A GENERATION ‘SCARRED FOR LIFE’

Get the children back to school, PM warned, or they’ll suffer for ‘years to come’

More than 1,600 paediatricians have signed an open letter to Boris Johnson, demanding a clear plan to get children back to school to avoid ‘scarring the life chances of a generation’.

Millions of children face devastating consequences from missed exercise, vaccinations, mental health support and free school meals, the consultants warned.

Further delays could mean ‘the difference between surviving and thriving’ for a entire section of society, they warned.

They urged the Government to prioritise reopening schools or it would limit the life chances of children and young people ‘for years to come’.

The letter was sent to UK-based members of the royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (rCPCH). it said while most children will be spared the worst physical effects of the virus, other health and social impacts will be ‘severe’.

‘school is about much more than learning. it is a vital point of contact for public health services, safeguarding and other initiatives. This includes access to mental health support, vaccinations, special therapies, free school meals, physical activity and early-years services that help children get the best start in life.

‘For many children and their families, these interventions are the difference between surviving and thriving. in their absence our already frayed safety net cannot function, and we risk failing a generation.’

schools reopened this week to secondary pupils who will take exams next year and children in reception classes and Years 1 and 6 at primaries have already been welcomed back. But social distancing rules, limits on class sizes and resistance from unions have caused problems.

Most pupils up to GCse age will have been home for almost six months if they return in september, with Health secretary Matt Hancock admitting that not all school children will be able to return for the start of the school year.

The letter to the Prime Minister was signed by more than 500 members within an hour of being sent out. Professor russell Viner, rCPCH president and a member of the scientific Advisory Group for emergencies (sage), said the response showed the depth of feeling by members.

‘Children need their schools,’ he said. ‘every child deserves to have an uninterrupted education and teachers, school leaders and local authorities have worked tirelessly to provide that before and during Covid. But teachers do so much more than teach and schools provide so much more than education.

‘schools are vital to the wellbeing of children and young people, providing a range of services from vaccinations to mental health support.’

A lack of exercise could also have devastating long- term consequences, especially given one in five pupils is already overweight.

Dr Liz Marder, a consultant community paediatrician in Nottingham, said: ‘indirectly, many children and young people have suffered enormously. it is our most vulnerable children, such as those from disadvantaged families or those with additional needs, who may suffer most. Getting children safely back into education as soon as we can has to be a priority.’

speaking at the daily government press conference yesterday, Culture secretary oliver Dowden pleaded with parents to overcome their anxieties and send their children back to class.

Mr Dowden said: ‘ it is vitally important that we get children back to school.’ He also criticised unions and the Labour Party for failing to support the plans.

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‘Many children have suffered enormously’