Page 3 - Moravian Messenger Nov 2020

These are strange times, and things which seemed certain no longer are. Thousands have had their lives turned upside down whether it is working from home, holidays cancelled, losing a job, or life being confined to a home. Children and young people of all ages have been hugely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, has just published a report about the first six months of this societal change, investigating the effect on all aspects of the lives of under 18s in England. The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People hasn't produced a similar document yet, but I would assume that many of the themes are the same across the four nations.
The impacts on our children and young people are many and varied and not all negative but on balance they have suffered disproportionally to the effect of the coronavirus on their bodies if infected. Generally, the governments have not put the need of children at the forefront of their decision making and the long-term damage will only become evident as years pass.
The closure of schools was a major move to reduce the spread of the virus in the early days but subsequent research has indicated that not only do children rarely have severe infections they are also not responsible for spreading the disease (unlike flu where children are super- spreaders). The estimate of 575 million school days missed in England since March gives some indicator of the impact on society of this closure. Although the schools were open for certain children (children with social workers, some with Special Educational Needs, and the children of keyworkers) the uptake was low, an average of 8%. This left some of the most vulnerable children without the education and support that schools provide. The impact on education does not stop there. Online learning requires technology to be available and many of the most disadvantaged children do not have access to laptops and tablets, or even to the internet. Families with more than one child may have one mobile phone shared with several siblings, not an encouragement to learn, and these children are already behind their wealthier peers, an average of 18 months
by the time they take their GCSEs. Many schools worked hard to provide remote work for their students, but teachers estimate that pupils will be at least three months behind where they could have expected to be.
The impact on young people at the end of their school life cannot be underestimated and has been discussed extensively following the public exam results publication. It should be remembered that those students who were in the first year of their GCSE or A level studies will also have been impacted by the loss of six months face to face teaching. In addition, many on apprentice schemes will have had the education aspect disrupted as well as any impact on their working life.
The impact on children is not just on their education. The impact on their health, although a secondary impact of Covid- 19, is wide ranging. The mental health impact of the lockdown because of the stress caused, and the impact on their physical health, as children and young people were confined to their homes, will continue and will not be fully evident for years. In addition, children with health issues found their access to medical professionals curtailed, moved to online and even fewer than usual numbers are being referred to healthcare services. For example, the number attending A&E decreased by 93% and although attendance has recovered for adults the number of visits by children has remained low, and not just for sports injuries. Other health aspects are a reduction in vaccination rates in the early days of lockdown, increased snacking and decreased physical activity, and reduced accessibility to sexual health clinics.
Other areas of impact are on:
• children and young people in the youth justice system, highlighting that many were denied visits by family and were locked in their rooms for 20-23 hours each day. Many court cases were postponed, and this is also a stress point.
• children under social care arrangements with lack of access to social workers face to face, support that schools provide, and the changes implemented to the system by emergency government legislation.
• homeless children living in temporary accommodation (almost 130,000 in England) includes families living in B&Bs where they may all be living in one room with shared kitchen and bathrooms. Imagine trying to self- isolate in those conditions!
• families relying on free school meals where a disruption in this provision meant that there was no provision for a month or more until a replacement system was up and running. Many families in poverty need this provision to ensure their children have enough to eat.
• children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities who experienced particular challenges during the pandemic. Only 6% attended school at the beginning of the pandemic and 72% were still not in school by July even though they were classified as vulnerable. Families had to look after their children with less support than usual leading to great stress within the families. There was no respite care, either for day or night care, but the demands were 24 hours a day seven days a week. The specialist skills needed to help these children progress and maintain their learning were not available and parents just couldn't fill the gaps leading to 70-80% of them saying their mental health suffered because of the stress of the situation.
• issues relating to poverty. The long- term effects on families can only be guessed at but as jobs are lost, especially zero hour and part time posts, family income will be reduced and many will fall into poverty.
This article gives only a taste of what the full report covers, some of the statistics are staggering. The commissioner does recognise the hard work put in by teachers, social workers and other professionals to try to protect children from the worse of the impact, and the extra funds put in by local and national government. The report is an interesting read and gives a comprehensive view of the impact on our children and young people. The report can be found at https://www.childrenscommissioner.go v.uk/report/childhood-in-the-time-of- covid/
Sr Joy Raynor
Provincial Youth and Children's Officer
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Childhood in a time of Covid