Status: 04/21/2023 2:05 p.m
The Bundestag has discussed the consequences of the Corona measures for young people and children. The basis was the report of several ministries. It became clear that most children are still suffering from the effects.
More than 70 percent of children and young people suffer from the after-effects of the Corona measures – this is the conclusion reached by a working group from several ministries, whose report was now a topic in the Bundestag.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach said in Parliament that many children and young people suffer from mental disorders. Her health has deteriorated. The SPD politician once again described school closures and other corona measures as “sometimes too strict”. “Of all those who have made sacrifices in the pandemic, the children have made the most sacrifices,” said Lauterbach. They would have “suffered from the measures”.
“Public life has come to a virtual standstill”
The report states that all public life has come to a virtual standstill. Meeting friends and family members outside of your own household, playing outside, spending time with your peers – all of this was only possible to a very limited extent from one day to the next.
Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus pointed out that the pandemic for children and young people is not over. In the debate, the Green politician said that more than 70 percent of them still felt mentally stressed, and that other crises such as the Ukraine war and the climate crisis were putting an additional strain on young people.
“The young people in the country have shown solidarity with the elderly. Our task is to place their support more at the center of our actions,” says Paus. Politicians have the task of giving greater consideration to the concerns of children and young people when setting priorities. For example, in the summer, so-called mental health coaches will start at schools to support children and young people and provide “first mental aid” in acute crises.
Opposition criticizes the lack of aid for young people
The CDU MP Mareike Lotte Wulf admitted that at the beginning of the corona pandemic three years ago, the then grand coalition had to make “extremely difficult considerations”. To condemn this across the board “would be too easy”. But the means to alleviate the consequences of the corona pandemic have decreased significantly. It is no longer a package for the future, but rather “a package”.