Back to school

It is one thing for adults to feel anxious and depressed by the current situation but the effect on children is quite another.

I know of many children and teenagers who are now suffering with low mood and some have become seriously anxious and depressed. Most parents have been able to help and guide their children through this crisis – but many have not. Large families, particularly those who don’t have outside space, have really suffered. Everyone accepted that the summer term had to be cancelled but news that the eventual return to school will be on a part-time basis is a step too far.

Of course we had to take dramatic steps to protect the health of the vulnerable in our communities at the outset of this terrible virus and, of course, these people must continue to be shielded and protected in other ways.

We cannot, however continue to jeopardise the mental health, social wellbeing and general education of our children and young people – let alone our economy. How exactly are working parents going to support their families if children are only in school for two days a week?

We have to accept that it is not going to be possible to make our children observe strict social distancing in primary

schools. We must teach them the “new normal” of regular handwashing, keeping hands away from faces, always coughing or sneezing into a handkerchief, always staying off school if feeling unwell and not hugging/kissing friends etc. Children and teachers could even wear masks for indoor learning if deemed necessary – with as much outdoor learning as possible.

The same rules should apply for senior pupils – and would be much easier to implement. It would also be necessary for all cleaning staff to be trained do a very thorough job at the end of each day.

The children of key workers have been attending school throughout lockdown and I haven’t heard of any dramatic consequences as a result.

In short, for the sake of their education and their mental health, it should be possible for all of our children to go back to school, full time, in August.

MAUREEN MORRISON

York Place, Edinburgh

Westminster admitted recently in a High Court document that it was a “request, not a direction” for schools to shut down. Now comes news that our private schools intend to ignore Holyrood and open, come what may in the autumn, so the educational gap between rich and poor can only increase.

Insurers have accepted the document and schools can open using their own hygiene measures. Humans have a one metre privacy zone and this was adopted by the WHO and much of Europe for “social distancing”. Holyrood’s insistence on two metres owes more to a toxic “precautionary principle” than to science.

Home schooling is not an alternative for face-to-face education with one’s peers in a classroom. There is no scientific impediment and most European schools are open without our shambolic

restrictions. Nicola Sturgeon insists “I am following the science”; this would be a good time for her to do so.

DR JOHN CAMERON Howard Place, St Andrews