Children are experiencing a huge transition in their lives from complete interaction with other students to having to stay at home. Social interaction even for children is important and are feeling the same type of isolation adults may feel. Children can feel overwhelmed, isolated, and stress which can impact their mental health.
What type of normal stressors and rewards did children experience before the pandemic?
While education is a big source of stress in children’s lives many children have to experience a lot of other stressors. This website gave some information about what children might be going through other than just their education.
- Worrying about schoolwork or grades
- Responsibilities such as school, work, or sports
- Problems with friends, bullying, or peer group pressures
- Changing schools, moving, or dealing with housing problems
- Negative thoughts about themselves
- Going through body changes, both boys and girls
- Seeing parents going through a divorce or separation
- Problems in the family
- Living in an unsafe home or neighborhood
What about normative stressors from education?
I wanted to talk about high school students to describe their normative stressors from their education. High school students are becoming adults and are still considered children, but have a lot of stressors to adapt too. This website describes some reasons why high school students could feel immense stress and pressure.
- Fear of failure, the website describes how children who struggled before and who come to high school might feel stress because of their setbacks or the demands in high school.
- Tougher Academics and More Responsibilities, the work when children get to high school can be more challenging.
- Social pressures stress from other children their age can be stressful because of feeling pressure to fit in. Also, popularity and having a lot of friends can feel important to teenagers when they enter high school.
- Uncertainty About the future, choosing a path in life can be overwhelming for students because they have to decide whether they are going to college, work, or vocational training.
- Concerns About College, thinking about the future can be stressful and the process can be too. College requires exams, applications, and once the process is over choosing a school might be difficult.
What are the rewards of education for children?
A reward can be thought of as something that is given to recognize someone’s success, service, or achievement. However, a reward can be a child given the opportunity to have after-school programs to do homework. Children could have a bad home life and need the after school program to get schoolwork or homework done. It may not be the reward you were thinking of as candy or food, but the reward, in the end, could be the child graduating. Education is an important tool for a lot of children because rewards can mean different things. One child might consider a pizza party a reward while another student could believe school itself is a reward.
After school programs for students and why it may be a reward?
- “After school programs can enhance children’s academic achievement.” For example, show interest and ability in reading, develop new skills and interests, show improved school attendance, increased engagement in school, and reduced drop out rate.
- “After school programs support children’s social developement and their relationships with adults and peers.”
- “As well as supporting positive goals, afterschool programs can also lessen risky behaviors, such as drug, alcohol, and tobacco use, by providing young people with positive and healthy alternatives.”
- “Afterschool programs may keep young people from committing crimes and from juvenile delinquency, and may prevent them from being the victim of violent crime.”
What are rewards for getting an education?
- Learning basic skills
- Gaining knowledge
- Children can understand their interests and talents
- Learn from educators who are experienced and know a lot of information.
- Friends can be a great resource and reward for going to school.
How has the pandemic disrupted education for children and students?
“Extended school closures may not only cause loss of learning in the short term, but also diminish human capital and economic opportunities for children and youth over the long term. Globally, school closures disproportionately hurt vulnerable and disadvantaged students who rely on schools for a range of social services, including health and nutrition. But their impact on education is likely to be most devastating in countries with already low learning outcomes, high dropout rates, and low resilience to shocks.” (Hans d’Orville, 2020)
Children are being faced with school closures that are hurting their learning and vulnerable children are more at risk. Education caused normative stressors in children before but now children are faced with harsh circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shut down schools which meant children now have a lack of education and their social lives.
What are signs of stress in your children to look out for?
- “Changes in sleep patterns”
- “Changes in eating patterns”
- “Increased aches and pains”
- “Increased focus on their body”
- “Changes in mood or behavior”
- “Increased clinginess/difficult separating”
- “Withdrawal/Isolation”
- “Difficulty concentrating”
- “Increased worries/inability to focus”