Nowhere near like usual though.
And probably worse if at uni but living at home. No uni/social life at all.
48% (!) say the pandemic negatively affected their wellbeing
- Thread starter bimble
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And probably worse if at uni but living at home. No uni/social life at all.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
I think a lot more students live at home now too cos of costs
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
Yep, but at least some of that highlights how some schools weren’t able to meet these student’s needs before lockdown. Not blaming schools there but more commenting on wider systemic and funding issues.
If you actively thrive during a time of enforced isolation during a global pandemic, then life must have been extremely challenging with insufficient accommodations beforehand.
But it hasn't driven any changeYep, but at least some of that highlights how some schools weren’t able to meet these student’s needs before lockdown. Not blaming schools there but more commenting on wider systemic and funding issues.
If you actively thrive during a time of enforced isolation during a global pandemic, then life must have been extremely challenging with insufficient accommodations beforehand.
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
No, it really hasn’tBut it hasn't driven any change
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Yep, but at least some of that highlights how some schools weren’t able to meet these student’s needs before lockdown. Not blaming schools there but more commenting on wider systemic and funding issues.
If you actively thrive during a time of enforced isolation during a global pandemic, then life must have been extremely challenging with insufficient accommodations beforehand.
I think that the increasing focus on academic learning in schools, particularly over the last few decades, has a lot to do with this. I've seen it at the sharp end - a lot of nice noises get made about wellbeing, but when it comes down to it, the school's "mission" is invariably to achieve high academic results, with the wellbeing aspects being a bolt-on that is secondary to the hell-for-leather dash towards GCSE results and university admissions.
It's going to take a top-down initiative to prioritise wellbeing, if necessary above academic achievement, and proper resourcing of schools, to enable that to happen. We need to relegate the "educationalists" from their present position of primacy, and start accepting that education is only but a part of a bigger developmental, emotional growth, nurturing picture. Into which it can fit quite nicely, but at the moment, we're in the business of making seedlings grow quicker by giving the stems a tug upwards every day. Rather than, like, watering and nourishing them.
This pandemic will, I fear, be a missed opportunity to make some really radical changes to the way our society has come to operate, and look at all the things that don't have a pound sign in front of them that matter equally, if not more, despite their inability to turn a profit and/or make some wealthy people even more wealthy.
Yep, but at least some of that highlights how some schools weren’t able to meet these student’s needs before lockdown. Not blaming schools there but more commenting on wider systemic and funding issues.
If you actively thrive during a time of enforced isolation during a global pandemic, then life must have been extremely challenging with insufficient accommodations beforehand.
My point is that the return to normal expectations means those that benefitted from the protection that lockdown gave are now exposed again in a way that's harmful in some cases, the thriving did not produce long-term benefits, it's contextual and very easily lost when that context changes for the worse.
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
Yes, I would completely agree with that.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
First year of 'proper' GCSE exams since covid is coming up. Grades are norm-referenced so I wouldn't expect a seismic shift in reported grades relative to 2019 but it's beyond doubt that actual attaniment will be down across the board, precisely because attainment and transmission of subject content has been prioritised over wellbeing. I'm trying to teach quantitative chemistry to classes where there are several kids who regularly burst into tears and/or run around the room throwing stuff because their emotional regulation is completely shot. So not only are they not learning anything, but nobody else in the class is either.
We're trying to fix the roof on a house that's had all the walls knocked in.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I agree, though I think the problem is even deeper - nobody can really agree on what the house is supposed to be for in the first place.
I've long made the slightly wry observation that if you focused almost entirely on emotional wellbeing up to Years 8 or 9, you could probably teach most of the kids the academic stuff in classes of a hundred. Because you wouldn't have the "crowd control" and "behavioural" issues hitting things nearly as much. It's probably not practical, but I think it illustrates an at least feasible idea. And now would be the time - given sufficient imagination up high, which of course there isn't - to make such a change.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Should be a hierarchy of things. First, keep them physically safe. For many kids it will be the only place they are phyiscally safe. Second, provide a nurturing social environment in which for kids to develop their social and emotional skills and resources. Third, get everyone to a decent standard of literacy and numeracy and give them an understanding of the basics of rational, evidence-based thinking. Fourth, allow and encourage kids to develop and explore their own intellectual interests.
We get step one right more often than not. The other three, not even close.
This kind of survey result tells you more about the way people construct meaning as a contextual response to questions at the point they are asked then it does about their actual “well-being”.
Note that the question is not “are you better/worse now compared with pre-pandemic?” It’s actually just tracking a response to something along the lines of “how content are you on a scale of 1 to 10?” Well, it’s a consistent result from positive psychology research that peoples’ responses to questions about how content/happy/well they are show remarkable stability regardless of what happens in their lives. That is often interpreted as the idea that well-being responses are a function of personal mindset rather than life circumstances. However, I prefer the explanation that it is because the response, being contextually constructed in the moment, is more of a reflection of the nature of the question itself than the individual answering it. To back this up, I note that slight variations in the way the question is asked and the questions that precede it can result in wildly different responses on the same scale.
Note that the question is not “are you better/worse now compared with pre-pandemic?” It’s actually just tracking a response to something along the lines of “how content are you on a scale of 1 to 10?” Well, it’s a consistent result from positive psychology research that peoples’ responses to questions about how content/happy/well they are show remarkable stability regardless of what happens in their lives. That is often interpreted as the idea that well-being responses are a function of personal mindset rather than life circumstances. However, I prefer the explanation that it is because the response, being contextually constructed in the moment, is more of a reflection of the nature of the question itself than the individual answering it. To back this up, I note that slight variations in the way the question is asked and the questions that precede it can result in wildly different responses on the same scale.
elbows
Well-Known Member
Part of a reason things are a horrible mess on this front is that even when we set to one side the obvious agendas and priorities of the establishment, there are other groups and mechanisms by which attitudes shift over time.
Combine this with the fact that 'some countries think they are moving away from the acute phase of the pandemic' is not the same as 'this coronavirus and its implications are all over' and we have an unhappy picture of people being on very different pages. Aspects of the disease risk landscape are permanently changed when a new virus joins the ranks of viruses that are with humanity for the long-term. And there are different ways to come to terms with this and try to cope with it and be protected against its horrors, and humans are not equal when it comes to the perceived and real stakes for them and people they care about.
sheothebudworths
Up the bum - no babies!!!
There is this, too - Radical action needed to tackle racial health inequality in NHS, says damning report
I'm not sure how easily a question around 'wellbeing' can be answered, when you have no confidence in even your most basic health care needs being met, to start with.
I'm not sure how easily a question around 'wellbeing' can be answered, when you have no confidence in even your most basic health care needs being met, to start with.
bimble
floofy
The figures in this article would suggest that the 48% includes a hell of a lot of young people. Unsurprisingly. Have thought the whole time how lucky I am that these last two years didn’t happen to me when I was a teenager.
Grim stuff:
www.theguardian.com
Grim stuff:
Millions in England face ‘second pandemic’ of mental health issues
Exclusive: NHS leaders urge ministers to tackle huge rise in depression, anxiety, psychosis and eating disorders since Covid hit
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
This news, of course, won’t lead to a huge injection of NHS funds for mental health servicesThe figures in this article would suggest that the 48% includes a hell of a lot of young people. Unsurprisingly. Have thought the whole time how lucky I am that these last two years didn’t happen to me when I was a teenager.
Grim stuff:
Millions in England face ‘second pandemic’ of mental health issues
Exclusive: NHS leaders urge ministers to tackle huge rise in depression, anxiety, psychosis and eating disorders since Covid hit
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I'm just waiting for the "And that's why we're giving..." explanation the government will inevitably trot out, as if whatever platitudes they're mouthing will count for anything in the light of over two decades' wilful and chronic underfunding of the sector.This news, of course, won’t lead to a huge injection of NHS funds for mental health services
Epona
Radar 2006-2020, Sonic 2006-2022, Jakey 2007-2024
I do understand that for some people with a secure job that they could do from home and a nice house/garden the whole working from home thing might well have provided a far better "work/life balance" than previously, which might have been quite liberating.
For us though, it's negatively affected us in multiple ways that will have a long term impact, including but not limited to (and this list will be very similar for a lot of people, it is by no means a unique experience)
The positive was that we got to spend a lot of time together because OH was furloughed for months, but it was constant uncertainty about whether he would get furlough pay (multiple zero hours contracts), how much/from whom, and the ongoing worry after the first lockdown of when it might be cut off by employers but still no work available.
So that is positive in hindsight, at the time being furloughed was quite stressful.
For us though, it's negatively affected us in multiple ways that will have a long term impact, including but not limited to (and this list will be very similar for a lot of people, it is by no means a unique experience)
- loss of work (both of us)
- loss of income (both of us) - including for both of the above the period before furlough schemes when people weren't using hospitality so much and places were closing because there wasn't enough income from opening a club for a night
- debt and inability to pay bills as a result of the above
- being trapped indoors during first lockdown with no outdoor space of our own during what turned out to be quite a hot spring
- me not being able to see a terminally ill relative to say a final goodbye after his life-extending treatment was stopped due to risk from Covid
- not being able to attend his funeral or see his wife when she needed support most
- not seeing my elderly parents for 18 months in order to keep them safe
- stress from all the above (especially loss of work/income, OH's main work when it started was in a nightclub)
- last but not least, actually getting Coronavirus, which even though we were triple vaxxed by that point still wasn't pleasant and resulted in more loss of income
The positive was that we got to spend a lot of time together because OH was furloughed for months, but it was constant uncertainty about whether he would get furlough pay (multiple zero hours contracts), how much/from whom, and the ongoing worry after the first lockdown of when it might be cut off by employers but still no work available.
So that is positive in hindsight, at the time being furloughed was quite stressful.
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