Children and Covid 19 in the UK

The UK has been one of the most badly affected nations of the Global North by the COVID-19 outbreak in terms of illness, death rates and a severe economic downturn. Children have been impacted severely (and unequally), with UK lockdown meaning that many children were away from school and usual leisure activities for six months during the first lockdown. We revised this Viewpoint during the third lockdown when schools were closed again for an indefinite time. Despite substantial media and policy debate about the impact of COVID-19 on young people, with a focus on education, young people’s own voices tend to be obscured in these mainstream accounts. By contrast, the Children’s Commissioner for England has focused on young people’s accounts, which are discussed in this viewpoint.