With changes like never before, the pandemic has bestowed challenges in every single sphere of our lives. In particular, it poses an exceptional challenge for children and adolescents. It is indeed a drastic experiment in progress - we are unaware of the long-term impact of such a crisis on our younger generation.
With the fear of infection looming large, the experience might be more frightening for the young ones as their emotional neurocircuitry is still developing. Not being able to meet friends and relatives can be a particularly frustrating experience for them. Social interactions being an important constituent of healthy socio-emotional development, mental health experts are worried about the impact of the ‘social learning deficit' that school closures are causing. The abrupt transition to virtual learning is again one of the biggest impacts of the lockdown and brings with it its unique set of challenges.
The inability to indulge in usual outdoor leisure activities has pushed the digital natives towards spending more and more time with their devices leading to unstructured days impinging upon their sleep cycle. Increased screen time is cited as an important reason for a multitude of physical problems such as eye strain, headaches, repetitive stress injury and obesity. Compulsive video gaming and the risk of online sexual exploitation are the other big areas of worry and concern.
Yet there is a lot that we as responsible adults, can do to mitigate the repercussions of the pandemic. It’s time we equip ourselves and gear up to help our children navigate through these unprecedented times. The following pointers might help establish the right sense of direction to accomplish the goal of raising emotionally and physically resilient children.
The crisis has bestowed on us an unprecedented opportunity to learn and grow. As Viktor Frankl said “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Let us choose our responses carefully. Mastering the challenges of the crisis will serve not only to enhance family cohesiveness but will also help our children emerge as resilient people capable of handling any hardships in life.
Dr. Yamini Kannappan
Consultant Psychiatrist
Kauvery Hospital, Chennai
Back
LOCATE US
COMMENTS
Write a commentNo Comments Yet!
You can be the one to start a conversation.