Dr. Phil slams COVID-19 lockdowns: ‘We’re going to be paying a very high price for decades to come’
Dr. Phil McGraw spoke to families struggling after years of remote work and distance learning during the pandemic
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, spent Tuesday's show talking about the "long-term, catastrophic effects" from the COVID-19 lockdown, especially on kids.
Over the course of his show "Life After Lockdown: Families in Crisis," there were multiple examples of American youth and families that struggled with the lockdowns.
"70 million children will be forever affected by what they’ve gone through with the pandemic— how things were handled when our country was locked down, the pandemic that they’ve endured — all of us will be," Dr. Phil observed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He noted how American families endured trials such as "adapting to the many challenges of remote work and failed distance learning."
Maine on Thursday set a single-day record for new cases of the novel coronavirus, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (iStock)
While he said, "We are finally emerging from the darkness," he cautioned, "I’m here to tell you that the handling of the pandemic has had long-term, catastrophic effects on many families and individuals, effects that we are just beginning to unpack."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After sharing clips from multiple news reports on the dire consequences of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns for kids, Dr. Phil turned to Dr. Pearson, a legal and organizational analyst who suggested the frustration many American youths feel from the pandemic is about a "lack of control" in their lives. "A lack of control over their circumstances and their ability to decide what they wanted to do, because it was safer at home, so they say," she added.
Dr. Phil observed that one of the most "frustrating" aspects of the pandemic was the constantly changing information and guidelines.
"It seemed like the information that was being given out seemed to be changing daily, contradictory oftentimes, and not really based on scientific evidence," he said. "Why is that?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Phil "Dr. Phil" McGraw's show has covered many of America's major hot-button issues in recent years, such as when he interviewed pro-life activist Lila Rose to discuss abortion and women's rights on September 12, 2022. (CBS)
Dr. Pearson replied that the "straightforward answer" was that "there was no plan followed. They were responding in the moment."
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Dr. Phil balked at how the Unites States is supposed to be "the most sophisticated country in the world," yet was woefully unprepared for the pandemic with a coherent plan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We’re supposed to anticipate and have readiness for all eventualities, right?" he asked. "You’re telling me that they shut down the number one economy in the world, they shut down the schools, they wiped out thousands and thousands of mom-and-pop businesses that had been worked on for 40, 50 years, pulled kids out of schools and created gaps that will never be closed, and it was a knee-jerk?"
"The way that we could have avoided this is if at the local level, where education happens, if we could have had a plan. We have plans for active shooters, but we don’t have plans for what to do when we can’t go to school for a long period of time," said Dr. Pearson.
TV personality Phil McGraw arrives during a gala event for the film "Selma" in Goleta, California December 6, 2014. (Reuters)
Dr. Phil went on to suggest that he knew from the early stages of the pandemic that the lockdown would have serious consequences.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I said that the way they’re doing this and shutting this down is going to create more problems than the virus itself," he said. "I think those problems are just starting to unfold. I think we’re going to be paying a very high price for decades to come."