---

Lockdown damaged youth learning and social needs

A massive 71% of parents surveyed believe that their children’s social development was negatively affected by COVID lockdowns, the CSO has found.

The CSO's Pulse Survey – ‘COVID-19 Our Lives Five Years On: Interrupted Education’ – is a comprehensive look at how the pandemic school closures affected children, students, and their families.

A full 68% of parents feel their children’s education and learning was also negatively affected.

Special schools

Parents of children in special schools were most likely to report negative impacts on both social development (82%) and education (82%).

Parents with poorer financial situations were more likely to feel that the school closures negatively impacted their children's social development and education.

A full 80% of parents with primary school children in a bad financial situation believed their child’s social development was negatively impacted, compared with 62% of those with better financial situations.

And 74% of mothers with a child in third-level education reported a negative impact on social development, compared to 64% of fathers.

A full 76% of secondary school students reported that school closures negatively affected both their social development and education while 64% of third-level students felt their education was negatively impacted, and 71% felt their social development suffered.

Notably, 19% of third-level students thought the closures had a positive impact on their education, and 5% thought it had a positive impact on their social development.

Negative impact

Female students were more likely to report a negative impact on their education (69% vs 61% of males) and social development (71% vs 66% of males).

There was a significant difference between parents' and students' views on the impact of third-level closures on future career prospects. Just 38% of parents believed it would negatively impact career prospects, compared to only 29% of students. 

Conversely, 16% of students believed the closures would positively impact their future careers, compared to just 3% of parents.

The CSO survey was conducted online from 16 January to 2 February this year and included 21,003 responses.

The results reflect the views of participants, but since the survey was voluntary and online, it is not nationally representative, the CSO stated.