CHILD TOLD MUM: I WANT TO DIE
A MUM campaigning for full reopening of Welsh schools revealed her eight-yearold son said “I want to die” after being isolated from his friends during lockdown.
Stephanie Sprake from Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, said it is heartbreaking to see the change in son Matthew since lockdown took hold.
She is a member of Us For Them Wales, a Facebook group which believes the dangers lockdown pose to children’s mental health and well-being outweigh the risks of Covid-19.
Mrs Sprake, who works for an accounting body, said Matthew and sister Charlotte, 11, have uniquely different outlooks on returning to school in September.
Matthew, who attends Ysgol Wepre in Connah’s Quay, has no certainty he’ll be with his classmates again, as the Welsh Government remains cautious.
A goalkeeper at Airbus UK’s academy, he also missed out on football and the cumulative effect saw him withdraw, said Mrs Sprake.
Sister Charlotte will start at Wirral Grammar School in England in September, where classes will start relatively normally in full year groups.
Mrs Sprake said: “In September it looks like I’m going to be waving my daughter off and keeping my son at home. I really think I am going to have to get him mental health help. No-one is downplaying the risks of Covid but it’s gone on for so long and there’s clear evidence the risks to children and teachers are low, because children don’t get very ill and don’t pass on the virus easily.
“My eight-year-old has been really lonely and just wants to go back to school.
“He said to me he wants to die, ‘mummy I just want to die’. He’s so sad. If he thought he could go back to school in September there’d be some hope.”
The group is advocating full reopening of Welsh Schools in September.
They cite countries like France, Denmark, Holland and Denmark to back up their conviction children are at low risk of being ill and passing the virus on.
Mrs Sprake said: “In the Netherlands they said they’re not going to socially distance the children, but teachers will stay two metres apart from everyone else.
“These are things Welsh Government should be getting in place now ready for September.”
In the latest survey conducted by Public Health Wales, almost half (46%) of people were very or extremely concerned about children catching Covid-19 in schools and spreading it within their families and communities.
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