"Young children are living their lives in fear"
The evidence irrefutable, the damage done, the consequences catastrophic
By Mark Sharman
NOW that the tsunami of Covid-19 appears to be receding, the twisted heaps of wreckage are becoming increasingly apparent. Untreated and undiagnosed illnesses, huge hospital waiting lists, ruined businesses, curtailed education and untold mental and physical distress across the nation. Plus a towering mountain of Government debt, for which we will all have to pay.
Some of the above are caused by the virus, many more are a direct result of Government policies. But the biggest shame is that we have hurt our children the most, the very people we are supposed to nurture and protect. We have terrified them, muzzled them, locked them out of school and denied them so many of the natural experiences of growing up.
Here, News Uncut quotes from two organisations and relates personal accounts.
JACK, a normally cheerful nine-year-old boy, is in distress at school. He thinks his father is dying from Covid. That morning he has not been allowed into his dad’s room in case he became infected himself. He hasn’t said goodbye.
In truth, his dad was fine, suffering not much more than a cold and continuing to work from home. But that is the terror we have imposed on our children.
The story is told by Molly, a pastoral lead in a primary school in the Midlands. Her job is to look after the emotional health and well-being of pupils.
She said: “When I saw him he was in an anxious state, worried about his father, worried that his grandparents would die, worried about catching Covid himself and worried that he might be forced to have the jab. He was afraid of needles.”
Molly says her work load has increased dramatically. Children are suffering badly from life under restrictions.
“One anxious girl came to me and just asked for a hug. There I am, wearing a mask and not supposed to make contact. What kind of human care is that?
“It devastates me, sitting listening to children breaking their hearts. How do we manage this? I’m fire-fighting all the time. Young children are living their lives in fear.”
Explosion of Tics
THAT is the expressive headline in BMJ Journals, who have published a study led by Dr Isobel Heyman of Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children. The study states that, since the pandemic, paediatricians and child mental health practitioners have noticed an increase in tic symptoms in some children and adolescents already diagnosed with tic disorders.
It adds: “Interestingly, clinicians have also seen a marked increase in presentations of sudden and new onset of severe tics and ‘tic-like’ attacks.”
And continues: “The adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on adult and child mental health is becoming increasingly evident. Rates of mental health problems in children and young people were 10.8 per cent in the 2017 UK mental health survey. Re-evaluation in July 2020, six months into the pandemic and after the first UK lockdown, showed that incidence had risen to 16.0 per cent.
“It appears that children presenting with functional symptoms, including functional tics and ‘tic-like attacks’, may be one of the many increases in stress-related difficulties seen in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Feral Children
NEWS UNCUT has heard from a second schools pastoral worker who says lockdowns have produced ‘feral’ children.
She says: “When they come back in, enormous numbers of children have not had any home schooling. They have had no contact with other children.
“They’ve had no social interaction. The social skills are just not there. In many cases their language isn’t developed.
She says teachers have also noticed an increase in physicality in children’s behaviour.
Home ‘not a safe place’
THE NSPCC helpline was contacted nearly 85,000 times in 2020/21 – a 23 per cent increase on the previous year and a record level for the charity, according to the Sky News website.
More than 27,300 cases of cruelty to children and young people were recorded by police in England and Wales from July 2020 to June 2021 – also a 23 per cent increase. There were 536 cases of deaths or serious harm to a child where abuse or neglect was known or suspected – a 19 per cent rise.
Helen Westerman, from the NSPCC, told Sky News: “If we look back to the beginning of the lockdown, everything changed. Children weren’t in school, children were behind closed doors and for some of those children, home wasn’t a safe space.
“Do we know the full outcome of the effects of lockdown on children and families? Probably not yet. We know from our conversations with schools, we’re seeing more children coming back with mental health issues exacerbated – or new mental health issues – that really need support right now.”
The evidence is irrefutable, the damage is done. What have we inflicted on our infants, our teenagers, even our university students, so cruelly made to study in isolation? The consequences, I fear, could be catastrophic in the years to come.