'Lockdown really provided quality time': Life lessons from the Children's Ombudsman

If children are taught that no matter what sad things happen there’s always something positive in the mix, they’ll have learned  the only life lesson they need to know, says Dr Niall Muldoon

Children's Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon 

CHILDREN have been through a tough year. Taken-for-granted routines suddenly upended for months on end – no school, no extra-curricular activities, no meet-ups with friends.

Instead, they had the learning of a whole new social distancing, hand-sanitising regime to protect them and their loved ones from a scary new virus. And when they did get back to school, they had to grapple with pods, bubbles – scaled-back versions of the usual opportunities for social interaction.