[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I don't even think it always is that Ammi, I think we've maybe underestimated the importance of kids having face to face interaction with each other / physical play for their mental health. My and my wife are both doing great in lockdown... my mental health is better than it's been in years . But my eldest, even just in the last month or so, has really started to struggle with being isolated from her friends and general lack of social contact. They have phones etc. obviously but we've actually had to impose a "tech detox" this week as it seemed to actually be making things worse - a lot of the kids getting easily frustrated / nasty in their chat groups. The lack of REAL social contact with peers is causing signs of anxiety and depression in the kids of pretty much every parent I've spoken to. The latest news here is that they're all going back full time in August... it's my eldest's final year at primary school. She'll be absolutely devastated if something changes.

...absolutely it hasn’t always been a whole family struggling/..parents struggling...but it has had a huge bearing in terms of families who are now under a social worker and they weren’t before lockdown...the general family tension obviously impacts on everyone in the house and with quarantine there has been no escape from the house...we’re also told that there has been a rise in alcohol drinking in homes, which is something that I’ve personally experienced as well...it’s very sad for this year’s Year 6 because they haven’t experienced the end of their Primary School days in the same way as others have in the past, there are so many things that they’ve sadly missed out on which is so helpful to ease their transitions...I’m glad that it wasn’t your daughter's last year this year and hopefully she’ll get to experience everything fully in her final year...