Potential impacts of the pandemic on children’s social skills

The pandemic has brought about a huge disruptions in young children’s social skills.

Covid-19 has brought about a worldwide lockdown state, and children’s interactions with other humans have become limited to that of their immediate family.

According to a Channel 4 News survey which looked at the impact of lockdown on pupils’ mental health and learning, some 85 per cent of teachers have witnessed a deterioration in young children’s social skills.

More than 70 per cent of early years teachers surveyed said children’s literacy skills had declined, while 56 per cent noticed a drop in numeracy skills.

“Teachers are worried the Covid generation will struggle to catch up on lost learning. Experts say £13.5billion is needed to address the issue – that’s nearly 10 times as much as the government has promised so far,” stated the survey.

Humans are inherently social creatures and find it difficult to develop to their full potential without interacting with one other.

Especially during one’s childhood, social lives take on a higher significance in their development.

The studies reviewed suggest that epidemics can lead to high levels of stress in parents and children, which begin with concerns about children becoming infected.

These data can be related to adverse childhood experiences and elevated risk of toxic stress.

The more adverse experiences, the greater the risk of developmental delays and health problems in adulthood, such as cognitive impairment, substance abuse, depression, and non-communicable diseases.

Children’s health is one of the most important issues in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and science has shown that genetic predispositions are modified by environmental influences, such as those experienced during a pandemic, and affect learning capacities, adaptive behaviours, lifelong physical and mental health, and adult productivity.

Peer interactions and relationships are how kids learn not only about cooperation, trust, loyalty and support, but also about themselves, understanding and expressing their own emotions, making well thought out decisions, coping with challenges and accepting responsibility.

The two main sources of social interaction, that of a child’s immediate neighbourhood and the child’s school, have been snatched away from their lives due to the pandemic.

As a result, children are not only missing classes, but are also missing simple everyday interactions like that of walking to class together, eating lunch together, playing and creating together.

Lack of social interaction is creating a domino effect on children across the world.

This further contributes to the lack of overall development in the child.

It is important for educational institutions to not only focus on textbook learning via online classes, but also make it their duty to incorporate other skills in the curriculum, especially the ones being missed out on at the moment.

Tools like Zoom, Padlet, etc. are great platforms to encourage collaborative learning where children can come together as a community to engage, learn and create.

Further, in the face of this pandemic, creation of activities to promote health and healthy development and prevent toxic stress is a major priority in order to improve the individual health of children with positive economic and social results for each nation.