Ads Top

Schools need to stay open because the 'economic and social consequences' of shutting them again are too high as experts warn young people have paid the 'highest price' for the pandemic


Schools must stay open to protect children's mental health and avoid the 'immense' economic and social consequences of another closure, scientists have warned.

 

  • Professor Tamsin Ford, Oxford University, said schools must be kept open
  • She pointed to study's indicating mental health problems due to the lockdown
  • Boris Johnson said he would 'do everything in my power' to keep schools open
  • Professors warned the young were paying the 'greatest price' for lockdown

 

Speaking at a meeting of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee via Zoom today, professors said Britain's children and young people had missed out on crucial social interactions due to lockdown, at the expense of their mental health and education.

They said this group was paying the 'greatest price' for lockdown measures, despite being least at risk from the disease.

Professor Tamsin Ford, a child and adolescent psychiatry expert at the University of Cambridge, warned of a spike in mental health problems in young people during lockdown.

'If we can keep the schools open, we really need to do so because children are least at risk from the virus,' she said. 'The health, economic and social consequences of shutting schools are immense, so they are bearing the cost for us.'

Boris Johnson said in the Commons today that he would 'do everything in my power' to keep schools, colleges and universities open, as he unveiled a wave of measures designed to stop the spread of the disease. But he warned that nothing was off the table, if the rate of spread was not reduced.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said yesterday the Government has no plans to close schools again.

Peers also heard how up to 60 per cent of NHS staff showed clinically significant symptoms during the pandemic, which included signs of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

Read More Here: Daily Mail

Powered by Blogger.