Despite my pleas, there was a lack of political will to reopen schools

Opening pubs and theme parks was more important than getting children back into the classroom

When a country faces a threat as grave as the pandemic, the well-being of children and young people should always be a primary concern. This wasn’t the case in our response to coronavirus. The Lockdown Files have shown that decisions on issues as vital as opening schools, the number of people allowed to meet, and even the wearing of face masks were often taken on the basis of political expediency rather than scientific evidence.

As children’s commissioner for England during Covid, I wish I could say I was surprised by the contents of the Whatsapp messages revealing the Government failed to put children first. Unfortunately, this was the regular pattern of decision-making throughout much of the pandemic. Too often it seemed as though the effects of lockdown on children were an afterthought, despite the obvious negative impact that closing schools to most for months on end would have on well-being and learning. They are still living with the consequences of those decisions now and many, particularly some of the most disadvantaged, have poorer prospects as a result.

My job was to be a voice for children in Whitehall and Westminster. It quickly became clear to me – and indeed to most people bringing up their children at home – that many would really struggle with a long lockdown. Within days of the first shutdown being announced, I asked ministers to begin planning for the reopening of schools as quickly as possible. But there was a noticeable lack of political will to make reopening schools a top priority.

Some young people missed almost a year of in-person education and, for too many, the effects are still being felt. Teachers tell me that some of the toddlers of 2020 are arriving at primary school behind in their speech and language development and without the expected social skills. They say lockdown has rocket-boosted disruption, behaviour, and even grooming, exploitation and teenage gang violence. Hardly a month passes without a report showing how many of the most disadvantaged children have yet to catch up on their education.

Just last week, I was contacted by a desperate mother whose son with special educational needs has yet to return to school. Thousands of others are regularly not attending. I hear from parents whose children are still struggling with mental health problems that began in lockdown, and statistics show there is now a mental health epidemic among the young.

My frustration is that so much of this was predictable. It is why I pushed the Government hard at the time to make sure schools were the last to close and first to reopen. While I supported the decision to close schools to most children when the pandemic was at its worst, as transmission rates fell, it was impossible to understand why ministers felt that opening pubs and theme parks was a more urgent task than getting children back into the classroom with their friends.

It is infuriating to learn now just how many decisions were based not on the best of evidence and care for children’s well-being but what worked for the Government politically. I did not oppose the decision to introduce face masks in schools as I believed the measure was introduced in response to expert advice. The Lockdown Files have revealed this happened largely because the Prime Minister didn’t want to have a row with Nicola Sturgeon. The scientists were ambivalent.

I argued that the “rule of six” should be scrapped for under-12s, just as it was in Scotland. It makes me angry to think we stopped children from playing and socialising with peers for political convenience, not because scientists were warning against it.

They say you can judge a society by the way it treats its children. The Government’s treatment of children during the pandemic revealed a society that does not always give enough thought to the impact of major decisions on children and families.

No doubt promises will be made that lessons will be learnt, but we need our politicians to go further, and stop treating children as an afterthought. Their well-being and life chances must never again be sacrificed for political expediency.

Too often it seemed as though the effects of lockdown on children were an afterthought