Ministers were given a stark warning that more children would die from suicide than from contracting Covid-19 if they shut schools.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on March 18, 2020, that England's schools were to close until further notice - and they would remain shut for longer than any other country in Europe.
Many children returned to their classrooms in September 2020, only for schools to be shut again in January 2021. Even when they reopened that March, Covid outbreaks and isolation rules caused chaos.
It has now emerged that the Government was warned in November 2020 that 'many more children will die from suicide than Covid-19 this year',' The Telegraph reports.
That message was given in a joint briefing paper by the Department for Education and the Independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours - in which they cited a rise in self-harm among young people during lockdown.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on March 18, 2020, that England's schools were to close until further notice. They would remain shut for longer than any other country in Europe
At least ten senior officials from the Department for Education, the Cabinet Office, the Home Office and other departments were also at the meeting and therefore heard the warnings first hand.
Despite the alarm being sounded, the Government decided schools would be closed for most of the spring term in 2021.
In 2020, 161 people aged 10-19 died from suicide in England. That figure is almost five times higher than the 34 deaths from Covid for the same age group.
The suicide warning is one of nine opportunities the Government ignored to avert damage caused by closing schools during the pandemic, according to parents campaign group UsForThem.
UsForThem, which was set up by mothers Liz Cole and Molly Kingsley amid mounting concerns, is planning to release a series of reports on the various decisions made during Covid. This will include how SAGE papers documented the impact on school closures on stemming transmission was likely to be 'highly limited'.
It will also explore safeguarding flags such as an increase in calls to Childline and the lack of plans drawn up for when schools returned in autumn 2020.
The suicide warning is one of nine opportunities the Government ignored to avert damage caused by closing schools during the pandemic, according to parents campaign group UsForThem. The group was founded by mothers Molly Kingsley (pictured) and Liz Cole
UsForThem's report also noted that a 2016 test to see the Government's response to a serious influenza pandemic found that the DofE should find ways to keep schools open - which does not appear to have been followed.
Anne Longfield, chair of the Commission on Young Lives and former children's commissioner for England told The Telegraph that 'despite many warnings and protestations to the contrary, the interests of children were overlooked on an industrial scale by government'.
UsForThem, who were very vocal about keeping schools open during the pandemic, is calling on the Covid Inquiry to consider its evidence
Ms Longfield went on to say that the result of this has seen children - dubbed the 'lockdown generation' - struggle with 'education and social skills'.
A DofE spokesman said:
'We know children were amongst those most affected by the pandemic which is why we have invested £5 billion in ambitious education recovery initiatives to help young people catch up.
'We are also rolling out Mental Health Support teams in schools which comes on top of our annual £2.3 billion investment into mental health services.
'The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is currently examining the country's response to the pandemic, and the department is cooperating fully.'
But then, it's the Daily Mail, of all shabby tabloid ...