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American TV personality and talk show host, Dr. Phil has sparked a debate online after he criticized school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 73-year-old appeared on The View on Monday, February 26, 2024, and initially talked about his new book, We’ve Got Issues.
He remarked on the advent of smartphones and the population, especially the youth's obsession with them, leading to "highest levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidality." He stated that records were kept for the same. He said:
"And then Covid hits 10 years later, and the same agencies that knew that, are the agencies that shut down the schools for two years. Who does that? Who takes away the support system for these children? Who takes it away and shuts it down?"
Elaborating that it directly stopped "mandated reporters from being able to see children" who were abused and molested. Dr. Phil added they "sent them home and abandoned them to their abusers."
Needless to say, netizens began debating his comments, with one saying:
"Lose lose situation!": Dr. Phil sparks a discourse online after his comments criticizing school closures during COVID go viral
As news of Dr. Phil's interview on The View went viral, internet users were quick to react. Some argued that the pandemic was a difficult unexpected situation no one had anticipated and closing schools saved many lives. Others responded that it disrupted the lives of the children, who would have to "overcome so much."
Here are some comments seen under @theneighborhoodtalk's IG post about Dr. Phil's interview:
Dr. Phil's comments prompted pushback from The View host Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg. Both argued that there was a pandemic going on that was claiming lives, including those of children.
To this, the 73-year-old remarked, "Not school children." When Ana Navarro questioned if he was claiming no school children died, he promptly replied that kids were the safest groups.
This is not the first time Dr. Phil has claimed the lockdown was more damaging than COVID. In 2020, he appeared on Fox News and questioned why the country was not shut down for other contagious diseases that lead to death using inaccurate statistics.
