How COVID 19 in schools affecting students and parents
How are COVID 19 crisis and ensuing lockdown affecting school students in Gurgaon? Is it correct to assume that they do not understand the gravity of the situation, and as a result, are unaffected by it? In schools in Gurgaon, some students are refusing to attend online classes. The parents have to persuade them to attend the classes.
They look at the screen with a stream of tears running down their cheeks. This shows their highly emotional and disturbed state of mind. Ignoring the teacher’s overtures, they whisper to their mother that they do not want these online class.
They rather wish to go back to school and meet their peers in person and not online.
The young learners are making sense of the changed realities of life in Covid-19 times. Loss of the Comfort Zone COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and dramatically changed the life of students in schools in Gurgaon. From the comfort of their fixed routine, fun classes, entertaining peer groups, caring teachers, the life of the children has drastically changed to being cooped up in their homes under lockdown.
Loss of the Comfort Zone in COVID 19 in schools
Social distancing has almost created a ‘hostage-like’ situation for students in schools in Gurgaon. The parents are keeping a strict control over their movements.
How is this change affecting our children and how are they dealing with it?
Symptoms of Stress In the case of school children in schools in Gurgaon, parents and teachers have to be especially observant to notice the tell-tale signs of stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety are the natural outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic. The clear indications of stress and anxiety in students are when they appear worried, withdrawn, detached and stop communicating. Young children may show an increased tendency to burst into tears.
Symptoms of Stress
They might throw temper tantrums and cling to their parents. These teenagers suffering from stress and anxiety may experience loss of appetite, headaches, stomach aches. Dealing with Stress In this critical situation, communication is the key. The key is to talk to school children and encourage them to share their fears and anxieties.
Ask them what can be done together as a family to be safe. Tell children to recall situations when they had overcome difficulties in the past and express confidence. They should be taught that this time too, they all would be able to remain safe and healthy together. The students along with their parents can plan about their future and career.
This will instil in them the confidence that a solution to the crisis will be found and life soon will be back to normal.
Restoring Normalcy How to help students maintain a positive frame of mind in schools in Gurgaon? It is best to make them follow the routine they had before the lockdown.
Dealing with Stress
Encourage them to pursue their interests, and hobbies and enjoy and appreciate what they do. Make them share household tasks and allow them to be creative and innovative in doing these mundane tasks.
The fun and cheer this will bring will alleviate the stress and gloom.covid 19 in schools. They can also be given the responsibility of assisting the grandparents in their daily chores. Parents should refrain from sharing an overdose of information about the viral outbreak. Taken over by the Virtual World As socialisation has been swapped with digitisation.
The virtual world has replaced most of our real-life connections whether it is school, work, recreation, shopping, fitness etc. all are happening online. How much online time is good for the child? This should be the question every parent and teacher need to consider carefully and also monitor the quality of their online sojourns.
Restoring Normalcy
The Balancing Act The teachers have to strike a balance between online and offline activities of students in schools in Gurgaon . The rule of thumb should be – what can be done offline should be avoided online. Recreational activities like singing, dancing, playing an instrument, painting or doing craftwork should be totally undertaken offline. A family workout, music medley, deep cleaning or cooking session would halve the effort and double the fun quotient.
Primary teachers should try to incorporate ‘fun’ into learning and teachers of senior classes should use the power of ‘humour’ to bring cheer in the class. In such stressful times, the interaction of students with the school counsellor would help mitigate stress and anxiety to a great extent.
The School counsellors must continue to help the students who have been pre-disposed to mental health issues prior to COVID-19 and ensure that their condition does not get aggravated.
They should advise parents to carefully monitor their children to look for signs of aggravation and seek help if required. Legacy of COVID-19 The world frantically works to invent a cure for COVID-19. Along, parents and teachers are working together to keep the future generations unscathed and safe from its risks.
Irrespective of the impact COVID-19 on of our life. We should always remember that it brought the families, communities, nations and the entire world together to fight against it and save humanity from the biggest threat it has ever experienced. In our fight with Corona virus the human spirit must emerge more positive, more giving and much stronger!
