COVID-19: How are kids affected by isolation, physical distancing?

* Months of extended isolation could be problematic for children ─Experts

* Say day-care, school closures rob kids, families of stability and routine

* Some children are trapped in unsafe homes

* Kids are incredibly resilient, can recover from profound traumas ─Psychologists

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

It is not only about adults. Children are equally bearing the brunt of the unrelenting havoc wreaked by the ‘invisible enemy’ the world over.

Both male and female, all are experiencing the devastating impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with its attendant disruptions, anxieties, and concerns about the wellbeing of children in households.

But how do you talk to and explain pressing issues to your kids in times of this current global crisis?

Yahoo! Lifestyle sounded out the world-renowned clinical psychologist, wisdom teacher, and a considerable number of other experts to gain insights into how parents can best connect with their children, while also alleviating the fear and panic surrounding the deadly Coronavirus.

What’s happening?

ConsumerConnect reports that Coronavirus has infected over 2, 628, 527 people, with 784, 986 recoveries, and has caused about 183,424 deaths worldwide.

In Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), there are 981 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 197 recoveries and 31 deaths in the country as of 7.00 a.m. Friday, April 24, 2020.

Nonetheless, one of the few pieces of good news about the distressing virus disrupting several economies around the globe is that children, though not immune, appear to face substantially less risk of developing severe symptoms.

A decreased threat from infection does not mean that kids are protected from the impacts of the virus.

Like everyone else, their lives have been disoriented by physical distancing measures aimed at controlling the outbreak.

Schools have closed, activities have been cancelled and in-person visits with friends have been put on pause for the time being.

The lockdown has imposed an unprecedented social experiment on the countries’ children that could have lingering effects long after the pandemic has been contained.

Why there’s a debate

The isolation caused by stay-at-home orders has caused a spike in mental health challenges among adults, especially those with pre-existing conditions.

The impact that physical distancing has on kids is less-understood. In some ways children are particularly vulnerable to the trauma of having their lives turned upside down because their social lives are so reliant on school and other activities.

Depending on their age, missing out on daily interactions with peers and teachers can stunt their emotional and social development, child psychologists say.

Children may not fully understand the details of what’s happening, but can grasp the fear and stress they witness around them.

Research on kids who experienced traumatic events like Hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 financial collapse suggests the emotional weight can stay with them for many years.

The impact will likely vary significantly based on a child’s situation. School-age children and adolescents are likely to be affected the most, experts say. Children in unstable home situations are particularly vulnerable.

While some kids will certainly struggle through this period, parents shouldn’t assume their own children are destined to be traumatised by physical distancing, child development experts say.

Research indicates that children can be extremely resilient when faced with changes in their lives. There also may be some positive impacts.

Kids learn important skills like the ability to adapt, creativity and persistence when forced into imperfect circumstances, experts say.

Time at home can also promote important connections with parents and siblings that can have a lasting positive effect on children.

What’s next

Some experts believe the duration of the lockdown in diverse economies will matter significantly in how kids are able to cope with the situation.

A few weeks of isolation may not have much of an effect, but months of extended isolation could be problematic.

It’s unclear how long physical distancing measures might be required, but lawmakers in certain countries have begun discussing plans for how best to reopen normal activities.

The challenges

Children are experiencing the same level of trauma as adults.

Experts in the United States have posited on possible effects of the extensive isolation and physical distancing on kids.

According to Vann R. Newkirk II, Atlantic, “if the world has learned anything in the past weeks, it’s that mortality is only one risk of this crisis…. This is likely a once-in-a-generation disaster, and it will affect every domain of human life.

It will be traumatic. And trauma always falls hardest on the youngest among us.

Ralph Cash, South Florida Sun-Sentinel relates that kids internalise the stress they see around them.

“Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to stress created by news media coverage of negative events and frightening rhetoric. Parents and other close adults serve as models for how children and youth will react, even if those adults don’t recognize or want that responsibility. If adults around them are panicking, young people are likely to do so as well,” said.

Developmental psychologist Amy Learmonth to Healthline stated that school-age children face the most significant challenges in this period.

The expert said: “The kids who are likely to suffer the most are in late childhood and adolescence.

Young children are learning the basics of being social beings, and their parents and siblings can provide most of the input they need, while older children and adolescents are learning to navigate complex social groups of peers.”

Dr. Tali Raviv in his chat with Fox News stressed that most kids will be fine, but some will experience acute trauma.

According to him, “the vast majority of youth will be resilient in the face of even severe stress or trauma.  However, there are some children that may experience some lasting mental health effects.

“This becomes more likely if they have experienced a direct threat to their own safety…or experience a death or loss due to the Coronavirus.”

Whereas Andreas Kluth, according to Bloomberg, emphasised that the negative impacts of COVID-19 endemic will be concentrated among vulnerable children.

Kluth said: “One long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic will be to leave many children behind, perhaps permanently limiting their opportunities in life.

“At the same time, the disruption will barely affect others and even let a few pull ahead. In short, it will exacerbate inequality.”

Months away from school can have a lasting academic impact on children.

Betsy Zorio to Politico, Vice-President of Save the Children, stated that “we know kids in low socioeconomic communities lose two to three months in reading and Math skills over a normal summer.

“With schools letting out now and potentially not returning before the end of the school year, learning loss may be profound.”

Further still, just some vulnerable women and girls are forced to live with abusers, some children are yet trapped in unsafe homes across continents of the world as well.

Nina Agrawal of New York Times said: “Entire families are sheltering at home, often in close quarters. Anxiety about health, education and finances is high.

“Children aren’t seeing the teachers, counselors, and other adults who would normally raise concerns about their well-being.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created the conditions for a rise in child abuse that could go unchecked.”

In respect of how the current school closures in several countries rob kids of stability and routine, Soojin Oh Park of Seattle Times, United States, suggested that “schools provide structure and support for families and communities.

Oh Park related that “a day-care or school closure means lost learning time and disruptions in family routines.

“Closing schools also could deprive more than 20 million students nationwide who rely on schools for breakfast and lunch.”

Are there opportunities in crisis?

While it is not all about absolute disruptions to daily life and routines, and attendant negative impacts on families and children in households, it is understood that children yet are learning important ‘soft skills’ during the lockdowns occasioned by COVID-19 disease.

Meghan Moravcik Walbert of Lifehacker said: “Right now, our kids are getting a crash-course in patience, resilience, communication, conflict-resolution, compromise, creative thinking, empathy and mindfulness.

“These are soft skills we practice to a certain degree with them every day, but right now everything is heightened.”

Some other parents still believe that it is significant that adults avoid assuming that their kids are struggling at this critical moment in human history.

For instance, Rebecca Onion of Slate related her experience in this period, saying, “all of this also really depends on what your child is like as a person.

“Multiple experts I spoke with recommended trying to discern how your child is actually feeling, rather than projecting your own feelings of loss or loneliness—so omnipresent at this time—on your child’s experience.”

Rona Novick, a child psychologist, urged parents to not “overstate the impact of this period of isolation.

“I wouldn’t want parents to think, ‘This is scarring my child for life.’ I think that’s unnecessary and unrealistic.”

Kids are also believed to be stronger than their parents give them credit for.

Patrick A. Coleman of Fatherly said: “The good news for parents is that psychologists, specifically psychologists who work on childhood trauma, are more or less unanimous on one specific point: Children are incredibly resilient. Most can recover even from profound traumas.”

More so, Anna Bryson of USA Today also stresses that several of today’s adolescents and teenagers usually thrive in online social circles

According to Bryson, “at a time when mental health professionals are increasingly concerned over the impact of the unexpected and unprecedented isolation, children could be the ones who make it through with the least trauma.

“Because unlike older Americans, adolescents are used to communicating largely through virtual media. It’s their normal.”

Additional reports by Alexander Davis and Gbenga Kayode.

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