Shameful treatment of children

[CottageGardener]

Taster days cancelled, work experience cancelled, sports days cancelled, exams cancelled, fetes cancelled, extra curriculum activities cancelled, end of year school assembly cancelled, transition day cancelled, trips cancelled, proms cancelled, the list goes on....

For a virus that 80% of the population now have antibodies for. The kids will never have a chance to do some of these things again. SHAMEFUL.

@hamstersarse

All I've ever seen from Giraffe is concern for herself and teachers.

It's blindingly obvious that's all you want to see. It's not true, of course, but I've noticed you don't have much of a relationship with the truth.

@KeepMakingJam
Naaa, I don't like the tone, thank you.

Of course you don't. You just like a good whine. With nothing constructive to offer.

For a pp to moan about a baby cafe being shut when she is free to meet in a normal cafe is a typical example of some mnetters waah mentality.

No it’s not. People rely on community activities with young dc.

And I still think this is motivated by self interest rather than actively being positive.

Whereas others are ok with putting dc first.

@randomlyLostInWales

No it won’t be ideal, but succumbing to the idea that it’s all gone to shit and not being able to move past that isn’t constructive.

I have to admit some of the media's 'the lost covid generation' narrative is unhelpful and even my teens eye roll at it now.

I am frustrated though there doesn't seem to be a clear exit for children's schools, services and activies.

Me too, but I’m also aware that there’s a hell of a lot to sort out once we can safely presume ‘the worst’ is over.

It’s important that the issues caused continue to be highlighted because there’ll be a raft of consequences vying for attention at that point but I worry that the tone has slid/is sliding into self-fulfilling prophecy territory. Every child has potential and I’m concerned that they’re being written off before we’ve even had the opportunity to help them recover.

@AmyVindaloo I hate to be that voice but I think that may be institution/area dependent. I can honestly say that isn’t the case here. My dd’s school has had a music programme and they were definitely singing at Christmas (pre-recorded concert with the local churches on YouTube).

@crinklyfoil

Not sure why you’re firing questions at me giraffe. I’m not disagreeing with you but the OP did make it pretty clear it was more about emotional fallout than educational even if the title didn’t stipulate this.

Yes exactly my point. The mental damage done to many kids is appalling

We’re not in a position to prevent much now, the damage has already happened, there has to be a will to move forward and repair what can be repaired otherwise we are failing children further

Completely agree that we now need to move forward as a society and devise some kind of plan to help mitigate the fallout from lockdowns and restrictions for our young people. People insist on comparing the pandemic to WW2, and after the war there was a whole new social contract and raft of solutions to the societal problems that had become apparent during the war years - advent of the NHS and Welfare State, radical housing reform etc.

But I don’t think there’s any sign of these mitigations actually happening, especially outside of schools (and within schools what is proposed is utterly inadequate). Nothing mooted for Early Years (as far as I’m aware); very little for mental health and well-being; no plans to improve access to libraries, children’s centres and other council facilities; nothing to counter the year of virtual inactivity that many poorer kids will have experienced (I’m sure hand-wringing over increased childhood obesity rates will rear its head in the media soon). Our government has no imaginative or ambitious ideas in this area as far as I can see.

I don’t see much in the way of wailing and gnashing of teeth on here tbh; I see it as valid and impotent anger at the way children have been dismissed throughout, and frustration at the ostrich-like insistence of some posters that there is no problem at all.

I can think positively and mitigate the worst of it for my daughter, often by throwing money at the problem. But poorer and less well resourced parents (in terms of money, education and time) often can’t, and optimism alone won’t help when there is no concrete help (and funding!) forthcoming.

People insist on comparing the pandemic to WW2, and after the war there was a whole new social contract and raft of solutions to the societal problems that had become apparent during the war years - advent of the NHS and Welfare State, radical housing reform etc.

What an interesting point. I don’t recall this being mentioned, even once, by all the posters so keen to remind us how much worse WW2 was.

@TempsPerdu I don’t think much can be planned until we’re into the next stage of the pandemic (i.e. restrictions withdrawn confidently as much as possible). Covid is a disaster as much as any flood or wildfire but it’s a long one and there’s little you can plan with certainty until the immediate response had stabilised the problem.

I believe there is absolutely an end in sight but I don’t doubt for a second that we are absolutely still in the process of the disaster itself.

'frustration at the ostrich-like insistence of some posters that there is no problem at all. I can think positively and mitigate the worst of it for my daughter, often by throwing money at the problem. '

Well I certainly haven't suggested that there is 'no problem at all'. I have however disagreed with the ops 'shameful how our dc have been treated' sermon. There was/is a pandemic and restrictions were needed. It isn’t as if someone just shut schools for no reason.

Fwiw you don't need to throw money at the problem. It is summer, get outdoors. Even if you live in a city the outdoors still exists.

'No it’s not. People rely on community activities with young dc.'

So arrange your own. Use sm! arrange to meet friends in a cheap cafe or a garden or a park or a living room.. yes yes only 6 allowed indoors but it is sunny and 30 are allowed outside.

@Cornettoninja

I will clarify what I mean by useless optimism.

Optimism is good, it means that you look for solutions and adapt. However, what I am criticising is people being blindly optimistic "they will be fine, it was worse in x time' whatever line they throw out.

Real optimism truly acknowledges the problem, and deals with it. So in this case, it is not that 'children are fine', it is imo about what we do to never put children last again. We have decades of research on child development that has just been thrown out of the window. We know that children need play, we know that children need peers, we know that if we don't teach them to read and write before a certain age their chances in life are scuppered, we know that never being challenged by sport, exams, peer relationships means they don't develop resilience (and more likely to have MH health issues), we know that all these things have happened to children for over a year. So blind optimism doesn't help, we need to acknowledge that this has happened to children, not sweep it under the carpet.

And imo, never allow this to happen again, unless it's nuclear war.

@JaniieJones

'frustration at the ostrich-like insistence of some posters that there is no problem at all. I can think positively and mitigate the worst of it for my daughter, often by throwing money at the problem. '

Well I certainly haven't suggested that there is 'no problem at all'. I have however disagreed with the ops 'shameful how our dc have been treated' sermon. There was/is a pandemic and restrictions were needed. It isn’t as if someone just shut schools for no reason.

Fwiw you don't need to throw money at the problem. It is summer, get outdoors. Even if you live in a city the outdoors still exists.

'No it’s not. People rely on community activities with young dc.'

So arrange your own. Use sm! arrange to meet friends in a cheap cafe or a garden or a park or a living room.. yes yes only 6 allowed indoors but it is sunny and 30 are allowed outside.

I don’t need to I am using nursery but it doesn’t mean I don’t get why others need it now.

Just use your brain a bit outside your own situation. It’s really not hard.

For some reason posters can do it with other groups, except children. I find it odd. Enough to consider there’s another motivating factor, their own comfort and security.

As another priority the school isolation situation needs to be addressed. If one case can send home half the school after 1 minute contact, and not even to return with negative PCR it’s crazy.

At this stage it’s disproportionate and feels forgotten.

All I've ever seen from Giraffe is concern for herself and teachers.

Which means you weren’t on my threads about the appalling lack of catch-up funding, lack of free school meals provision or the stealth cuts to pupil premium funding, to give some recent examples of threads I’ve started. Not interested?

Incidentally the proposed catch-up funding wasn’t just about academic catch-up, it was also to be spent on sports and arts. The government doesn’t want to fund recovery for our children unless it’s to pay a Dutch company to tutor maths on the cheap.

@JaniieJones - restrictions were needed. However, when deciding what to restrict and what to allow, where to put tax money to help counter the negative effects of restrictions and where not to, children and young people have been treated worse than others.

We have a government (and a society who has in large gone along with it so must be seen to approve) that has decided when some mass events are allowed, crowds for sporting events are a better use of our "risk budget" than childrens school transitions. Its been decided we can cope with large wedding parties (as long as they are outside), but not leavers proms.

Over and over when we eased restrictions, a decision was taken to prioritise easing restrictions for things adults wanted over children. Even the keeping schools open in higher tiers wasn't about the need for children to be in, but the need for employers to not have staff home schooling rather than working.

Children have had their lives constricted more than other people, and yet they are the group least likely to die or be seriously ill from covid. (While they can and do get very sick /die, if everyone's risks where that of the under 18s, we would not have bothered locking down in the first place.)

@Cornettoninja So in the meantime, while we remain in the active phase of the pandemic (which could last a year or more yet and is unlikely ever to have a clearly defined ‘end date’) you’re essentially saying that our will kids have to sink or swim?

DD is due to start school next September; many of her nursery friends leave shortly to start this September. Are their (likely already exhausted) teachers just going to have to deal with the manifold additional issues filtering through without any additional support or funding?

There are going to be some really quite damaged children entering primary schools in the next few years, and inequality is likely to widen dramatically. As a family we’ve already planned ahead and, rather than happily sending DD to our nearest, very social-economically mixed school, we’re now doing the classic cynical church attendance thing to get her into the more solidly middle class CofE school down the road. This is because we can see what’s coming down the line, and School B is is likely to have fewer issues with pandemic fallout than School A. Lots of our local friends who were previously sold on School A are doing the same. The societal fallout from this sort of thing at population level is going to be massive.

@Cornettoninja So in the meantime, while we remain in the active phase of the pandemic (which could last a year or more yet and is unlikely ever to have a clearly defined ‘end date’) you’re essentially saying that our will kids have to sink or swim?

Well I’m not just saying it, it’s happening. Schools have had pitiful amounts of money allocated along with very limited support (either practical or to navigate guidelines) to continue running but the upshot is that they’re running therefore they’re dealt with as far as priorities are stacked currently. I’m not saying I agree with it or it’s even moderately good but that’s the reality. Whilst I agree an end date is unlikely a period of stability is achievable but until we’re in that planning is next to impossible if we want to be at a concrete starting point to achieve a quantifiable aim.

I’m not unsympathetic to your situation. My dd started reception last September after an abrupt end to her time at preschool. I’m sure you remember how it was, but her new school managed to coordinate the kids coming into school to meet their new teacher and see their classroom in individual appointments. It’s been a strange first year at school and the stop/start/virtual nature hasn’t been great for settling or building relationships but we’re lucky that her schools determination to make things the best they can possibly be has really shone through. They’ve also been really on the ball with supporting the MH of the dc, they helped me to arrange counselling for dd whose anxiety was sky high and affecting her time in class. I’m confident that they will continue to aim for the same level as much as they can going forward but I’m also acutely aware that it’s not the same in every school. So much in this pandemic hinges on the response of the people involved and the level of cushioning really relies on practicalities they’re able to provide.

I don't believe that the majority of people do believe that we should be carrying in with this approach - the fact people are law abiding and compliant causes not mean they agree. The old and vulnerable have been prioritised, the time to get back to normality is long overdue, enough has been sacrificed.

@MarshaBradyo

As another priority the school isolation situation needs to be addressed. If one case can send home half the school after 1 minute contact, and not even to return with negative PCR it’s crazy.

At this stage it’s disproportionate and feels forgotten.

They need to sort this before the autumn term.

There is a clinical trial currently going on with regards to this. DHSC are trying to work out if daily testing can replace isolation.

Some posters seem very hard-hearted with a good dose of I’m all right jack.

On another thread someone was declaring that it was ^more inclusive” for university to be online. Yeah, right. Said no student ever. But quite a few staff, it seems. I thought it was disgraceful that this poster was using disabled students as an excuse for no face-to-face. Not one disabled student ime would choose to sit at home rather than meet some peers.

And “my dcs have had bbqs on the beach” - well bloody bully for your dcs but some are stuck at home when they thought they might be meeting new friends at university. Saddos, eh?

Strewth. My dcs were pretty easy (little) children. Perhaps I should sneer at people who struggle and tell them to (wo)man up and stop making a pathetic fuss…

Totally agree @margoskaftan

There are children and young people in key transition points that have really missed out. I feel very sorry for exam year students and university students. I have young people in my team on the grad scheme (so to a certain extent one the lucky ones) and they have missed out so much on the normal experience that they’ll never get back.

I also feel that small children have missed out a key points of their development. The early years are so important in determining future life outcomes. It is very naive to just dismiss concerns around early years as having missed a music class. I have friends and some of the impacts have been:

• having PND with no social support or easy access to the HV service
• children who are very behind socially and fearful of other children
• toddlers surrounded by nursery staff in masks
• small children scared by testing
• small children who have struggled to be seen for illness because they needed a negative covid test.

None of those are insignificant and some of them could end up affecting life chances in the long-term.it is not just about missing a music class.

It's a shame that some people seem to see 'getting back to normal' as the end goal for our children rather than thinking a bit bigger.

'Just use your brain a bit outside your own situation. It’s really not hard.'

I 'use my brain a bit outside my situation' all the time thanks. I've friends and family with young dc, older dc, those who have lost jobs, those who have been ill. It has been an extraordinarily stressful time for many people. Dc not so much ime.

The pp sneering at bbqs on the beach, it was an example of how dc can socialise without ott proms and organised activities. A picnic in a park works as well. We all have the outdoors available to us.

There has been no 'shameful treatment of children'.

To those who maintain that children have been put last in everyone's considerations throughout, I will point out that it was precisely because they were being prioritised that the Government actively sought to dismiss the terrible infection rates in schools of the Kent variant before Christmas, and to stick to the "schools are safe" mantra so they could reopen "as normal" in January.

And here we have the Delta variant, reportedly 60%+ times more transmissible than the Alpha, ripping through schools (in certain areas), although once again, the Government are suppressing data on it.

But yes, let's all complain about sports day being curtailed.