Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the effects of the pandemic and the restrictions put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 on children. A lot of concerns are raised about the impact of increasing child poverty, lack of access to education, and reduced opportunities for socialising. Fears are expressed for the long-term effects on children’s health, development, educational achievements, mental health and lifelong potential. As one policymaker recently put it: this generation will forever be known as the COVID-generation.
All of these concerns are absolutely valid, and it is encouraging that attention is being paid to this in many different sectors and at different levels. It is essential that children are provided with the support they need to mitigate the effects of these strange times.
However, at the same time, I am struck by the double standard. About the sudden outcry for the well-being of children who have been forced into less than ideal circumstances for a number of months, while – in the case of the majority of them – still being surrounded by lots of protective and resilience factors. While when it comes to children without parental care, who have experienced extreme trauma and/or neglect in many cases for years – and in the case of institutionalised children quite often for their entire childhood – I do not see anything near the same kind of concern or willingness to take action and provide support. These children are also facing lifelong consequences – in many cases far worse ones than those the majority of the ‘COVID-generation’ face – very high chances of negative impact on health, development, educational achievements, mental health and lifelong potential (sound familiar?).
Yet, instead of providing support help them overcome the obstacles in their way due to high impact events in their childhood, low academic achievements are attributed to laziness, school drop-outs and those with challenging behaviour are labelled as ‘delinquent’ and told to shape up. The same with those who end up long-term unemployed or victims of substance abuse.
If people are finally starting to understand the profound impact that adverse childhood experiences can have on children throughout their lives, could we please try to look beyond the impact of the pandemic, lose the double standard and provide all children who have had to cope with issues similar to or worse than the effects of the pandemic with the support they need to overcome their challenges?
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