There's so much to say about the impact this pandemic has made on our children. The closure of schools and the mass media panic have changed the lives of our children, and at the moment it seems for the worse. When looking at the statistics for children and adolescents, there's an 83% increase in suicides & self-harm, a 63% increase in violence to others, a 59% increase in drugs & alcohol use, and a 135% increase in nudity & sexual content. Additionally, anxiety and depression in children are at all time highs. And all these issues cannot be fixed by a vaccine. Our children's education may only be affected by only one year, but the psychological trauma we have placed on them may take upwards to 5 years to recover, if we're lucky. For some (and likely the most vulnerable), effects may be permanent. This pandemic is like a war, and our children have been the greatest of casualties.

Our youngest generation needs our help, and we must bring hope back into their lives. Children must be allowed to interact with their friends in person in order to develop healthy interpersonal skills. It's important for their well-being. And the best place for them to learn is in school. The social development consequences produced by school closures may be worse than Covid, and we now know that children are more likely to get Covid out in the community than in the school. In future history books, the closure of schools will likely be looked at as the most significant misadventure of this pandemic.