Here’s how parents can manage children’s mental health after school re-opening

Children were largely spared from the direct mortality impacts of Covid-19 but the coronavirus pandemic was a universal crisis for them nevertheless as they faced its indirect effects that not only stemmed from strained health systems and disruptions to life-saving health services such as immunization and antenatal care but also socio-economic impacts and difficulty in coping with the academics in online classes. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Neeta Kejriwal, Consultant – Pediatrics at Dwarka’s HCMCT Manipal Hospital, shared, “Children who have never attended school have had significant developmental setbacks, particularly in the development of their language and social skills. When these children will start going to school regularly, they will most certainly face increased separation anxiety from their parents and caretakers.”

She added, “Adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 are mostly anxious because they have to leave the comfort of their schedules after such a long period of time. Others are unhappy because, while schools are reopening, situations are not as they were before. They are feeling overwhelmed and helpless since ‘normalcy’ has not returned. Many people have developed social anxiety and are afraid of approaching teachers and peers outside the home.”

Echoing the same, Himani Narula, Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrician, Director and Co-founder of Continua kids, explained, “School closures led to clear negative impact on a children health, education and development. Now with schools reopening, students would get an opportunity to get back into a regular schedule. On one side children are looking forward to reopening of schools but at the same time transitioning back to school and readjusting to offline schooling after a long gap of two years might be challenging and may increase the risk of developing anxiety. Reopening of schools will provide children with more opportunities to socialise with their peer thereby improving their social and psychological well-being.”

During school closures many children found it difficult to cope with the academics in online classes and poor scholastic performances were inevitable but Himani Narula opines that with the reopening of schools, children will get an opportunity to catch up with their academics. She highlighted, “The responsibility of the schools and the teachers to identify children with difficulties has increased. The schools may have to bear the brunt of providing additional educational and emotional support to these children to help them catch up. Going slow on academics could help them adjust and accommodate better.”

Tips to manage children’s mental health after school re-opening:

Asserting that Covid-19 has surged social anxiety, depression and separation fears in children, Gaura Lohani, Clinical Psychology Trainee in Department of Clinical Psychology at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Psychologist at Bee Hive Junior School, too pointed out that parents are struggling in finding ways to ease their child’s transition back to school. She shared some tips for managing children’s mental health after school re-opening and said, “Parents can cheerfully verbalise their excitement about going back to school. They can remind the child about the positives of school, meeting their friends and learning outside their screen.”

For the first-timers, Gaura Lohani suggested that parents can practice having a regular and predictable routine for the child like at least a week before starting school, they can fix a waking and sleeping schedule, take the child to the park and have rituals such as movie nights and eating meals together to develop a habit. She advised, “After the child starts going to school, parents should talk to their children regularly about how they feel about new classes, friends and teachers. Listening to the child about their anxieties and validating their feelings is imperative. Parents can also practice lost social skills with the child through role-plays.”

Since adolescence is a period when children undergo significant physical and emotional change, fear of negative evaluation over changing bodies can worry the child. Hence, Gaura Lohani roots for educating them about pubertal changes and reassuring them of their strengths helps. Lastly, she suggested that parents should keep observing the child for signs of distress which can be school refusal, complaints of aches and pains, withdrawal from others or being excessively clingy as this could indicate difficulty in coping. In such a case, they can consider seeking help from a psychologist for the child.

As per Himani Narula’s suggestion, “Conducting regular screening to assist early identification of developmental concerns and mental health challenges in children and teenagers can be an important step towards managing the mental health concerns in children after school reopening. We must not forget that the pandemic is not over yet and parents and families may still feel anxious sending children to school. Hence, schools must promote Covid appropriate behaviours and ensure that necessary precautions are being taken.”

Since parents are happy that schools are reopening but also concerned about how their children will return to school after such a long time away especially when most children have not been fully vaccinated, the fear of illness is substantial. Hence, Dr Neeta Kejriwal recommended, “To avoid passing fears and anxiety on to their children, parents must first control their own fears. Children will take time to adjust and we must give them that confidence and time to return to normalcy. It’s very important to return to main stream for their holistic development.”