The arrival of Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world as it used to be in an immense way. The lockdowns have affected people from all circles of life and from each age group including elders, mid-age, young adults, kids and even newborns. The challenge of managing kids and younger adults, confined in their homes, has been a huge challenging task for parents. Not only the social development of children has been compromised but also their personal choice and decision making, which is in developing stage, is crumpled. As the time progresses, parents fear a permanent indent in personality of their children due to this constant struggle.
Beacon house School System (BSS) recently organized School of Tomorrow (SOT) virtual 3-day conference to structure a response to this pandemic based on opinions and historical perspectives of over 50 Global leaders, educators, innovators, psychologists and many more analysts. Among the discussions, keynote talks and debates, the issue of raising children during this pandemic was also brought into light and several interesting insights and strategies were shared by the experts. Some of the key points from the discussion were as follows:
Increased Communication for Emotional Wellbeing
Children, around the globe, are struggling with new confinement rules as schools and recreational centers close their doors in light of pandemic. With increased household chores and office work, parents have swiftly changed their rules regarding screen and idle time for children. Stella James, an Online Safety Expert from US, during the SOT conference emphasized on increasing communication with children as with increased screen time, games and videos are all they have to discuss about.
It is very common for a child to be talking about terms like robux, glitter, GFX, Tycoon etc. Since parents are not familiar with current trends in younger kids’ digital world, lack of responsiveness will make the child feel isolated within the home which in turn can deter his/her mental growth. It is important and an opportunity for parents to explore, understand and embrace the current trends, apps, and games to be able to communicate with their children and fill in the gap for their friends or cousins.
Increased Interaction between Parents and Teachers
Another concern that was discussed under the SOT conference was unresolved issue of online classes. The online classes are not being able to address children’ and parents’ concerns as yet while at the same time, it is a huge burden on teachers as well. Dr. Zainab Zadeh, Clinical Psychologist from Karachi, highlighted that there is an upward trend in anxiety, stress and depression among children as they are not being able to receive face to face attention of their teachers. Moreover, the interaction between children is missing which is again leading to a silent depression, loneliness and attention disorders among children.
During online classes, not only is the face to face conversation and appreciation missing but discipline is also hard to maintain. There is a strong need for increased and frequent communication between teachers and parents to discuss factors that are affecting children while understanding the limitations of teachers. The boredom that kids are feeling in online classes require attention, discipline, connection, engagement and online interaction of parents and teachers so that emotions can be regulated and learned by all stakeholders.
Engaging Children in Open Discussions related to Pandemic
Social development is intrinsic in a child’s growth and plays a definitive role in the kind of person they turn out to be. That required social development has been curtailed in a significant manner due to the prevailing pandemic as they are forbidden to meet peers and family. Moreover, we are depriving them of a choice in this matter.
The online classes are becoming hard for children as it is difficult to communicate with the screen. They also feel a breach in their privacy as suddenly everyone is in their home where they might not want them to be. However, there has to be a balance between discipline and choice as post-pandemic, this will create a lot of problems for educators and parents to bring children back to routine and establish discipline.
Therefore, it is imperative to engage children in open discussions about how they feel about the whole situation, what changes they need in online education to be more comfortable, how they feel about surrounded by family all the time, what do they want for their privacy. In a way such involvement will provide them choices within the current confinement and such inclusion can positively affect their behavior post pandemic as well.
