MESI di Dad, the virtual school where you don’t meet anyone for hours. The only move is from the bedroom to the kitchen or bathroom. Then finally summer, life. The outings with friends, hugs and first kisses. For children and adolescents, everything still seems in the balance but today more than ever they need to go back to school in person. We need real classrooms, social relations. The psychiatrist Paolo Crepet is convinced of this. “I am worried about not going back to school because it must be said that there is a big difference between closing a bar, causing an economic problem, and closing a school, creating a pandemic for children, with enormous damage to their health“, explains Crepet. .
Professor Crepet what were the consequences on the health of young people of the ‘distance’ lessons?
“Recent research on children and adolescents, published in The Lancet, says that myopia has increased by 60%, but relationship and educational problems have also grown. Lack of movement has also led to more cases of obesity. I understand the problem but it cannot be ignored how much this isolation has caused serious damage. Dad may be comfortable for commuting teachers, but not for young people. It is clear that there is also an interest from technology companies but we cannot underestimate the future of the youngest. Dad must die in June 2021 ”.
In his latest book ‘Beyond the storm ‘ (Mondadori), writes that from this pandemic we will go out badly
“Especially the young people. Dad is a true instrument of torture. Throughout Europe they found alternatives. We, on the other hand, forced the children to stay indoors, to eat, get bored and accumulate training holes. The children’s neuropsychiatry departments have had an increase in requests for help in the months of closure ”.
Eating disorders also increased during the lockdown. However, the summer seems to have brought a respite
“Psychic distress has largely decreased with the summer. The boys have returned to socializing with stolen meetings, outings, hugs and kisses. The ‘imprisonment’ has been overcome to enter a positive phase. We must take advantage of this and remember that if there is the Long Covid that affects the physical, there is also the psychological Long Covid. In a difficult situation, worries remain. Fear of contact will lead to negative psychiatric reactions. Situation-induced depression caused by the virus is usually mild. But in the face of developmental depression, it takes time to make a correct diagnosis and to understand if the drop in mood is due to an issue linked to growth, to adolescent problems, or to something deeper ”.
What is the best cure?
“The cure is the sociability, it is part of the therapy. But not a one-off as happens on vacation. The joy of the holiday must be transferred to the joy of autumn. We must fight this rust that tends to prevent recovery. high school and elementary school students. I have reservations against those who do not want to get vaccinated, do not like their children. In the past we have been vaccinated against polio and it is not clear why today there are so many problems “.
Dad has also created an educational vacuum. Because?
“He took the PCs where they weren’t there and that’s good, but there are side effects. If you delegate your skills to a machine, the computer decreases your IQ. There has been a collapse in the skills of the kids during this period. The brain is a muscle that needs to be trained. Besides, some teachers weren’t trained for this type of distance learning. Think about the difficulties of a 60-year-old teacher. We are not the Cupertino of the world ”.
You defend the strict and merit-based school.
“I am in favor of a strict and merit-based school if it is social. It pushes the boy to study, to prepare, to fear a teacher who requires commitment. Failure hurts in isolation, if it is virtual it is as harmful as all virtual things. Think of two guys breaking up. If they do it after a long chat, where the reasons are clarified, saying goodbye hurts less. It is more painful to receive a message via Whatsup. Let’s bring the boys back to reality ”.
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