Baroness Anne Longfield, the former Children’s Commissioner for England, is urging the government to say sorry to children. As she notes, it’s imperative that we get accountability for all the bad decisions made during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly related to school closures. Her announcement comes as the UK Covid Inquiry is gearing up to publish its final report. In this report, we will address the pandemic’s immediate and long-term impacts on young people’s education and mental health.
Longfield made clear that the government’s pandemic response has failed to prioritize children, placing adults’ needs above their own with great impact on the lives of children and young people. Better planning and better preparation would have prevented these school closures in 2021,” she argued. Her love for education compelled her to take a stand on this issue. In her view, the government missed a historic opportunity over the summer of 2020 to set the stage for any future, necessary lockdowns.
In her submission to the inquiry, Longfield pointed out a disturbing discrepancy. Just as restaurants, retail, and amusement parks reopened, schools remained shuttered for months at a time. This chain of incidents underscored a deeper, disturbing pattern where the unique needs of children were repeatedly overlooked. She pointed out that there was a “systemic shock” to children’s mental health with the pandemic. What worries her are the permanent impacts these choices will have.
Evidence submitted throughout the inquiry showed the alarming rise in mental health issues experienced by children and young people. The share of Americans adversely impacted increased from one in nine in 2017 to one in six in 2020. Tamsin Newlove-Delgado, mental health for children expert, warned of the worrying “intelligent” increase in disorders. This increase has stayed high, indicating long-term problems that’ll need to be addressed ASAP.
Longfield gave an interesting perspective as to what it was like during the first lockdown in March 2020. In the first few weeks, just 5% of vulnerable children were in school. She highlighted that there is a lack of clarity about who should be in charge of planning for the education and well-being of children amid this disaster.
“It wasn’t clear who had responsibility for planning for children.” – Baroness Anne Longfield
The inquiry’s sessions of evidence will run for four weeks in total. They will include evidence showcasing the conflicting views held by ministers, particularly Gavin Williamson and Boris Johnson, on school closures in January 2021.
Longfield stated that whoever is prime minister at the time of the inquiry’s final report should formally apologize to children for the damage done to their education and wellbeing. She thinks that’s about just recognizing these failures, which she says is important for moving forward and building trust with young people again.
“There simply are no easy answers and we look forward to all of the complexities being fully ventilated in this module.” – Galina Ward KC
Another notable contributor to the inquiry, legal expert Galina Ward KC, remarked on the difficult balance between keeping schools open and making timely closures to prevent longer-lasting disruptions. She admitted that hindsight is easy, and these choices are hard.
“A really difficult balance to be struck between trying to keep [schools] open at all costs or having targeted early closures to avoid longer ones later.” – Galina Ward KC
That inquiry uncovered deep failures in planning and communications. These deficiencies severely affected the amount and quality of pandemic relief available, adding to the burdens that children and their families faced throughout COVID. Even many of the people who shaped these plans are calling for a reckoning. They want to know who dropped the ball with prioritizing children’s needs.
