The Covid-19 Pandemic’s Forgotten Children

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant numbers of fatalities around the world but primarily among older adults and those with underlying health conditions. Children overall have escaped the worst of the physical effects of the pandemic but the toll on their cognitive, emotional, and social development may be greater than first realized. This is exemplified in a recent report published by the English government regulator for education Ofsted. This report reveals that younger children especially have been severely affected by the challenges to normal development attributable to societal impositions which were necessitated in response to the Covid-19 global pandemic (Ofsted, 2022). Ofsted is the English Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, and the other countries of the United Kingdom and elsewhere across the world have similar bodies. Ofsted’s primary role is to inspect services providing education and skills for learners of all ages. It also inspects and regulate services that care for children and young people. This ongoing global pandemic has caused significant educational disruptions across the entire globe which have impacted on all aspects of children’s lives. Although morbidity and mortality among children has been low when compared to older adults, children’s overall development has undoubtedly been affected. This is attributable to a number of pandemic factors, not least among others being societal lockdowns, school and preschool institutional closures, and mask wearing to halt the spread of the virus (Benner & Mistry, 2020). COMPREHENSIVE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT NURSING 2022, VOL. 45, NO. 3, 227–229 https://doi.org/10.1080/24694193.2022.2095863