Life for children was much simpler back then

There is currently an epidemic in the Western world. Children between the ages of 10 and 15 have a disease that seems to have doubled in number over a 10-year period. It is not contagious nor can anyone be immune to it after having it, although some might already be immune to it without having had it. Children across the Western world are suffering from a mental challenge that kids in the 70s and 80s, and even before, never even heard of.

Children today are distressed about their appearance, their school experiences, their relationships with their friends, comparing their friends’ lists to their peers and because of the toll taken by lockdowns. Yes, let’s not forget the latter.

To be fair, children today live in a very different environment than those born during the 50s to 80s. Our lives were a lot harder in those days but some of the terminology used today to describe various mental challenges didn’t really apply to youngsters back them.

Today, every child has access to the internet, even at school, has a smartphone and probably some kind of social media account. The stakes are probably a lot higher in terms of appearances, socialising and friends. We’ve all known, from previous reports, that adults have become more self-conscious and often depressed when they see their ‘friends’ post pictures of themselves involved in some kind of extraordinary activity or when they see A-list celebrities post pictures of their buff bodies.

Adults feel not only depressed but inadequate because they don’t have the same body or hairstyle or makeup or that handbag or that great looking, rich significant other. These are adults feeling this way, adults who probably know better that what you see is not always how it’s made to look. But if adults can feel this way, with their mature brains, I am sure that it’s very easy for children and teenagers to feel that way too.

I find it odd that so many schools have dispensed with uniforms and allowed pupils to wear whatever they like. This has one major problem, and I’m surprised that schools haven’t cottoned on to it. Firstly, uniforms not only provide a sense of unity for pupils but it eliminates the fashion parade that is now taking place in many western schools. Children from rich backgrounds come in wearing the latest trends and makeup that their parents can afford to buy leaving those kids from poorer backgrounds to wear what some fashion bullies might describe as hand-me-downs or cheap brands. The latter often get laughed at, derided and bullied by the former simply because of their clothes. What are schools thinking?

If there was a uniform, no child in the entire school would feel like his appearance is inadequate compared to his/her friends because everyone else would be dressed the same. What would the bully make fun of? The blue blazer worn by his victim? No because he would also be wearing exactly the same blazer!

I think we all have to admit that the recent lockdowns have played havoc on everyone’s lives and health. When we had that one-month lockdown last year, it was a disaster for our house. It changed our lives completely and forever for the worse in terms of our mental and physical health. I heard about children having meltdowns across the world because they could not see their friends or go out. Plus when the rest of the family was forced to work from home, a full house and the lack of privacy and space caused enormous infighting. It was a terrible time to be in.

Pandemic aside, I think that a lot of how children feel about friends and appearances boils down to what they are exposed to on the internet. If internet access is restricted to only educational sites and uniforms were mandatory in schools we might find that kids would feel less inadequate.

In my school everyone wore a uniform and no makeup was allowed. No one ever got bullied for their clothes. They might have got bullied for their skin colour or religion but never what they wore. There was no such thing as the internet and fashion magazines were out of our reach. Very few kids had them. If we wanted to see our friends after school we’d knock on their doors and play with them until it was time to go home for dinner. Our parents had no way of getting in touch with us because we had no mobile phones. But none of us were ever bothered by our appearances or clothes or a relationship with a friend. Life was a lot simpler because we didn’t complicate it.