THREE-QUARTERS OF parents whose children were in education when Covid-19 lockdowns took hold five years ago feel their social development was negatively impacted, according to a CSO survey.

The survey was carried out online in January as part of an effort to tell the social story of Ireland, and it gathered 21,000 responses.

Today marks five years since then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made a televised address to the Irish people live from Washington, announcing a pre-emptive two-week closure of schools, colleges and childcare centres in the wake of global Covid-19 outbreak.

Unbeknownst to many, that closure would extend to August when returning school students were required to wear masks and observe social distancing measures.

The survey quizzed parents and their children alike on the social impacts of lockdown on students as they relate to the implementation of lockdown in March 2020.

Social development

The survey offered an interesting insight into the parental perspective on the negative correlation between school closures and their children’s socialisation.

According to the findings, 71% of parents believe the social development of at least one of their kids was impacted as a result of school closures.

Parents whose children were attending a special school in March 2020 were most likely to report negative consequences for their young ones’ social development.

The cohort of parents most critical of the impact of school closures on their children’s social development were those with sons and daughters in secondary education, with 75% decrying the impacts versus 66% of primary school parents.

A relatively large number of parent respondents were indifferent to lockdowns, with 25% overall stating that they saw no negative consequences for their children’s social development versus 7% of parents of special education students.

Respondents also shared their sentiments on the academic impact of the shutdown.

The student perspective

Three-quarters of people who were in secondary school when lockdowns were first introduced claim the measures had a negative effect on their social skills.

There is a similar sentiment among people in post-secondary education at the time – seven in ten marked it as detrimental to their social development, while two in three people who were in attendance at third level or further education institutions believe lockdowns had a deleterious effect on their learning.

Of those in post-secondary education who recognised academic benefits by way of lockdown measures, three-quarters conceded that there were negative social impacts.

The gender difference

Of the parent respondents, males and females were largely consistent in their opinions on both the social and educational impacts of the Covid-19 lockdowns.

In terms of social development, male students were found to be more than twice as likely to remark upon the lockdowns as having a positive social impact (7% versus 3%).