Corona talk with Markus Lanz: The talk of the "lost generation"

Markus Lanz’s ZDF talk was about the political handling of school operations in Corona times and the new loneliness among young people.

Hamburg – Spring is here, the corona lockdown is coming to an end. Markus Lanz took this as an opportunity in his ZDF talk show to take stock of the political handling of the school operations in the pandemic, before the events could come to a head again next autumn. In addition, the consequences of the corona policy for young people and the “new mega-topic” loneliness were discussed.

The Hamburg school senator Ties Rabe (SPD) broke a lance for classroom teaching after six months of restricted school operations. With his admission that he liked to keep the schools open longer, he provoked questions from the moderator and criticism from the virologist Jana Schroeder , who complained, among other things, of the lack of air filters in schools. Rabe countered that the experts considered the filter systems unnecessary. The discussion showed the hardened fronts of the corona debate, which are particularly evident when it comes to the school topic. Rabe pointed out, for example, that the ministers of education for their course of keeping regular operations open for as long as possible, were “heavily beaten” from all sides.

Jana Schroeder at Markus Lanz on ZDF: “Every infection in a school is one too many”

Schroeder, on the other hand, argued based on the numbers and began with utopia: “Every infection in a school is one too many.” With reference to potentially dangerous virus variants, the virologist criticized Rabes as a lax approach. The corona outbreak at the Heinrich Hertz School in Hamburg served as a negative example. Schroeder warned not to play off infection protection against child protection. It is about making education safe.

As for that, the usual jovial journalist and publicist Hajo Schumacher suggested innovative concepts such as teaching in the fresh air. The CDU young politician Diana Kinnert sees school as an important “social refuge” and called for a new, scientifically based sovereignty: Those responsible should “not duck under the authority.”

Hajo Schumacher at Markus Lanz (ZDF): Those who were left behind will continue to be left behind

In the further course of Markus Lanz’s ZDF panel discussion, the question was how the pandemic had affected the development of children and adolescents. Is the talk of the “lost generation” correct – or did the crisis also create positive stimuli? Hajo Schumacher assumes that the crisis has exacerbated existing problems and has left the “left behind”. The journalist problematized the escapist addiction and the binary discussion culture on the Internet.

Diana Kinnert gave an eloquent lecture in the final part of the program about a new form of loneliness among young people. Kinnert sees loneliness not only in the absence of others, but in the quality of social connections. The latter has decreased due to the self-presentation in social networks controlled by algorithms, even if the digital offers advantages. In addition, there is the “feeling of being at the mercy” in a confusing, unreliable world. With reliability in the business sector, Kinnert wants to consolidate the political community; a big task for the time after Corona. (Christian Horn)