The kids broken by lockdown: How Australia’s gruelling stay-at-home orders during Covid have left an entire generation of schoolchildren ‘too anxious’ to go outside

The consequences of Australia’s prolonged lockdowns during the pandemic are now threatening the lives of students who are too anxious and scared to go to school.

Melbourne had the longest pandemic lockdowns in the world and the city has become the epicenter of what is known as ‘school refusal’ and its treatment.

Mental health social worker John Chellew’s clinic, which treats children afraid of going to school and their families, has never been busier.

“I’m dealing with kids who are basically shut down and on strike and they’re locked in their bedrooms and there’s huge conflict in the house,” he said. 60 minutes on Sunday evening.

The situation can sometimes lead to horrible, desperate thoughts. “Children have lost the will to live and are actually in danger of taking their own lives,” Chellew said.

It is not that the children have lost the desire to get an education, but that the overwhelming fear they feel has caused them to refuse to go to school.

Year 10 student Sarah Turner, 16, is among those deeply affected by Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns.

“I always liked school,” she said. ‘I was very outgoing and did a lot of things before the lockdowns.

‘It wasn’t until the lockdowns, when we were at home a lot, that I started to stop going out and looking, and I started to get really anxious about going out.’

Sarah has missed more than 50 percent of school over the past two years.

“It felt like it was almost impossible to go to school. It wasn’t like a choice. It was like I felt like I couldn’t physically face this fear,” she said.

More to come…