is the government failing our teens

[novaparty12]

Don't the government owe it to our teens to somehow get children back to school?? Either on a rota basis or year by year. I so worry about their mental health my kids are hard workers and in their rooms on their computers all day then evening on facetime to their friends. Getting them outside for a walk is a military operation they have both lost all interest in the world outside and haven;t seen anybody outside the house since before the xmas holidays. Neither of them are getting tired and can't sleep before midnight. If schools don't open until after easter I feel so many children are going to have been let down. I understand the seriousness of the pandemic but so hard seeing two active children just shut sway from the world.

I have mixed feelings on this, but at this point I think schools really do need to think about reopening (sooner, rather than later!). That said, I also think summer exams shouldn't have been cancelled. Schools closures have had a devastating impact on education, and the longer they're closed the worse it will get.

The government is failing children by not having reacted at various times in a reasonable timescale, so the time out of school is longer than it need be or have been. No consideration of one or two days per week for each child either, or so it seems.

Prompt response in March, would have led to schools being open for at least part of the week in June/July for example.

Mind you as discussed on other threads it's not just children being failed.

Yes. On so many levels. Excessive screen time, no opportunity for casual exercise or organised sport, no part time work, no social contact. I'm furious on their behalf.

I hope they remember this when they come to vote in a few years.

They need to find a way to get them back to school safely, not return to what was going on last year. But I totally agree that seeing our kids stuck in front of a screen all day is awful. My DD was so active and lively and now shes just sitting there staring at the laptop all day. I have to bribe her with Starbucks money to get her to call friends and go for walks- its too cold and they cba and would rather facetime. If it wasn't for zoom dance classes she wouldn't move off the couch. It's horrible to see.

I only have little ones- who are salad feeling the pressure, but not as much as older ones I suspect- however DH and I are teachers in secondaries and whilst I think kids should be back in school, money, time and planning needs to be thrown at this by central government.... we can’t just chuck kids back into school as they were in the autumn term. It was Covid soup in there and never going to work long term.

Some teens can get on with their work but some are becoming increasingly dysregulated. I think there will be increased exclusions when they finally go back to school. Their bodies and senses have really been running on low and it's going to be a shock being back in the noise and pace of school. Some are missing key parts of social development. They should be becoming independent

My DD is suffering badly - as PP have said , excessive screen time , limited opportunity for her sport , school work suffering badly , no motivation, obsession with socials , isolation , friendship group has splintered , no interest in anything . She is a shadow of her former self and I'm a single parent and work full time ( key worker ) , it's taken me all my energy and strength to try to keep her from circling the drain .
I wish I knew the answer , and I see what Covid does first hand but all I see all around me is the side effects from lockdown , and they are devastating too .
My dd was a bright young girl with lots of hobbies and a positive personality- she is unrecognisable now

My DD is the same @MrsRusselBrand , she's struggling with motivation and misses her friends.
It's a horrible situation for a child to find themselves in, and we still don't knew when (and how) schools are going to reopen.

They need ‘permission’ to see their friends outside, In my opinion.

Is a fucking outrage.

@violetcobra it's so worrying. I have always been quite a laid back parent and not one to over dramatise . Sometimes I just can't see her getting out the other side of this unscathed . I guess there are many more feeling the same
Wish I knew what to do or how to tackle it , but I'm just trying to keep my head above water too !

It's a no win situation. Open schools and covid rates go back up. Keep them closed and education suffers. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Looking out for mental health is incredibly important and there needs to be some flexibility. If they could meet in small, distanced groups outside it would be a start but teenagers and distancing do not always go hand in hand, so the risk increases. I do think the curriculum should be altered to fit a wellbeing activity in each day but Ofsted is more keen to charge ahead with the standard curriculum unabated, leaving little scope for schools to shoehorn something in.

Just adding to the thread to try and keep it going and add my twopenneth.
My teen is at the top end of the age group but not in a good place either.
Had a two year apprenticeship which was going great for 6 months. The past 10 he has been working ( but not given much to do) and doing college from home. Since November he barely emerges from his room.
He misses his friends, driving test cancelled for 3rd time and looks like his first holiday with friends not happening again this summer. If they would just open outdoor sport it would help so he could play football.
I've nearly thrown something at the tv this morning looking at Piers Morgan lamenting over the death of Doris. Yes it was sad but she was 95, and very likely to have popped off anytime.
Try going into your sons room daily to check that he's ok and hasn't actually tried to end his young life as that's what I'm worried about right now.

And breath .

@dingit so much sympathy for you . FWIW I totally agree , any death is sad but we need perspective here. Stand back and view the situation and it's clear for all to see that this lockdown is ruining lives, bit by bit . It's like death by a thousand paper cuts

I have older teenage boys that would normally be out playing football, meeting friends for a Nando's or going out the cinema . Sleep patterns are dreadful and they are missing out on developing important social skills. Interacting online doesn't allow you to read cues from body language and show empathy. We are still going for walks it's sometimes a battle but they need that to at least see the outside world and get fresh air. I know they are resilient and will adapt but it still worries me how the long term effects of this pandemic will pan out for them.

They are entirely losing their independence as well. This is an age where they should be experiencing new things and broadening their horizons by spending more time with their peer group than with their parents. Interacting via SnapChat is not remotely the same thing.

And they really have lost time they won't get back - the experiences they've missed out in the teen years will by and large not be ones that are possible to reproduce at a later date. This is not the case in any other age group.

I'd really like to see a rules relaxation that people can meet in small groups outside in a public space. Realistically (at this time of year) this will not result in people having mass outdoor meetups, but would be a real lifeline for teens.

DD's birthday is coming up. DH asked her what "the cool girls do for lockdown birthdays?". DD's answer was that "they do something that involves breaking lockdown rules". And it's true that this age group is now splintered into those following rules (and hence missing out) and those that aren't.

Dingit I do empathise with you. All this lamenting over people dying in care homes . We need to focus so much more on the young. 77% of deaths are over 75s and 79% over 80 and in my area 70% with dementia. Meanwhile young people and teenagers’ most formative lives screwed over.

Yes I think so, uni students too

Teens have adult patterns of transmission, and I think that the impetus to 'get schools open', seemingly regardless of the cost in infection risk, is misguided at best.

It gets complicated with teens, once they are on sets for some subjects and dong others because of options. They are in different groups in just about every lesson

Being open in half sized groups doesn't work, because they're not a day-long 'group' you can divide. But you could have rostered onsite attendance for labs and other practicals?

The biggest potential failure can yet be averted. The impact on public exams 2022:

• 2020 had largely finished the taught content, so despite the shambles of the grades, they are largely OK
• 2021 - badly affected, needs continued effort to deal with courses that could not be completed in time, unequal impact depending on where bubbles burst etc - obviously a main focus right now
• 2022 - lots of teaching time lost, again with unequal impact in autumn term and potentially onwards, plus variations in effectiveness in accessing and benefiting from online learning. Adjustments to exams are very likely to be needed - perhaps along the lines of what was proposed for 2021 until that collapsed completely. And that needs planning now, and teachers need to be told - ideally before start of the summer term, so that teaching time can be best used

The A level class of 2022 was the GCSE class of 2020. Let's not muck them up a second time, when there is time to do better.

Yes.

I have two year 10s, one who spent 10 weeks in self isolation between September to December due to high Covid cases in school and constant disruption. He never got more than a straight 10 day run in school before being sent back and he'd already spent more than 40 days in his room remote learning before current lockdown and not including the first lockdown. He caught Covid as cases were so rampant in school.

The other didn't fare well either, half of that time, spent remote learning.

Yes. It makes me sad seeing young children playing in crowded play parks Whilst my teens are shut away and not even allowed to sit with a friend in a park and have a takeaway coffee, let alone do the outdoor sports they love, or get back to school.

I don't know the answer. I understand the worry of 'you give an inch, they take a mile'. but it's certainly very hard for them and I think they would like to be acknowledged as a group separate to children and adults. My eldest, 18, feels forgotten about by the government, particularly now that exams have been cancelled and she learns they had no plan B.

I have two at secondary Year 7 and 11.This week school have a wellbeing day where they choose stuff off the screen to do and then say back later what they did. E.g.baking, painting, reading, running, think this is a good idea and hopefully they will do more if it continues.

@Orangeblossom1977

I have two at secondary Year 7 and 11.This week school have a wellbeing day where they choose stuff off the screen to do and then say back later what they did. E.g.baking, painting, reading, running, think this is a good idea and hopefully they will do more if it continues.

That sounds fabulous. Id love that for my Y10 DD.

@AllTheWayFromLondonDAMN

I only have little ones- who are salad feeling the pressure, but not as much as older ones I suspect- however DH and I are teachers in secondaries and whilst I think kids should be back in school, money, time and planning needs to be thrown at this by central government.... we can’t just chuck kids back into school as they were in the autumn term. It was Covid soup in there and never going to work long term.

They need to hear the government pledging money to schools so they can start putting measures in place. Like I say, they feel forgotten about. Just hearing some plan of action and promised money would help them feel like their lives and experience matters.

Last year everything opened before schools and activities for young people. DH and I had a few months of more normal life than DDs got.

@Orangeblossom1977

I have two at secondary Year 7 and 11.This week school have a wellbeing day where they choose stuff off the screen to do and then say back later what they did. E.g.baking, painting, reading, running, think this is a good idea and hopefully they will do more if it continues.

I've done some baking with my ds. We've challenged ourselves with new recipes. We also did a family come dine with me, which included dd 22 during the summer.