Caris McKee Shell
The Covid-19 pandemic is something that has indisputably changed the lives and future of everyone in the world, particularly in the UK. However, there is very little to no coverage of the effects on children and young adults throughout primary and secondary schools.
The Covid-19 pandemic is something that has indisputably changed the lives and future of everyone in the world, particularly in the UK. It has affected countless areas of our lives - business, relationships, education, mental health, physical health - and many of these complications have been widely publicised across the media, through many different news channels and tabloids. However, there is very little to no coverage of the effects on children and young adults throughout primary and secondary schools. We also have been affected by this pandemic. Relationships with friends and family dynamics have suffered, as have the dynamics and habitats within our own minds. Many may have noticed beneficial effects from being able to experience more time with themselves, but a high proportion of young adults are reporting a more detrimental effect. So how far do these mental health impacts really go?
From nursery, to secondary schools, to universities, every child and young adult has been severely impacted. An astonishing 70% of students said that they were concerned about the effects of Covid-19 on future job prospects. The lack of concentration during online learning worried many as several students reported their focus plummeting. Many students reported worry about the future regarding predicted grades. No longer are students allowed to actually earn and prove their grade, but instead they are allocated a grade that they can not dispute. It has to be brought into question if these predictions are so accurate, why is the government and other officials in the education sector still pushing for exams to go ahead? I personally have no objection to receiving predicted grades if this is a procedure that will continue to be carried out in place of exams, but the principle that there are only a few year groups that will have to carry around the fact that they didn’t have to earn their grades is inexcusable. They will forever be the children who have the least reliable grades, and the fact that the government is clutching to keep exams supports this concept. Furthermore, the grades we are awarded by our teachers carry so much weight - the sixth form or university that we attend depends heavily on these grades, and yet there is very little conversation or deliberation with students that are actually facing this issue right now. These years in education are strenuous enough without the further complications that have been imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and yet students are being hung out to dry. Not only this but the education that we have been receiving has primarily been online, meaning that countless children across the country were stranded behind a computer screen. This only skims the surface of the ever-increasing worries of a typical teenager today.
Living in such a modernised and technologically advanced society does have its benefits, but it still isn’t the same as being able to communicate face-to-face. Whether you were texting, calling, or using facetime to talk with a loved one, nothing quite compared to being able to see them in person. Many friends experienced more arguments, merely because there was so much frustration and anxiousness that only escaped in the form of argumentative behaviour. Families and relationships also had their difficulties - with being inside for the majority of the day, more eruptions and altercations between family members occurred and sadly, in the most extreme cases, domestic violence rose significantly. Family has always been a complex dynamic - living with the same people every day can often become tiring and cause arguments between one another. However, not all repercussions from the pandemic were detrimental . Although friendships were more difficult, most reported that they emerged from the other side, with stronger relationships that had weathered such a tremendous storm. For families, although the time together did cause some altercations, it has often led them to recognising the importance of spending time together, and also the worth of having time alone.
Another repercussion was cancelled events. This often brought so much sorrow to those that recognised the importance of keeping everyone safe, but still felt the disappointment at having to miss events that would have been enjoyable, and a break in the monotonous day-to-day cycle many found themselves enveloped by. At the end of the day this is ultimately something that has changed our lives in ways we can’t imagine or see, in ways that are positive and negative.
Speaking of invisible monsters, mental health has taken a hit this year especially. People in every age group have suffered - from the elderly that were isolated from the world, to younger people stuck behind a screen continuously every day; no one has escaped. The NHS reported that ‘in 2020, one in six children aged 5 - 16 years old were identified as having a probable mental disorder’. This is a bewildering statistic that shows the real effect that this pandemic is having on the younger generations. I think that everyone would admit that a combination of several factors led to often more stress and anxiety when considering the current situation and the one that would be set to face us in the return of schools. England’s Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) produced the statistic that more than a quarter of children aged between 5 and 16 reported disrupted sleep. Studies show that sleep and rest is of extreme importance for everyone but particularly for children, so the idea that many children are struggling to relax and switch off their minds from their worries at night is a disturbing concept. The saddening thing is that this is something rarely portrayed in the news. It is discussed that mental health issues are on the rise, and further issues about the impact of COVID have been thoroughly deliberated, which largely focus on rebuilding and stabilising the economy, but rarely is the future for children and young adults called into question. Often, we are told that change in the world is down to us. Our actions now, in particular regarding which jobs we choose to pursue, can change the world, yet all of this is being put in jeopardy simply by ignorantly dismissing and disregarding the importance of our mental health. Right now, the government and many other officials are deciding how to get us back on track, how to catch up on the important work that we have missed through this pandemic. As if students don’t already have enough stress and pressure surrounding them at the minute, it is being suggested that our holidays are taken away or the school days are extended to compensate for lost time. The time we have been off school over the course of the last year is being regarded as a holiday, and I find it needs emphasising that the majority of children and teenagers that have been working hard to keep up with the copious amounts of assignments being set on a daily basis, need a break.
I think many found this the most difficult concept to grasp. The loss of relaxation, freedom and stability in a situation that often would only have appeared in our wildest dreams - time off school. Instead of being a calm and stress-free experience, it quickly mutated into a break that caused so much fear and stress over the future. What would happen if a loved one contracted COVID? When would we return to school, and see our friends again? When will this end? This country began to feel less democratic and left people without options or a say in matters from which their safety and well being depended on. However, the government is not necessarily to blame for the impact of this pandemic. People are very quick to cast blame and judgement on others, something which Boris Johnson has received a lot of over the previous year. Although I understand the frustration, I think it is easy to say that you would have done things differently if you were in his position. However, no one knows how they would act in his situation, often concluding that they would have done a better job, and with hindsight we can all say we would have done things differently - Harper Lee wrote that ‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it’. For me, this summarised the pandemic perfectly - whether it is Boris Johnson’s decisions that you cannot comprehend, or those of a family member or friend, you can never fully understand what they’re thinking or feeling. You should always support and comfort those who you love the most. If nothing else, the one thing the pandemic may teach you is the power of a hug, as you only truly recognise the importance of something so small, once it has been taken away.
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