Without doubt when the current Covid 19 Pandemic crisis ends, society will have to make some difficult choices both socially and economically. Some of the most vulnerable in society, which includes our children in schools will suffer, unless there’s a conscious effort made to protect them and address the flaws in safeguarding that have resulted in so many deaths because of bullying and violence. Unless the current flaws in school bullying and violence complaints systems and the lack of accountability is addressed children and families will be counting the cost physically and emotionally for many years to come
The negative social and emotional effects the crisis may have on children’s behaviour when they return to school, reminds us that’s it’s more important than ever that we fight to have steps put in place to mitigate those and ensure laws, policies, accountability measures and oversight are put in place and raised to the highest standards possible.
We’ve seen over the last few years that School safety when it comes to violence and bullying has been far too low a priority for a long time. The temptation to allow standards to slip will be even greater, with so many issues that will be vying for resources and attention when children return. Nothing else in Education is more important than safety and it’s imperative that at this time we are able to hold Government to account and compete for their attention with every other issue that’s deemed essential, to make sure as many children’s lives are saved as possible.
