Children's views and experiences

Scottish Youth Parliament, Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland partnered to deliver Lockdown Lowdown - a survey open to school, college, and university-aged participants from every community in Scotland, asking them to share their concerns about COVID-19.

The first phase of the survey ran from 3rd-17th April 2020 and more than 2400 young people took part. The results gave a clear picture of what young people are currently worried about – and the impact it’s having on their lives. 

• Results from the initial survey are available here.
• A summary is available on Together's website here.

The organisations are keeping track of the key issues via a weekly follow-up survey on social media. Young Scot is using the information to help tailor its digital information to ensure that young people have the information they need. The information is also being used by youth workers to support their work, and by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament to inform their advocacy activities.

Children's Parliament is running a monthly 'How are you doing survey?' for children aged 8-14. The surveys look at a range of issues including having fun, boredom, mood, learning new things, worries, health and loneliness. Repeating the survey each month allows children's experiences to be tracked over time.

Read the full report of the survey results from April, May and June here. 

Members of Children's Parliament (MCPs) are helping adults understand the impact that coronavirus is having on children's lives through the Corona Times Journal. 

MCP journalists have produced two editions so far: 

• Edition 1 (30th April 2020): the first edition looks at learning at home and being online. The children also reflect on being bored, feeling good, and share some of their questions and worries.
• Edition 2 (14th May 2020): themes in the second edition include health and wellbeing, in particular talking about sleep, food, being active and feelings and emotions. The children also write about things they are good at and about how lockdown affects relationships at home. Finally our journalists identify some worries and think about what adults can do to support children in these times
• Edition 3 (25th May 2020): themes in the third edition include learning and school before lockdown, positive things about learning in lockdown, things children and young people don't like about learning in lockdown, what they have learned about themselves as a learner, what they have learned about during this experience and how this should influence what school learning is like after they return to school, feelings and practical suggestions about the return to school. The journalists who are also moving to secondary school also express how they are feeling about this transition.
• Edition 4 (9th June 2020): Themes in this edition include how has lockdown changed the lives of the Corona Times Journalists over the three months, if the experience of COVID-19 and lockdown will change the lives of children, how the Corona Times Journalists want their community and Scotland to be different coming out of lockdown and finally who has been their lockdown heroes.
• Edition 5 (29th June 2020): This edition finds out how children get news and information about the pandemic and checks in on learning and health.

Girlguiding's survey gathered the views of almost 7000 girls and young women across the UK (aged 4-18). It sought to find out how they were being affected by the coronavirus crisis and lockdown. 

Views were collected on a range of issues including: 

• Health and wellbeing 
• Education 
• Homelife and community involvement 
• Information and the media

Read the report here. 

This survey gathered the views of 63 young people from Selkirk on lockdown and the future. 

The survey was structured in to four themes:

• School and home work
• Physical and mental health
• Access to support
• The future

Read the survey report in full here.

A Place in Childhood held three virtual workshops with children and young people across Scotland. The aim of this project was to give young Scots opportunity to discuss and agree the big changes and challenges they face due to Covid-19, and how they might be addressed.

There were 25 participants across project teams from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Rural Stirlingshire, with a Rural Falkirk team joining the third workshop. The teams include between 4-6 boys and girls, aged 10-16 years.

Workshop 1: focused on the big 5 changes for children and young people across Scotland from COVID-19. 

Workshop 2: focused on the associated challenges of these changes. 

Workshop 3: Focused on those challenges where they believed small improvements could make a big difference.

The workshop offered key insights into:

• the experience of loss of face to face social interaction;
• drastic changes to schooling practices;
• increasing stress on family resources;
• an overload of screen-time; and
• limited access to the outdoor play and recreation activities that usually underpin youth stress-coping strategies

Read about the workshops here. 

Read the research report here. 

The Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University Belfast is seeking the views of children aged 8-17 years old about how their rights have been impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes asking about children’s right to health care, education, play, to be safe and to have their views taken seriously.

The survey was developed by the Centre for Children’s Rights in collaboration with children’s rights organisations and 270 children across the world. This survey is part of the #CovidUnder19 initiative, which will use the insights gathered from the survey to inform a report to decision-makers and governments on their response to the pandemic and how the views of children can be at the heart of their decision making.

A facilitator’s pack is available to assist adults working with or supporting children to assist children to complete this survey.

• Take part in the survey here
• Access the facilitators pack here

This report provides insight into the effects of lockdown and enforced social isolation upon
young people from 12 to 24 years of age.

The research design focussed specifically on key
areas: emotional wellbeing before and during lockdown, their experiences of online bullying, and experiences of online prejudice during lockdown.

The research found a considerable difference within all key themes (emotional wellbeing,
experiences of online bullying, and experiences of online prejudice) across demographics. With
LGBT+ young people reporting a different experience from heterosexual young people, as do girls and young women when compared with boys and young men. In both comparisons, the
former groups have experienced and/or witnessed higher rates of online bullying and
prejudice during lockdown.

Read the report here

The UK Cost of the School Day project launched two surveys on 1st May 2020 - one aimed at children and young people and one aimed at parents and carers. As of 19th May, over 2500 parents and carers and over 1200 children and young people had shared their views. 

The surveys are still open but certain themes are emerging around: 

• Resources for learning 
• Pupil and family wellbeing 
• Financial support 
• Support with food costs
• Schools reopening

The interim findings are available here and the full results are expected at the end of May 2020. 

The UK Cost of the School Day project launched two surveys on 1st May 2020 - one aimed at children and young people and one aimed at parents and carers. As of 19th May, over 2500 parents and carers and over 1200 children and young people had shared their views. 

The surveys are still open but certain themes are emerging around: 

• Resources for learning 
• Pupil and family wellbeing 
• Financial support 
• Support with food costs
• Schools reopening

The interim findings are available here and the full results are expected at the end of May 2020. 

Who Cares? Scotland published a second report in May 2020, building on its April report.

The report highlights the impact on the care experienced community. It contains case studies drawn from the organisation's advocacy work and calls to its helpline. Many case studies relate to poverty and material deprivation, including one about a young care leaver who is struggling financially with lockdown expenditure, existing debt and utility bills. 

• Read the May report here.

Aberlour's report on supporting children, young people and their families through the outbreak includes a short case study about Sarah, a mother of a newborn baby.

The case study tells how Sarah and her baby had very little income and no support from family following a period in hospital. She did not have enough money left to buy warm clothing after paying household bills and buying baby essentials. She turned to Aberlour's Urgent Assistance Fund for help. 

Aberlour's report notes that applications to this fund have increased by more than 1400% since March 2020, directly in response to the crisis.

• Read the report here.

The Food Foundation ran a UK-wide survey for over-18s to find their experience of access to food during the pandemic. Over 4300 responses were received, respondents were asked to indicate how many children lived in the household. 

Findings showed that families with children were particularly vulnerable to experiencing food insecurity as a result of shop shortages. Those with children eligible for free school meals were at heightened risk of food insecurity arising from a lack of money. Many families reported delays in receiving their substitute for free school meals. In the first round of the survey, over 50% of parents/carers reported that they had not received their school meal substitute, decreasing to 40% in the second round. 

• Find out more about the survey here
• Read the initial findings here

The report highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the care experienced community, illustrating this through real-life case studies. 

Several case studies highlight the financial difficulties experienced by care experienced parents and the impact this is having on their children. 

• Read the report here.

NDCS has launched a survey for parents/carers of deaf children to ascertain their views on how coronavirus is affecting the child and wider family.

Findings will inform NDCS's response to an inquiry by the Women & Equalities Committee at the UK Parliament. This response has not yet been published.

• More information can be found here.
• Complete the survey here.

Sib's new Report: “Coming second all the time” Life in lockdown for siblings of disabled children includes the result of a survey undertaken with parents in May 2020 to find out more about the experiences of siblings of disabled children, under the age of 18, during lockdown. 876 parents responded. Key statistics are:

75% of parents said their sibling child’s mental health had worsened 50% of siblings are providing more care in lockdown 1 in 3 siblings are feeling isolated and missing support from family and friends. 

Read the report here

Family Fund conducted two waves of online  surveys, as well as in-depth interviews with a sample of families. The first survey was undertaken between 27 March and 3 April 2020, consisting of 1,986 families raising 2,700 disabled or seriously ill children. The second survey was conducted between 30 April and 4 May 2020, consisting of 2,531 families raising 3,279 disabled or seriously ill children.

Here is a summary of their findings:

• Half of families have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and more than three quarters are experiencing increased household costs.
• More families are seeing any saving they had rapidly diminishing, with nearlythree quarters of families now having no savings to fall back on.
• The situation around accessing essentials such as food and toiletries is improving,but many families are still going without.
• The availability of both informal and formal support for disabled or seriously ill children has hugely reduced, with limited signs of improvements since the lockdown began.
• The mental health and wellbeing of the majority of disabled or seriously ill children, as well as parent carers, is being negatively impacted, and showing signs of deteriorating as the lockdown continues.
• The biggest concerns for families are around educating and entertaining their disabled or seriously ill children at home and their children’s health and wellbeing.
• In turn, the priority items they require are things that can assist in educating and entertaining their children, as well as help meeting the cost of household essentials over the coming months.

Read the survey findings in full here.

The Disabled Children Partnership ran a survey to understand more about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on disabled children and young people (up to 25), their siblings and parents.

The survey was aimed at parents/carers and had received over 4000 responses from across the UK when it closed on 18th May 2020.

The results of the survey will be published soon.

• More information here.

The blog is written by the mother of Daniel, a 14-year-old boy who is deaf. She writes about their experiences during lockdown. An issue that affected Daniel and his mum was that their local authority had little time to plan how to deliver specialist services remotely. This is extremely important for BSL users who need video contact to communicate with support staff. 

• Read the blog here.

She encourages other parents to share their views through the National Deaf Children's Society survey, including on:

• Accessibility of online learning - schoolwork might not be adapted by a Teacher of the Deaf, videos might not include captions or BSL translation.
• Lack of school equipment at home - e.g. radio aids, laptop.
• Isolation from friends - many deaf children are the only deaf child in their mainstream school and may not be able to chat to friends using the phone.
• Difficulties communicating with parents at home who cannot sign fluently
• Problems getting batteries and repairs for hearing aids and cochlear implants, new ear-moulds etc. 

Inclusion Scotland ran a survey to gather evidence of what disabled people are experiencing during COVID-19. The survey was open to disabled people of all ages and their carers.

Some of the 822 responses were from parents/carers of disabled children. Many reported an increase in caring responsibilities since the lockdown:

"“I just have to suck it up. Certainly can’t work from home with a doubly incontinent child with profound learning disabilities.”

“We are all at home now. 2 adults with depressive illnesses, 1 adult with ASD, 1 adult with ASD, ADHD and anxiety and a teenager and a 2 year old with suspected ASD. We have no respite at all.”

Many parents spoke of their children losing vital services that are normally provided through school and the additional strain of having to educate children at home:

“Autistic son is very active outdoors, needs sensory stimulation and being in the house is strained. He has specialist teaching in ASN school that we cannot provide, his routine is disrupted.”

Parents of both young and adult children with additional support needs reported stressful experiences of being in lockdown at home, particularly lone parents of one or more disabled children:

“My son had to move back with us as his residential care centre closed. All the progress he has made over the years with independent living seems to have evaporated overnight. He’s anxious, lonely, selfharming, watching tv all day and very depressed. We all are.”

While the survey is now closed, Inclusion Scotland is encouraging disabled people and carers to continue sharing their experiences on social media using the hashtag #OurVoicesCovid19.

• Find out more and read the initial findings of the survey here.

The Carers UK survey ran from 3rd-14th April 2020. It gathered the views and experiences of around 5,000 current and former carers across the UK. Some spoke about the impact on the disabled children they care for, including access to certain foods due to shop shortages:

"I’ve got a child who only eats specific items (and that is part of their disability) he can’t swallow tablets and gets them disguised in the only yoghurt he will eat…yet I can only get three of any one item."

Read the full report here.

Survey is seeking to gather views of children and young people, family members or carers, professionals supporting children and young people to discover how COVID-19 is and lockdown is affecting them and what they think the long-term impact of the pandemic will be.

Questions covered:

• How are any changes - for example to children’s hearings, care arrangements, living arrangements or contact with family members - affecting you or affecting your future plans?
• Are there issues you have questions about or are worried about? For example, you or the person you’re supporting may be unclear about how their children’s hearing will be affected, or you might be a young person seeking asylum, or you might have concerns around your housing.
• What would it be useful for Clan Childlaw solicitors to give you more information on? How would you like to get that information
• Is there training that you think would be helpful for Clan Childlaw to provide for people who are caring for or supporting children and young people?
• Are there other ways Clan Childlaw can help?

Participate in the survey here. 

Survey is seeking to gather views of children and young people, family members or carers, professionals supporting children and young people to discover how COVID-19 is and lockdown is affecting them and what they think the long-term impact of the pandemic will be.

Questions covered:

• How are any changes - for example to children’s hearings, care arrangements, living arrangements or contact with family members - affecting you or affecting your future plans?
• Are there issues you have questions about or are worried about? For example, you or the person you’re supporting may be unclear about how their children’s hearing will be affected, or you might be a young person seeking asylum, or you might have concerns around your housing.
• What would it be useful for Clan Childlaw solicitors to give you more information on? How would you like to get that information
• Is there training that you think would be helpful for Clan Childlaw to provide for people who are caring for or supporting children and young people?

Participate in the survey here. 

Intercultural Youth Scotland is currently facilitating a youth-led report to hear the voices of BAME young people in Scotland with a particular focus on education and positive destinations during COVID-19.

The project is ongoing and findings are expected in summer 2020.

• Find out more on Intercultural Youth Scotland's website.

Who Cares? Scotland published a second report in May 2020, building on its April report.

The second report also uses real-life case studies and composite stories to highlight the issues care experienced young people are facing. These have been gathered through Who Cares? Scotland's advocacy work and calls to its helpline. 

The case studies highlight issues such as:

• Poverty: destitution and material deprivation, access to social security, new and increased debts
• Health and wellbeing: social isolation, bereavement, relationship impact
• Information and participation: education and equipment, the impact of digital participation
• Provision of care: placement changes, contact with friends and family, rise in anxiety
• Support: the changing nature of professional support, educational support.

Read the report here.

The report highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the care experienced community, illustrating this through real-life case studies. 

• Read the report here.

Adoption UK ran a week-long survey in April for parents and carers of care-experienced children who would normally be in school. There were 674 responses to the survey and the survey report highlights the challenges faced by parents and carers when supporting care experienced children's learning during lockdown. 

The key findings were:

• 85% of care experienced children are not getting any additional support from
  school.
•  50% of parents and carers say their child is experiencing emotional distress and
  anxiety.
• 31% of families are experiencing an increase in violent and aggressive behaviour from their children.
• 54% of parents and carers say that the time spent together is improving their relationship.
• 63% of parents and carers think their child will need extra support during the transition back to school.
• More than half of all secondary aged pupils seem calmer without school. 

Read the report in full here.

Scottish Government gathered qualitative evidence on the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on women and girls people experiencing domestic abuse and other forms of violence from 30th March 2020 to 22nd May 2020.

The report covers referrals, support for victims, risk and safety planning, criminal justice, perpetrator tactics, children, child contact, prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation, experience of support services/organisations. 

Read the research in full here. 

Survey findings gathered from young carers (aged up to 17) and young adult carers (aged 18 to 25) highlight that many young carers have experienced increased pressures due to COVID-19. This has had a negative impact on young carers’ mental health and wellbeing.

Key findings include:

• 45% of young carers said their mental health was worse as a result of COVID-19.
• 71% of young carers said they were more worried about the future since COVID-19.
• 58% of young carers said their education was suffering.
• 74% of young carers said they feel less connected to others now than they did before the pandemic.

Read the 2020 Vision, Hear Me, See Me, Support Me and Don’t Forget Me briefing paper for the survey results here.

Scottish Youth Parliament, Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland partnered to deliver the Lockdown Lowdown survey which was open to school, college, and university- aged participants from every community in Scotland. The survey asked participants to share their concerns about COVID-19. More than 2,400 young people across Scotland participated. When asked about their ability to look out for or care for others, almost a third (30%) rated themselves as Moderately or Somewhat concerned.

30 young people from Carers Trust Scotland took part in this consultation: 43.3% are aged between 12 and 17, 36.7% are aged 18-20, and 20.0% are aged 21-25. Young people in Carers Trust Scotland are most worried about the impact coronavirus (COVID-19) will have on other peoples’ physical health and wellbeing.

• Read the survey results here. 

Scottish Youth Parliament, Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland partnered to deliver Lockdown Lowdown - a survey open to school, college, and university-aged participants from every community in Scotland, asking them to share their concerns about COVID-19.

The first phase of the survey ran from 3rd-17th April 2020 and more than 2400 young people from a range of backgrounds took part. Findings on mental health included: 

• 40% of participants were moderately to extremely concerned about their own mental well-being
• When asked about the mental well-being of others, 46% stated that they felt moderately or extremely concerned
• Respondents were asked if they knew how to access information about certain topics during the coronavirus outbreak.The topics that respondents were least confident in accessing information about included support for mental health and well-being (40% selected No)

Young Minds ran a survey of children and young people with a history of mental health needs. Over 2000 children and young people (aged 13-25) from across the UK took part between 20-25th March. This followed the closure of schools and introduction of stricter lockdown measures.

Findings included:

• 83% of respondents agreed that the coronavirus pandemic had made their mental health worse. 
• Of those respondents who were accessing mental health support in the lead-up to the crisis (e.g. NHS, counsellors, private providers, charity support), 26% said they were not currently able to access support (74% said that they were still getting some level of support).  Among those who were no longer able to access support, some had experienced cancellations due to schools closing, not being able to attend peer support groups or because services that had been delivered face-to-face could not be provided online or by phone. Others had been offered remote support but reported concerns around privacy, access to technology or anxiety over talking on the phone or via video calls.
• Things that helped respondents mental health during this time included face-to-face calls with friends (72%), watching TV/films (72%), exercise (60%) and learning new skills (59%).
• 66% of respondents agreed that watching or reading the news was unhelpful for their mental health.

Access the full report here.

CYCJ gathered the views of children and young people who are currently in contact with youth justice services or with previous experience of the youth justice system on COVID-19, and of practitioners working within the youth justice system.

Here is a summary of children and young people's experiences they shared:

• Children and young people cited isolation and lack of contact with others - family, friends and services - as the biggest issue affecting those in contact with the justice system. Other impacts of COVID-19 restrictions included boredom, not being able to attend school, managing financially
  and lack of information and the uncertainty of the current situation.
• Changes to the operation of the youth justice system were highlighted as a concern. This included delays owing to restrictions to court and Children’s Hearings; progression of plans; maintaining contact with services and supports including social work and legal professionals and attending court; and for those in custody.
• Lockdown was most commonly described as a negative experience, particularly in terms of isolation, the challenge of staying in all the time, getting used to the change and impacts on individual circumstances. Staying occupied and contact from others helped.
• Views on physical distancing were more mixed and overall more positive than on lockdown. For those who had been in contact with the police, mixed experiences were reported, varying between responses being deemed fair and appropriate and more adversarial and negative. A small group of children described negative experiences based on feeling targeted by the police.
• Almost all participants had been able to stay in touch with family and friends and many with services and supports, with various means being utilised to do so.
  The impact on children and young people’s mental health was a key theme.
• Others could help by supporting contact with family and friends; keeping in touch; having activities and things to stay busy; easing restrictions; and supporting particular young people such as those in custody.

Read CYCJ's findings in full here. 

CYCJ gathered the views of children and young people who are currently in contact with youth justice services or with previous experience of the youth justice system on COVID-19, and of practitioners working within the youth justice system.

Here is a summary of practioners' experiences they shared:

• The biggest issues affecting children and young people in contact with the justice system and services were social isolation, affecting their health and wellbeing, and boredom and lack of activity, affecting routine and substance use. The challenges of keeping in contact and increased difficulties in relationships and conflict within the family home were also
  highlighted.
• Changes in offence types have been noted in some areas, with particular challenges identified with the operation of the justice system across all areas of the Whole System Approach. Some existing challenges such as delays to processes and release from custody have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
• Overall children and young people have complied well with the restrictions associated with COVID-19 and the approach from Police Scotland is reported to have been appropriate. Some issues and wider criminalisation concerns have been noted.
• The impact on offence types and compliance with restrictions has changed in some areas and for some children as time has progressed.
• A range of factors have worked in supporting children and young people: keeping in touch through creative methods; ensuring access to things to keep them occupied, practical resources and technology; working with partners; and the dedication of staff.

Read CYCJ's findings in full here.