The most unreported story of last year; COVID-19 policies have destroyed a generation of children

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“It is the crushing impact that these COVID-19 policies have had on our children. A teenager has a one in a million chance of getting and dying from COVID-19. They have a higher chance of getting into a car accident.

If our policies don’t reflect a more measured and reasonable approach for our children, they will be paying for our generation’s decisions for the rest of their lives. That to me is the most unreported story of last year!”

Jan Crawford (Political Correspondent and Chief Legal Correspondent for CBS News)

The Surgeon General says there is a mental health crisis with our children.

The risk of suicide among girls is up 51%. Black kids are twice as likely to die from suicide as White kids. This pandemic has had a tremendous negative impact on our children. It has hurt their dreams and their future. Learning loss, risk of abuse, their mental health, and now with our knowledge, these vaccines. They lose these years, our young people should be exploring, connecting, meeting people, instead they are sitting at home staring at computer screens, depressed, anxious.

Despite all the restrictions and lockdowns that caused economic devastation and suffering beyond measure, especially in children, and despite a 90% vaccination rate, we’re back to square one.

When Toronto Caribbean Newspaper first brought these topics of discussion to the community, people were unsure of our reporting; you were unsure that we knew what we were talking about. It has taken two years, but now politicians are coming out, scientists are speaking out, healthcare workers are speaking out, and brave members of the community are speaking out; something is wrong, and our children are the ones who are ultimately affected.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization latest statistics, more than 870 million students at all levels have been negatively affected in their education. In South Asia alone, more than 400 million children are affected by school closures and limited access to remote learning.

It was also found that children living in institutions and migrant children are particularly vulnerable. We cannot forget the economic strain that has been caused by the pandemic; families struggling to pay for rent and food face considerable difficulties in providing for their children’s most basic needs. At the same time, loss of income often induces stress within the family, and this can manifest into domestic violence between parents or against their children.

There are stressful events, called Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), that have short and long-term consequences, including children’s impaired cognitive and emotional development.

Are we really surprised though? Maybe some of us are, but there are a group of global citizens who have known all along that the combination of lockdowns, vaccine and mask mandates, social distancing, school closures, plexiglas walls in classes, obsessive sanitizing, PCR testing, and quarantine facilities were achieving nothing but the normalization of chronic hysteria.

UNICEF urges governments, local authorities and school administrations to reopen schools as soon as possible, while taking all possible precautions to mitigate transmission of the virus in schools. “Every hour a child spends in the classroom is precious – an opportunity to expand their horizons and maximize their potential. And with each passing moment, countless amounts of opportunity are lost,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s Executive Director.

As a community, what can we do? We, leaders, community activists, politicians, larger organizations, we need to get in touch with families in our community, make sure they have everything they need for their children to learn and give families whatever support they need.

What this pandemic has done is rise to the surface inequalities that existed before this global crisis. Low-income families don’t need the system’s pity; they need support. It’s incumbent on our system to create opportunities for family engagement.