One of the major victims of the pandemic has been children. While as a part of society there have not been suffering many deaths the effects have been slightly different. An accentuation of child abuse cases and neglect have been the toll reaped on them as schools have been closed and children confined to sometimes dramatic situations at home: away from their friends, a safe and secure environment and protection in some cases from a dysfunctional home or parent/s. As Prof Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, commented recently “When we close schools we close their lives”. Strangely the banning of sport is a more curious exclusion which is having a major impact on health and obesity. Cases of loneliness have also skyrocketed. In this article by the BBC reporting on a report on the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2020 showed that “one in six children aged five to 16 had a probable mental health disorder, up from one in nine three years previously”. Additionally babies born during the pandemic have not had the benefit of stimuli from social contact that is apparently vital to their development. Children may not bounce back: this needs tackling now.
