Half of UK parents uncomfortable with children attending school following lockdown

COVID-19 has caused significant disruptions to families’ lives through social distancing, school closures, and lockdowns. This is also a rapidly changing situation where different pressures will arise for children, young people, and their families over time.

A new study as a part of Co-SPACE (COVID-19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents, and Children in Epidemics) led by experts at the University of Oxford suggests that half of UK parents are not comfortable with children returning to school.

More than 10,000 were surveyed on how they feel about their children returning to school as the Government announced the phased return of schools.

Notably, parents from lower-income households and those not working felt less comfortable than those with higher incomes or those who were employed. There were particular concerns for parents of children with special education needs and/or neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, that their child would not get the emotional, behavioral, and educational support that they need or the support they need with transitions to different groups, classes, or schools.

Parents were found to be more worried about the practicalities of children returning to school, such as managing social distancing, as well as their children or them catching or transmitting COVID-19.

Only a minority of children and young people are perceived by their parents not to feel comfortable going to class. Parents see their children generally worried about things being different or uncertain and the enjoyable aspects of school not happening—other concerns associated with friendships and social distancing.

While primary school-aged children seem to be worried about being away from home and transitions, secondary school-aged children found to be concerned about getting COVID-19 and academic pressures.

Parents of children with special education needs and neurodevelopmental disorders highlighted particular concerns about their children getting sufficient emotional, behavioral, and educational support, around support around transitions to new schools or classes.

Professor Tamsin Ford, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the University of Cambridge, said, “It is essential to understand the concerns of parents about their children going back to school so that schools and local services can best support families, and Co-SPACE provides some useful data about this.”

“The impact of the lockdown will vary according to the home and school circumstances of the child, as well as their age, as will the support needed. Co-SPACE provides important information about which groups might need additional support, such as children with special educational needs or disability, mental health difficulties, and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism. Children with these conditions may find going back to school particularly difficult.”

This research is supported through UKRI Covid-19 funding and by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, the Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR Applied Research Consortium, and the UKRI Emerging Minds Network Plus.

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