Children and the Effects of COVID

It’s a wonder how quickly our whole world changed a year and a half ago, and how difficult it has been to pick up the pieces since. I don’t know anyone unaffected negatively in some way by the pandemic. I have had distant relatives pass away, friends lose their jobs, and family members seek mental health relief. I went through an entire pregnancy during the pandemic and now have a five month old baby who I cannot bring out into public due to high infection rates that continue regardless of remedy. I could go on about how much this pandemic has hurt and continues to hurt people, but the focus of this article will be on its effect on the development of children.

For schoolchildren, COVID has changed everything us adults had as normal. Never once did my school ever close unexpectedly growing up for any reason, no matter how much I might have wished it did at the time. For today’s youth, they likely got an early spring break in March of 2020 to their delight, followed by no in-person school the rest of the year. At first, they could probably see it as a blessing, but the children I know began missing it all too quickly. Their friends- who they used to get to see all day everyday- are now gone. Their activities, which healthy minds need to keep busy, went away. Their ability to get out of the house disappeared. Nobody can thrive under those circumstances, least of all developing children.

Then in the fall of 2020, some schools chose to risk in-person schooling in a variety of methods and some chose to continue virtual learning. We all decided these things as temporary measures, hoping that this would all go away as soon as possible. Yet here we are in the third affected school year and now the issues are really beginning to rise.

If your child was in pre-k back in spring of 2020, they are now in 1st grade and have missed out on a normal kindergarten and school introductory experience. I have spoken to many teachers of 1st and 2nd graders who are having to teach their classes simple school routines and behaviors because they were never able to learn them when they were supposed to. Two years of graduating senior students missed out on proms, graduations, sports, and a true last year of childhood, and are now beginning college and are having a very difficult time transitioning. Many intelligent children experienced a slip in grades due to an inability to test or learn well virtually, and their confidence is now damaged and their learning behind.

For many children, virtual learning became the same as no learning at all. Those with attention issues, hearing or seeing difficulties, and those with trouble accessing technology likely suffered the most. How difficult it must be to sit in front of a screen 40 hours per week for over a year as a child- especially when what you are watching is uninteresting, the computer screen is small, the sound is messed up, the wifi lags and the screen freezes regularly, and there is no present authority figure keeping you from straying to other activities. 

There has been a large increase in learning difficulties and parents seeking child therapy due to COVID- related issues over the past few months. Every child and family has struggled with this differently, but all have struggled some. If your child is having a hard time transitioning back to the old “normal” way school and activities were done, you are not alone. Many parents are reporting anxiety in their children due to reentry into school, social issues due to being isolated for so long, and depression continuing on from being trapped inside for so long. Many children have fallen behind in school and are needing assessments for accommodations to bring them back on track. Other issues that may have been present before COVID are now stronger and worse and have become crisis situations for our children.

Our clinicians here at Birch can help- whether on a one-time basis for learning assessments, a temporary basis for some transition-counseling, or a longer-term basis for some treatment therapy. Feel free to give our office a call anytime with questions about how you or your child could benefit from our services during this difficult event. We know how hard it can be firsthand, and we would love to help.

Kyndal Sims

Birch Psychology