‘Social Distancing Will Damage Our Children’

After nearly three months of closure, some schools are reopening in the UK. For lots of children and parents, this is a welcome end to a difficult period of homeschooling and of isolation from both friends and teachers. However, some parents have raised concerns about the social-distancing measures that have been put in place as conditions for schools to restart teaching. Liz Cole is one of the founders of UsForThem, a new campaign group that is calling both for all schools to reopen without delay, and for social-distancing measures to be abolished. spiked caught up with her to find out more.

spiked: What impact are the lockdown and school closures having on children?

Liz Cole: The impact on children has been very well documented. The closures have affected the education of a whole generation of children. But it has also been acknowledged by the government itself that almost seven in 10 respondents to a Department for Education survey reported school closures had impacted on their child’s mental health. Almost three in 10 said it had impacted on their child’s physical health. That survey was published back in April. Momma, Can I Sleep wit... Delacruz, Jenny Best Price: $22.42 Buy New $9.59 (as of 04:14 UTC - Details)

There was also a piece in the Guardian discussing the breakdown of safeguarding of children. School is often the safest place for children to be. One of the arguments being made is that provision is there for vulnerable children to be in school, but we know that many vulnerable children have actually not been in school. The government has admitted it has no evidence for how many vulnerable children are actually in school and where those children are.

There is also a growing body of evidence about the longer-term mental-health impact on young people. There is a paper by Loades et al, which suggests the loneliness resulting from these disease-containment measures, including school closures, will be associated with subsequent mental-health problems. It points out that the length of loneliness is a key factor, so as time goes by, this is only going to get worse.

The government really needs to be taking this into account. Of course, most schools are going to be unable to open for full-time education with these social-distancing measures in place, and we are now hearing that disruption is likely to continue into next year. This is a real concern for children’s wellbeing. What is Social Distanc... Luckey, Lindsey Coker Buy New $8.99 (as of 04:14 UTC - Details)

I am a parent of two daughters. One has gone back to school, into a socially distanced environment. But the other has got no date for her return, and I can see the impact on her. We are in a good position because we have a garden and she is able to use a laptop to do work remotely. But she is working in isolation, and has no contact with teachers in any meaningful way. It is very hard as a child to keep positive and keep your wellbeing up, and that does worry me.

We have received some really troubling messages from people whose children are struggling with depression. Every day that goes by with schools closed, more damage is being done to children. And now we are talking about extended disruption and there is a lot of uncertainty about when this will end – that is very worrying.

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