It’s only four years since Covid was used as a pretext to turn whole nations upside down. Evidence for the devastating effect on economies, education and public health continues to mount up. Even the BBC, one of the chief supporters of lockdowns, can’t avoid the issue.
Lantern Academy is a primary school in Telford where Michelle Skidmore is the 14th headteacher in eight years:
“We have a number of children who struggle with basic communication,” says Ms. Skidmore. “‘Can I go to the toilet? Can I have a drink?’ These are some of the basic sentences we have to teach our children to say.”
The children, whose parents speak English at home and have no learning disabilities, are coming to school unable to communicate. The staff therefore have to teach them Makaton, a basic form of sign language that uses symbols and signs to allow them to express themselves.
Some of the children who cannot talk are not toilet-trained either. At the start of Reception in September, eight of the 27 four year-olds came to school in nappies. The school has had to develop “intimate care plans” to keep them clean as well as providing potty training.
While some of these social problems were already a challenge, there’s no doubt in Ms. Skidmore’s mind about what has made them far worse:
Forty-eight per cent of pupils receive free school meals – about double the England average. But the new ethos that Ms. Skidmore has worked hard to create is being severely tested by challenges resulting from the Covid pandemic. “For some people, the role of parenting has changed – 100%,” she says.
Educational experts and teaching unions say the forced closure of schools during the pandemic meant some families lost sight of the value of education. In some cases, they were too busy working to home school their children, or didn’t have the space. When schools reopened, they placed less importance on ensuring their children attended.
In addition, many schools found that parents’ mental health became strained. And this coincided with the closure of services where people with young children could meet, and receive professional support. Some parents today do not know how to play with their children, the school has discovered, so it now runs a weekly class to teach them.
“I keep going back to that competition element – my child’s walking, my child’s no longer in nappies – those milestone moments, they’ve gone now because those parent and toddler groups, where you’d see all that, have gone,” Ms. Skidmore says.
Parents at Lantern Academy also sometimes struggle to keep their children healthy. School welfare officers now sometimes accompany them to doctors’ appointments, at the parents’ request, so they can be confident of fully understanding the medical advice.
Children’s mental health has also become an ever greater challenge since the pandemic, and it is the key driver behind the biggest problem faced by all the schools in the trust – attendance.
Obviously, since these are small children, it doesn’t take a genius to see that many of them could be living with the consequences of the reckless insanity of lockdowns for the rest of the 21st Century, right down to their old age. Unfortunately, by then those responsible will be long gone, having left devastation in their wake.
The real mystery, though, is why the terrible epoch-changing impact of lockdowns, which was so obvious at the time to anyone with an ounce of common sense, is only now starting to sink in among those at the time who lined up to cheer on the Government and its gaggle of ‘scientific experts’, and to pour foul scorn on any dissenters.
But you’ll have noticed that even in this story, the BBC blames the pandemic rather than the lockdown measures, as if the latter were unavoidable.
Worth reading in full.
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Bill Maher put it succinctly a couple of years ago. “When people blame “The Pandemic”, they should be blaming “The response to the pandemic”. They are not the same thing.
I have a little sympathy with this view but ‘The response to the pandemic‘ is not an entity. It can’t be blamed. The people responsible for the response to the pandemic need to be pilloried.
I feel sorry for the kids but in the main the parents and teachers can jog on as far as I’m concerned, as most of them seemed happy enough at the time to shut the country down. Aside from a tiny number, everyone I knew or worked with at the time was 100% behind the restrictions, or wanted more of them.
I agree tof. The response of the teachers and particularly their union leaders was savage and appalling. The sheer contempt they had for the children was in my view frightening. I know some teachers were very much against the closing of schools and I have two nieces who took every opportunity to work throughout the shit show, much to their credit but for many they enjoyed a glorified holiday of two years at taxpayers expense. I seriously do not know how they live with themselves. And when they had to return to work it was with threats of taking government to court.
By and large teachers are a deplorable part of the “workforce” up there with the beloved NHS.
FFS. This paragraph makes me angry. The second and third lockdowns were driven by the teaching unions. It was they who forced the closure of schools. As for families who ‘lost sight of the value of education‘, if the teachers didn’t believe what they’re doing was worthwhile then why would they be surprised that some parents didn’t either? We also get that some parents were ‘too busy working to home school their children‘… as though teaching is something that can be just fitted in as an extra little bit around whatever else it is you have to do. No wonder some parents didn’t rate its importance.
Also: Too busy working from home? That’s what the morons in government told people they had to do – unless they were expendables like supermarket workers.
Updated to add: The first draft of this was full of expletives.
Seconded.
An interesting observation I’ve made since moving to the Netherlands is the huge role that the kids’ grandparents play in the upbringing of their grandkids. I’ve spoken to lots of parents who went to the same primary school that they’ve sent their kids and they don’t move away from the area that they grew up. It’s because their parents are invaluable in helping with their kids. I see the contrast when I visit the UK. I, myself, lived more than half my life away from the area I was born and raised. Over here, child care is seriously expensive and it’s normal for women to go back to work just weeks after having their baby, and this is where the child’s grandparents come in.
I’ve noticed the difference in the condition of the elderly people here versus in England and people here remain very fit, active and sociable well into their old age and they still cycle everywhere, even if they have to adapt the bike slightly ( e.g, attach mirrors ) or even buy a trike. So perhaps what is contributing to the problem we’re seeing in the article above is that kids in the UK were even more vulnerable because many were not experiencing the enriching experience of having regular involvement from their grandparents, either because they lived in a different city or they were too infirm or sick to be up for much in the way of child care.
Or their grandparents were told to ‘shield’ themselves and didn’t dare provide childcare? My grandchildren were kept away from us for a while because otherwise their mother, my daughter, a nursery teacher, would have been in trouble for breaking rules at work. Their other grandparents went full-on isolation – I’m not sure if that was from fear of the bug or a sense of duty to comply.
100% understand your anger. And the expletives. That paragraph is very telling – contributed to, wrote and edited by people with the education, money and lifestyle to teach their kids from home. Zero consideration for the bus drivers, the supermarket staff, the people who found themselves without a job and without a pot to p*ss in. Zero consideration for decent people trying to raise a family but without the ability to home-school. Zero consideration for the poor sods living in a high rise watching their kids physically and mentally collapse before their eyes. No, the only people these w*nkers concern themselves with is people like them. I can’t even begin to explain how much I hate these people.
The worrying thing underneath the whole impact of lockdowns is the decline in basic parenting skills. Teachers shouldn’t have to potty train reception aged children.
Lockdowns in England finished 3 years ago though. For how much longer will something which ended ages ago be blamed for kids poor development or behaviours, the parents’ role in taking responsibility for their childrens’ progress being completely overlooked? Will we be blaming lockdowns if these same kids fail to meet the grades to get into university years from now?
”On 8 March 2021, England began a phased exit from lockdown. A four-step plan, known as the roadmap out of lockdown, intended to “cautiously but irreversibly” ease lockdown restrictions. Instead of a return to the tiered system, the Government said it planned to lift restrictions in all areas at the same time, as the level of infection was broadly similar across England.
England moved through the roadmap as planned but step four was delayed by four weeks to allow more people to receive their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.”
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9068/
Because the Coronavirus (and other similar respiratory viruses) fade away naturally going into Summer the ‘vaccination’ programme at this time will have looked like a success. I notice in your link the phased ‘unlocking’ appears to be in step with the lengthening days and therefore increasing vitamin D. In addition, it was likely that those that continued to follow lockdown rules into Summer would have mimicked winter conditions and therefore lessened their vitamin D, which could have given the virus a longer run.
This has been going on for longer than you perhaps realise? John Major’s nursery vouchers resulted in schools opening reception classes to get the money and the little children instead of being in nursery schools for longer on the contrary got creamed off by the primary schools. Teachers then found that they had to teach basic tasks to little ones who might have stayed in nursery and been ready to attend “big” school at the age of 5 rather than being co-opted at 3 or 4.
”Obviously, since these are small children, it doesn’t take a genius to see that many of them could be living with the consequences of the reckless insanity of lockdowns for the rest of the 21st Century, right down to their old age. Unfortunately, by then those responsible will be long gone, having left devastation in their wake.”
Not sure if this is sarcasm by the author but for how long and for what else will lockdowns be blamed for? How on earth is kids not being able to string a basic sentence together and not being toilet trained before they start school the fault of lockdowns? At what point do we look to the parents and expect them to take ownership of their kids’ lack of progress? And I’m not buying that lame-assed excuse above either.
So your kid keeps performing poorly and failing school tests, blame the scamdemic. Your kid becomes a school bully and consistently disrupts the class, blame the scamdemic. Your daughter becomes pregnant at 15yrs and has to leave school, blame the scamdemic. All of these examples have always existed *long before* the biggest military grade PsyOp kicked in back in March 2020. Also, there’s always been kids that have been outliers when it comes to achieving their milestones, such as being toilet trained and talking effectively for their age, so what did we blame it on *before* the damn lockdowns?? We looked to the parents.
Some things remedy themselves, such as kids being slow to learn how to use the toilet appropriately and get out of nappies, it just requires patience and perseverance, but I’m sick to the back teeth of people deliberately absolving the parents of their responsibilities in their kids’ development and instead always banging on about lockdowns being the ‘one size fits all’ cause for everything. For me it’s as daft as blaming excess deaths on ‘climate change’. You name and shame the elephant in the room, you don’t let it off the hook time and again.
Absolutely agree Mogs but “the pandemic” is now a wonderful catch-all for every bloody problem in society. There is not one issue causing problems that cannot be attributed to pandemic / lockdowns:
obesity, diabetes, ADHD, cardiovascular diseases, truancy, lunacy, antisocial behaviour, drunkenness, burglary, drug abuse, NHS waiting lists, unable to see a doctor, pot holes, housing shortages, England failing to win the world Cup, poor cricket performances, massive national debt, increased taxes, food shortages, bad summers, wars in the Middle East, crap television, and on and on.
The Scamdemic has been the free pass, the universal, golden excuse for every ill to affect society for the last three years and will still be used fifty years from now. And why? Quite simply and stating the obvious because it suits the culprits. So until we reach a stage where an admission is forthcoming that crimes against humanity have been committed “the pandemic,” but NOT Lockdowns will be used to excuse every damned problem affecting society.
I doubt the Davos Deviants had fully realised what a Willy Wonka pass they were printing for themselves but the climate change BS has certainly allowed for a reappraisal of the “problems” which can be laid at lockdowns doors and boy are they milking it. As an added bonus it absolves lazy, bone-idle members of society of any responsibility for failing to accept their monumental stupidity in complying. This is a delicious virtuous circle for TPTB. As society disintegrates around us we will continue to be reminded that none of it is our fault, the sheeple can congratulate themselves for behaving like sheep and the overlords can congratulate themselves for perpetuating the con.
Ain’t life grand?
🎯 Roger Ramjet that.👍
the elite class are overseeing the production of the breed of human they want Epsilons, unthinking, happily ignorant and happy to do as they are told for handouts. bread and circuses
Difficult not to disagree.
I could not agree more our grand parents and great grandparents if not rich, in other words real working class, finished school at 14 and we’re sent to work, they came from large families in the case of my own mother one of 10, her father died from a burst ulcer when she was 14, there were 5 younger than her, all raised by my grandmother and the elder children. All could speak, all could read, all were potty trained at
an early age, all helped in the home, and all had to go to work in a factory at 14. They were truly poor. But they weren’t ignorant, and they all aspired to a better life, there was no state hand outs.
We need to stop making excuses for frankly uncivilised and idle behaviour.
Hear, hear.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1ddegp8zvo
This is how this article appeared on the BBC. I knew I’d seen / read it previously.
That’s the link at the top of this article.
So why the by-line ‘Sallust?’
“Educational experts and teaching unions say the forced closure of schools during the pandemic meant some families lost sight of the value of education. “
No. It is not education. It is not families but educational experts and teaching unions that lost sight of the value of natural human development through socialising especially within a family. Here is what the NHS says about child development.
“90% of your child’s brain growth happens before the age of 5. Right from the start, all those little moments you spend together with your child are building their brain. Every smile, cuddle, chat and game makes a huge difference, helping them learn to communicate, develop confidence and make friends.”
The educational experts, teaching unions and NHS knew this and yet they vociferously promoted lockdowns but kept quiet about the destruction of children’s development. They also postponed cancer treatment and they know you cannot do that. Everyone know you cannot do that and yet there are still signs painted on the roads saying ‘thanks NHS’ with pretty rainbows.
I was and remain an absolute anti plandemic person, I smelled a rat with the first falling down film from China. I did not take the injection and like many I was made to suffer for it by my fellow “humans”. BUT, I am not buying this, since when did schools become surrogate parents, and since when did anyone who wanted to have children not know they needed to communicate with the child, teach it to speak, go to the toilet, play with them. If the Adult is incapable or let’s face it they really couldn’t care less about the child then why are they allowed to keep them? and why are they having them in the first place?. It’s not Lockdown that caused this, it’s Lockdown that has exposed it.
It can’t just be blamed on the lunatic response to Covid. Parenting has been in decline in the UK for the past 30 years as mothers were first encouraged and then coerced into putting their babies/very young children in childcare and going back to work.
The Covid Tyranny has wrecked the economy; ruined the physical and mental health of millions; damaged the life-chances of an entire generation of school-children and destroyed what was already laughingly called the “public services,” particularly the NHS.
Well done you morons!
Thank heavens for common sense which is becoming less common by the minute!