by Barbara Woodard, IUCP

The long ‘lockdowns’ were implemented by politicians based on recommendation from epidemiologists.  While their intentions were good, their plans failed to address what is needed to live and thrive as a person; child development specialists, psychologists and gerontologists should have been included in the decision making. I am most concerned about the long term damage to children.

The brains of children are still developing, and developmental stages cannot be postponed. Play is the occupation of children; they need to play with other children.  They need to learn how to recognize facial expressions, body language, engage in cooperative play and build relationships, regulate their emotions, be touched and hugged. They need to be outside in the sunshine and climb, jump and run.  And for many children, there was the added burden of being confined in a home with secondhand smoke and inadequate food, with emotionally, physically or sexually abusing people.

Now that people are out, I see many obese children and morbidly obese young adults; they have lost their connection to sports, and they are often lethargic. Some don’t know how to connect with other people.  Has their life expectancy been impacted?

One of the excuses given for locking children up was to “save grandma.”  While society has usually respected the elderly, it has never sacrificed the young for the elderly.  As a 78 year old grandmother, I am grieved that children were made to pay this price.  And isolating grandma! That is another issue.

As one Prague doctor said, “We cut off the body to save the finger.”