Teachers and schools did “an incredible job” of keeping communities connected during the coronavirus lockdown, a survey has found.
The study from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow - published today as teachers start heading back to their schools - found that the number of young people feeling lonely was three times higher during lockdown compared to pre-lockdown levels, and that schoolwork added to increased stress levels.
However, Dawn Haughton, schools research network manager at the University of Glasgow’s Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network, said: “Teachers and schools across Scotland have done an incredible job to keep their communities connected through these difficult times.”
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She said her team was “delighted” to help young people’s voices be heard during the pandemic, adding: “The young people have identified their concerns, enabling the schools to address these areas in a more targeted way.”
The universities surveyed 5,548 young people aged from 12 to 17 between May and July. The results are part of a TeenCovidLife survey looking at how young people have been affected by changes owing to lockdown, and findings will be made available online to all schools.
A planned second survey will investigate young people’s views about how their academic performance was assessed this year.
More than half of young people (55 per cent) were stressed about coronavirus some or most of the time. Lockdown has also hit sleep, with 69 per cent saying they were going to bed later during lockdown.
Professor David Porteous, lead investigator for TeenCovidLife and Generation Scotland at the University of Edinburgh, said he hoped the findings would help young people readjust to the new school year and to life after school.
