Just as scientists successfully created vaccines for the Covid-19 Coronavirus, a new strain of the same has rattled the UK. To cope with the new developments and stop the spread of the virus, authorities had no other choice but to declare the UK quarantine extended. Different nations are expected to go back to their normalcy with the new lockdown rules in different schedules. However, the negative impact of the lockdown in students’ schools and colleges and comprehensive education remains the same everywhere.
Most scholars have been forced to stay indoors in the comfort of their homes. But they have been asking the question, “When is the UK lockdown over?” Thankfully, online lessons are still ongoing. As part of their academic course, teachers have been handing out assignments for scholars to work on during the quarantine. However, working from home is different from working in class, and students may require help on their assignments from a third party. One may seek help from Writix – writing service that can deliver custom written essays for scholars. These assignments often add up to students’ overall grades and must, therefore, be fulfilled to a high standard.
Even though academic institutions are doing their best to resume normal lessons as part of their scholars’ education, we cannot deny the negative impacts of the UK’s lockdown on students’ mental health.
Mental health in lockdown
Several studies in the UK show that scholars have been feeling confused and disrupted by the current situation. A recent COVID-19 pandemic study in the UK suggests that the levels of distress were too high in young adults. This may have been due to the increased consumption of social media, as young people are hooked to their smartphones while in isolation.
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The study also shows that UK teenagers have been feeling more anxious than they normally did before the pandemic hit. The level of anxiety has been reported to be higher among mixed-race and black participants. The well-being of such scholars has also been impacted. They have agreed that the fear of stigma and the stigma experienced by young people is a risk factor for maintaining social support mechanisms.
Loneliness leads to mental health problems
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Out of all the factors contributing to such anxiety and mental disarray, loneliness has been identified as the critical factor. While in school and colleges, students interact with several other people and form meaningful bonds. The lack of such healthy interaction has increased the potential for young people to feel lonely and developmental health problems. In the UK, evidence shows that young people aged 18 to 24 experienced loneliness the most. Another survey suggests that 50% of young adults aged 16 to 24 have experienced lockdown loneliness.
The loss of peer group support during one’s developmental stages can have an overall impact on one’s mental health and physical development. One’s interaction with other healthy young adults also contributes to their brain development and self-concept construction, which has since been obstructed due to their being confined to their homes.
Supporting one’s well-being
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Several studies suggest that individuals who keep in regular touch with their family and friends through the internet and get ample physical exercise do better than those who don’t. Taking the time to work on one’s well-being can have a positive effect on their mental health. During quarantine any student has enough time both to find their favourite sport and to do some research. Individuals may be able to cope up with the current situation for now, but their mental health may only bounce back to its usual self when things go back to normal, at least in terms of having their regular routine filled up with various activities.
Policymakers and academic institutions must do their best to help young people develop their mental and physical health while confined. Since it is easy for one to get anxious during such challenging times, there must be multisectoral and multidisciplinary responses to ease such groups’ anxieties broadly.
Business
Trainline and Virgin Atlantic among companies being investigated for ‘misleading’ pricing
Emily Sergeant
A number of companies are currently under investigation for ‘misleading’ pricing practices.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched three new consumer protection investigations into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic, and RED Driving School over concerns that customers were not shown the total price upfront when buying things like train and coach tickets, holidays, or even driving lessons.
The investigations are part of a wider CMA clampdown on misleading pricing practices – in this instance, where mandatory charges are separated from the headline price, or added later in the buying process, which is known as drip pricing.
These practices leave consumers facing ‘unexpected’ costs or having to calculate the so-called true cost themselves.
Such practices can also impact competition between businesses, as a firm using drip pricing may falsely appear to be cheaper than a competitor pricing correctly, and therefore attract more customers.
Trainline and Virgin Atlantic are among the companies being investigated for ‘misleading’ pricing / Credit: Northern | Aric Cheng (via Unsplash)
Trainline is being investigated over whether all mandatory fees have been included in the upfront prices displayed to consumers buying tickets in advance on its app and website, while Virgin Atlantic’s investigation will focus on whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes have been included in the upfront prices shown to customers buying package holidays.
RED Driving School is being investigated over how a mandatory booking fee and ‘digital’ fee have been displayed to people booking driving lessons – specifically whether these fees have been included in the total upfront price.
“At a time when many households are watching every pound they spend, it is important that people are not surprised by extra fees,” commented Emma Cochrane, who is the Executive Director for Consumer Protection at the CMA.
“Clear pricing helps people compare offers confidently and choose the option that works best for them.
“Unexpected mandatory charges make this much harder, which is why the CMA initially put these firms on notice over concerns about their pricing practices and is now opening formal investigations.”
The CMA says it’s at the beginning of its investigations and has reached no conclusions about whether these firms have broken the law.
If it finds there has been an infringement of the law, the CMA can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers or be charged up to 10% of global turnover.
Featured Image – PNW Productions (via Pexels)
Business
Plans unveiled to deliver 50,000 council and ‘genuinely affordable’ homes in Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Plans to deliver 50,000 council and ‘genuinely affordable’ homes in Greater Manchester have been unveiled.
By removing ‘blockers’ to development and transforming disused public land into new housing schemes, Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig has set out her plan to tackle the housing crisis and deliver ‘a new generation’ of homes – with 50,000 new ‘genuinely affordable’ homes to be available across the city region by 2039.
It’s expected that 10,000 of these homes will either be built, on site, or in the pipeline with planning permission ready to go by May 2028.
To meet the scale of this ambition and deliver the homes the region needs, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) says it will need to ‘pull every lever at [its] disposal’, from remediating brownfield land, to bringing forward dormant sites in public ownership.
That’s why the Mayor will be asking Greater Manchester‘s public bodies to carry out a public land review and identify sites that could be brought forward to deliver homes.
GMCA has already used its Brownfield Housing Fund to support several schemes that are delivering thousands of affordable homes – including social rent homes – as part of the £2 billion Good Growth Fund.
If you’re unfamiliar, the Good Growth Fund is investing in a pipeline of projects to deliver new homes, regenerate town centres, create jobs, and build infrastructure to connect people and places.
“When I was Manchester City Council Leader, I built more council and social homes than Manchester had built in 25 years,” Bev Craig declared. “But we need to go further and faster in every bit of Greater Manchester.
“We will be leading by example when it comes to freeing up disused and dormant public land for development and I’m calling on other Government bodies to join us.
“I know first-hand the security that a Council house brings, and that’s why I am absolutely committed to delivering the Council and social homes that people here in Greater Manchester need, so everyone can have the foundation of a good life in our city region.”
Currently, land supply for 78,585 new homes of all tenures up to 2030 has been identified.
Greater Manchester is in line to receive an initial £1.8 billion from the Government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and the Mayor will meet with Government in the coming weeks to set out joint plans to achieve these ambitions.
The Manc -
8th February 2021 
