The psychological impact on children subjected to a daily lateral flow test requires no clinical determination. Similarly, the effects on parents tasked to administer these tests should be obvious. The journey that began with ‘lockdown’ in March 2020, to mask mandates and eventually vaccination drives received almost universal compliance. The stipulation to test children represents a proverbial line in the sand and the direct opposite response to previous mandates.
Whether it is to coax a reluctant child, the use of physical restraint or even to deceive them as they sleep, this assignment feels different. The message we send to our children when we pin them down against their will and insert a foreign object amidst passionate protest to satisfy ourselves is self-evident. This vividly graphic reference is the harsh reality of the unenviable assignment so many parents dread.
The anxiety, confusion and profound frustration have ascended to heights not previously encountered. School attendance is sporadic and disruptive. Minimum-wage workers are saddled with the expense of exorbitant and inflated test kits, the price of which exceeds their hourly wage. The inescapable consequence is that such persons are asked to sacrifice at least one hour of their wages to justify their existence on the job.
There can be no confusion that we are unified in our dream for the disappearance of COVID-19. Sadly, at each juncture, we are continually reminded that this remains merely a dream. Perhaps it is time to abandon irrational experimental measures driven by fear, awake from our slumber and face the harsh reality before this dream quickly escalates into a nightmare that consumes us while we sleep.
Richard Barton
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