Our children need to go back to school

I AM writing to express my strong support for the many medical experts who advocate a return to full-time school for all in September.

The stark reality is that, whilst young people starved of social lives are converging in hordes in an uncontrolled environment all around us, our teenagers face reduced GCSE course content in order that schools be seen to comply with a strict social distancing regime. Ironically, the “lockdown” which is curtailing our children’s education is no longer even a reality for many of the older generations whom it is principally there to protect.

All across Wales, there are elderly people who, understandably, have decided to venture out again, having made their own judgements about how far to interpret rules which curtail their contact with family and friends. Many people with young children are choosing to meet up on beaches and in parks to allow vital social contact with peers after months of lockdown; yet those same children face part-time school in September in order to keep them safely apart.

Surely, then, it is time to acknowledge that it is no longer meaningful to advance with such huge caution with regards to the nation’s schools. Whilst “blended learning” aims to limit numbers in the classroom in the name of safety, the reality is that there is no guarantee that individuals within that classroom have no social networks beyond its confines. This means that it can neither achieve its aim nor give our children the social and educational environment they need to thrive.

Finally, apart from all the unofficial, unregulated mixing that is already going on in society, children who are in part-time school will leave working parents with little choice but to enlist grandparents and friends to help out with childcare, thus further making a mockery of the “bubble” within the classroom.

Up until March 2020, county councils were constantly reminding parents of the detrimental impact missing even a week of school per year would have on our children. Now, with education in crisis, we need all the time we can get to make a start on mending the enormous damage already done, not inflict even more damage with part-time schooling which, for many of our disadvantaged children, may prove to be irrevocable.

Caroline Prince Swansea euthanised because there simply aren’t enough homes for them all.

A dog is for life, not just for lockdown. The RSPCA found that nearly 20% of people who buy a puppy no longer have the animal two years later. Before you decide to adopt a dog, be certain that you’ll have the time, energy, patience, and money required to provide proper care for life – even when lockdown restrictions have eased and you’re back in your normal routine.

If you can honestly say that you’re prepared to make that lifelong commitment, there’s no need to shop around. Dogs offered for adoption at shelters and by rescue groups offer all the love and companionship we could ever need.

Sascha Camilli Media & Special Projects

Coordinator People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals