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Elementary school students in Berlin
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Annette Riedl / dpa
In the opinion of the FDP parliamentary group, the federal government does not understand enough what consequences the corona restrictions have for children and young people.
Three Liberal MPs, including the socio-political spokesman Pascal Kober, had made a small question about the education and health of children and adolescents in the pandemic.
From the answers available to SPIEGEL, Kober concludes: »Even after a pandemic for over a year, the federal government is not sufficiently aware of the effects of the corona measures.
It pursues a policy the consequences of which it cannot assess. "
Such a "policy into the blue" to the detriment of the health of children and adolescents is irresponsible.
Kober refers, for example, to the fact that the federal government says it lacks detailed knowledge of the development of the proportion of children and adolescents with overweight, eating disorders, drug abuse and the effects of school closings on the learning performance of pupils.
The federal government is also unable to provide nationwide, reliable data on possibly larger linguistic deficits.
There is also insufficient knowledge about children from socially disadvantaged families, who are expected to be under particularly severe stress.
Did you seek advice from children's experts too seldom?
In its answers to the FDP questions, however, the federal government points out, among other things, that it is funding a large-scale study on childcare in daycare centers during the corona pandemic.
The federal states are responsible for collecting learning delays.
"Separate studies on the effects of the closings of schools on the health of children and adolescents are not funded by the federal government," says the letter.
At the same time, the answer points to several studies available, including the COPSY study from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.
According to this, there has been an increase in psychological and psychosomatic symptoms in children and adolescents.
In addition, the JuCo study by the research group "Childhood - Youth - Family in the Corona Period" at the University of Hildesheim and Frankfurt is mentioned, according to which young people are increasingly concerned about the future.
45 percent of those questioned expressed fear of the future.
Young people who inherently have few resources are particularly affected.
Kober criticizes that the federal government is well aware that the corona rules have negative consequences for children and young people.
At the same time, however, she had failed to seek advice from experts more often in her political decision-making when it came to the health of children and adolescents.
In the answer to the small question, on the other hand, it says that appointments with, for example, Chancellor Angela Merkel or Health Minister Jens Spahn with appropriate experts are simply not fully documented.
Kober demands that the federal government urgently needs to obtain comprehensive and reliable knowledge about the effects of the corona restrictions on children and young people.
This included, in particular, findings on the consequences of school closings and surveys that particularly focus on children in socially disadvantaged environments.
"Only with extensive knowledge can it be possible to support children and young people in a targeted manner and to counteract the inequalities that have arisen."
Responsible, step-by-step openings in the day-care center and school area are now necessary instead of renewed closings in order to prevent long-term damage to educational and health opportunities, especially for socially disadvantaged children.
In Germany, the individual federal states decide whether and how far daycare centers and schools remain open despite Corona.
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