The COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of consequences for children and adolescents when it comes to education, social interaction, socioemotional development, physical activity and psychological wellbeing. Many of them will be able to overcome these consequences. However, others will continue to feel the effects of the deficits in the medium and probably long term. With a view to counteracting this impact, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has published the ad hoc statement “Children and adolescents in the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychosocial and educational challenges and opportunities”, now available in English, and recommends the development and expansion of support and educational structures. These should address current inequalities in education and development in a sustainable manner, thus going beyond the mitigation of disadvantages caused by the pandemic to improve the situation with reference to the pre-pandemic status quo.