenda

[noblegiraffe]

I can't be the only one disgusted with how certain groups are using faux concern about children to push the earliest dismantling of lockdown restrictions.

They are loudly catastrophising on the front pages of the press about our kids. The lost generation. £40,000 in lost earnings. Articles about schools full of traumatised kids suffering PTSD caused by lockdown.

And the solution they propose is always to re-open schools as early as possible. Even before March 8th. Regardless of covid.

Now, the situation in schools before Christmas was awful. Some areas of the country had less than 50% attendance due to the new variant ripping through secondary schools. Secondary school kids were the most infected subset of the population by far, and are now the second least infected subset of the population behind the 70+ age group after schools were closed, demonstrating that there was a massive problem with transmission in secondary schools. It wasn't good for pupils' mental health or education to be in a situation when they didn't know if they'd be in school or out at the drop of a hat. But before Christmas, there was complete media silence on the impact that this was having on children.

CAMHS has been devastated by cuts. Waiting lists are intolerable and children in dire need of support don't even qualify. Same for social care around vulnerable children.

Yet you won't hear these people clamouring for schools re-opening as soon as possible talking at all about how to improve safety measures in schools to prevent the scenario we had before Christmas happening again. You won't hear them demanding more funding for children's mental health services and for more support for social care services.

And the reason you won't hear that is that THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT.

The reason that they want schools re-opened as quickly as possible is because the message was that schools had to open first.

They can't get what they really want open (everything else) until schools are open, hence the massive focus on schools and how terrible things are for children.

This catastrophising isn't good for parents or kids. It's scaremongering and unhelpful.

I know that there are kids (and parents) really struggling with their mental health and worried about their education. Blaring out messages about how terrible things are and how they will never recover because you want to hype up the message about schools going back is irresponsible and sickening.

We need sensible and calm conversations about how to support children and parents. We need funding for schools and massive investment in support services. We need a long-term program of recovery, not 9 months of a Catch-Up Tsar and quick fixes. We need a measured and sensible approach to schools re-opening that won't see kids in and out and in and out due to lack of mitigation measures causing rampant covid spread (particularly with the new variant).

We need these anti-lockdown campaigners to shut up and stop dominating the narrative.

*The reason that they want schools re-opened as quickly as possible is because the message was that schools had to open first.

They can't get what they really want open (everything else) until schools are open, hence the massive focus on schools and how terrible things are for children.*

This is the crucial bit really : Boris has enraged the CRG and other right wingers who want pubs and hospitality etc back and everything normal. They do not give one shiny shot about education , or mental health (just have a little look at how they vote on these issues) Hence , they want to rush schools back in so they can then bray at him about everything else. Noble isn't accusing individual parents of stoking things. It is a group of right wingers, machinating.

noble I agree with you. Opening without a plan and many more a safety measures is crazy.

But what is the answer?

I have always advocated for vulnerable children as I work in children's social care and have seen first-hand the effect of cuts to services, and the crap funding of camhs. Given the economic disaster that is looming this will only get worse, these things aren't funded through magic money trees.

I agree with OP. And if you're a PBP you'd be better off not announcing the fact, surely.

Many children are frustrated, tired, lonely and bored with the current restrictions, as are many adults. But for the vast majority of children (and adults) these issues will go away soon and not come back, despite what you might be hearing. However, there are many children who live in this state of anxiety and upset all the time regardless of the pandemic, and most people just don't care and won't help.

Children's mental health has always been at the bottom of most people's list. Witness what happens when anyone starts a thread here about a neurodivergeht child, most people just want them to go and exist as far away from their own dcs as possible. If one thing needs to come out of the pandemic it's the need for children's jeheal health services to be better funded long term, something you won't hear people asking for as soon as their own lives are back to now back.

OP is very obviously not saying that anyone expressing worry about children is displaying "faux concern". She is talking about specific groups using children to further their own agenda.

I think people are wilfully misunderstanding.

@noblegiraffe well said!

@Cantaloupeisland

Absolutely faux concern - where was the concern for the kids who spent three quarters of last term isolating rather than in school due to constant positive cases in their year groups? Where was the media outrage about their disrupted education? Where has the concern for children's mental health been over years of underfunding and cuts to services?

I don't understand this way of thinking at all.

So because MH issues have been ignored and no funding, now that is has more awareness through impacts of lockdowns, that means we should keep ignoring it because it was ignored before? so you would see no funding or support for MH issue for children now because no one was bothered before?

@NuttyinNotts. I find your post about your DD interesting.

Imo, homeschooling should never have been promoted as a solution to closing schools for primary age children. Instead, school should have been cancelled entirely and parents permitted to form small exclusive social and childcare bubbles of 2-3 families so children could play with some friends and parents could support each other. Parents should never have been asked to do teachers' jobs. Instead, it should have been for the DofE, schools and teachers to draw up a plan to make up for the lost time, even if it meant cutting bits of the curriculum. Homeschooling has been an extra source of stress for many children and parents.

I'm glad to see that it has been suggested that, when schools go back, the focus should be on exercise and therapeutic play rather than academics.

The majority of people opposing lockdown and demanding a return to school weren't campaigning for better access to mental health care or measures to level up for children in poverty before covid. I doubt they will "afterwards". In my experience the people demanding children are back in school are also the ones breaking the rules and opposing safety measures in schools - so are contributing to the problem.

However, there are many children who live in this state of anxiety and upset all the time regardless of the pandemic, and most people just don't care and won't help.

This x10000. I was absolutely fucking miserable at school. Miserable. Hated the noise, the chaos, having to be around so many people at once. I am the exact same as an adult and I now know it was down to neurodiversity.

When I say on this site that my son has been infinitely happier since he has been at home, I get told I'm being smug and I don't care about the children who are unhappy at home.

Surely the OP is talking about people who didn’t care before COVID and won’t care after COVID, and are using ‘vulnerable’ children as an agenda but without actually caring about them, which is despicable.

Faux concern? It's never occurred to you that it's very real and justified concern?

For a teacher you seem to have surprisingly little insight into the wellbeing of children.

@Chollok

OP is very obviously not saying that anyone expressing worry about children is displaying "faux concern". She is talking about specific groups using children to further their own agenda.

I think people are wilfully misunderstanding.

Agree.

So because MH issues have been ignored and no funding, now that is has more awareness through impacts of lockdowns, that means we should keep ignoring it because it was ignored before?

No.

It means people who didn't give a shit before, should stop dressing up their desire for kids to return to school as MH concern.

Haven't RTFT but I work in CAHMS and am desperate to see schools return. Our workload is unsustainably high, and everything new we've seen come in in the past year has almost entirely been issues arisen due to lockdown. We're inundated with parents begging us to speak to the schools and seeing if their kids can have a keyworker place for even a day or two a week, because they're that worried about their child.

Not everything will be solved with getting the kids back in school, but it's the first step to helping them massively, and I'm seriously worried about the consequences of hundreds of the kids on our caseloads if it doesn't happen on 8th.

@DuchessofHastings1 The point is the mental health narrative is being pushed, but call me a cynical old teacher, I don’t expect there to be an increased funding or time to help people suffering. Somehow just being back in a building will cure all ills.

@Atalune

People will die.

But we must as a country tighten up our travel/freedom of movement and all these flights entering the country. I mean. It’s crazy.

The reason that they want schools re-opened as quickly as possible is because the message was that schools had to open first

That is bullshit, no one I know thinks like thi, schools are not the gateway to opening everything else. Schools should only be open. Strict restrictions still in place for everything else.

And I have written to my MP more than once depending better care and funding for schools. It’s a disgrace.

There are lots of other things that are considered to be lower risk than schools that could open. Outdoor activities with limited numbers, non contact sport etc.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

So because MH issues have been ignored and no funding, now that is has more awareness through impacts of lockdowns, that means we should keep ignoring it because it was ignored before?

No.

It means people who didn't give a shit before, should stop dressing up their desire for kids to return to school as MH concern.

Have you ever considered that people did not give a shit before because it wasn't something they experienced? Its similar to people starting to donate to a certain charity because that thing has affected them personally.

You're basically saying don't educate yourself, don't want better for children don't stand up for your own children.

Fucking bizarre. Do you tell people to stop donating to cancer charities after a friend dies for example, because, they didn't donate before?

No. You don't because that would be fucking ridiculous. This is no different.

Whereas my child was suffering before, is suffering now and will suffer when all this over.

I've come to terms now though that no one really gives a shit for families like ours.

@ineedaholidaynow

Surely the OP is talking about people who didn’t care before COVID and won’t care after COVID, and are using ‘vulnerable’ children as an agenda but without actually caring about them, which is despicable.

Yep.

And it's entirely unsurprising to see exactly which posters don't get this

I could not agree more and there's shameful amounts of it right here on this site. Another poster framed it along this lines, not an exact quote I am afraid but she said, before this thousands and thousands of children were without in school education due to additional needs including MH issues, bullying etc with two year wait lists for suicidal children to be seen by CAMHS and no one cared. Now everyone's kids are out of school and they're full of concern regarding vague, unspecified MH conditions that may arise from missing a few months school and full of laments of a "whole generation will be lost".

Such hypocritical BS.

Yeah anyone who's not part of your little gang.

*You're basically saying don't educate yourself, don't want better for children don't stand up for your own children.

Fucking bizarre. Do you tell people to stop donating to cancer charities after a friend dies for example, because, they didn't donate before?

No. You don't because that would be fucking ridiculous. This is no different*

@TrustTheGeneGenie 👏👏

Of course some children have thrived at home.
A relative of mine is desperate to get her junior school age child back in a routine , but she is much happier at home and hates school so much : doesn't fit in , finds it hard and so on. Children are no different to adults. Some thrive at school and others just don't.
I agree there is a lot of pushing here from the back benchers and business owners, they don't care that children's mental health is suffering or the provision for this has been cut back to the bone in the past. They just want all this to go away and get open. I can see all sides to the arguments. There is a lot of pressure on governments from everyone. I don't trust them fully to make the right choices , but they are all we have :(

You're basically saying don't educate yourself, don't want better for children don't stand up for your own children.

Nope.

I'm saying these people gave no shits for MH before, they won't care when CAHMS remains under funded after either. They won't care when schools are forced to become increasingly responsible for all societies ills with even less funding. They only care right now because they can see a route for their kids to be out of the house.