Another major media outlet talks about “the children”
For the second time in just over a week (here’s another), a major media outlet has talked about the serious issues facing our children related to COVID 19 (unfortunately they don’t tend to focus specifically on government response to the pandemic, but focus on the pandemic itself).
Today’s warning comes from the New York Times, a leading lockdown proponent. The story (below) outlines some of the notable issues:
| Many children and teenagers are experiencing mental health problems, aggravated by the isolation and disruption of the pandemic. Three medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recently declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health. They cited “dramatic increases in emergency department visits for all mental health emergencies.” |
| Suicide attempts have risen, slightly among adolescent boys and sharply among adolescent girls. The number of E.R. visits for suspected suicide attempts by 12- to 17-year-old girls rose by 51 percent from early 2019 to early 2021, according to the C.D.C. |
| Gun violence against children has increased, as part of a broader nationwide rise in crime. In Chicago, for example, 101 residents under age 20 were murdered last year, up from 76 in 2019. School shootings have also risen: The Washington Post counted 42 last year in the U.S., the most on record and up from 27 in 2019. |
| Many schools have still not returned to normal, worsening learning loss and social isolation. Once-normal aspects of school life — lunchtime, extracurricular activities, assemblies, school trips, parent-teacher conferences, reliable bus schedules — have been transformed if not eliminated. |
Simply put, politicians, unions, the media, and others have failed our kids and while some are willing to highlight the issues, they are unwilling to acknowledge serious government policy mistakes that have caused these sad outcomes.