North Yorkshire Children Are Worrying More Post Covid

A recent report shows that there has been a “big increase” in worry among North Yorkshire’s primary school children since COVID-19 happened. The public health report shows that 86% of the children aged 10 and 11 said that they are worried about most things most days. In 2018, this figure was much lower, at just 61%, and in 2014, it was around 76%. The report highlighted that this was the impact of the pandemic and it was found that the top worry is children is that a family member would die which was recorded for boys and girls. The county Public Health Director Louise Wallace published the document, which, on Friday was being debated by North Yorkshire Council.

“Children and young people were significantly affected by the pandemic, with disruption to their education, their health, and their ability to socialize with their peers and even their own extended families,” Ms. Wallace commented. “We need to work hard therefore to ensure that the effects on their development, mental health and well-being, and school attainment are not lifelong.” the report found that along with increased worries, primary-aged children in the county were also “less resilient” than previous years. 22% of children scored low on resilience which is decreasing compared to the 15% of children beforehand in 2014. “Overall we see children emotionally less able to cope with stress and worrying more,” the report said.

The key finding from the report includes 86% of North Yorkshire’s children aged 10 and 11 felt worried “most days”, compared to what was just 61% in 2014. 22% of primary-aged children scored as low as 22% on resilience, compared to 15% in 2014. 21% of children aged six and seven years said that they had friends online whom they never had met in person. 60% of six and seven-year-olds also said that they know how to be safe online. 42% of home-schooled secondary school-aged children said that the reason to study at home is stress and anxiety. 41% of girls and 27% of boys said they “sometimes felt afraid” to attend school and get into school premises due to bullying.

Other issues looked at in the report included social media, homeschooling, absence from school, and difficulty sleeping. The report showcases the number of secondary school-aged pupils being home-schooled has continued to increase since the pandemic from 550 in 2021 to 665 in 2023. The most common reasons given to justify this rise were stress and anxiety. 42% of the children gave this reason who had chosen to be homeschooled instead of attending public or private schools.

Around one in every six primary school children was reported to be persistently absent from schools in the North Yorkshire region, which according to the report was worrying. “Emotionally based school avoidance is a priority for our mental health system,” the report mentioned. While talking about social media, the report stated, “Primary school children are now embracing technology, living in a digital age with no experience of the world that went before.” “However, this creates significant inequalities, particularly in the oldest years, between those who have the means to possess the latest kit and those who are dependent on hand-me-downs, or cannot afford any device or the connectivity,” it continued.