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One in five children is anxious and unhappy about the virus, according to an online survey started by the European Commission and launched by five children’s rights organizations (UNICEF, ChildFund Alliance, Eurochild, Save the Children and World Vision).
More than ten thousand children and young people between 11 and 17 years old participated in the completion of the questionnaire inside and outside Europe.
According to an earlier statement by the UNICEF Hungarian Commission Foundation, one of the most important findings is that, although two-thirds of children are happy in school, 80 percent of 17-year-old respondents feel that education is not prepares them for the future. . The communication also wrote that
The coronavirus epidemic has led children to stress and insecurity in Europe and beyond.
We asked the co-founders of the Deep Air Project, Bettina Juhász and Dorina Pető, about the Hungarian aspects, what experiences can be discussed in light of the last year of the epidemic, what could be the biggest challenge for children / young people. people to deal with in the current situation.
Young people are missing an important stage
According to the founders of the project on mental health and coping skills, the changed educational conditions (digital curriculum) due to the epidemic can also bring benefits to students:
for example, they have to get up later, more time is allowed for rest, sports, individually allotted time allows for greater efficiency than many, and promotes a new kind of collaboration between peers.
The current situation can also be a breath of fresh air for many students who otherwise spent their daily lives in a toxic classroom. The UNICEF Communication also addressed this: one of the findings of a survey conducted by five children’s rights organizations found that a third of children experienced discrimination or exclusion.
However, one of the disadvantages of digital education is that students are not always given the opportunity to ask if they do not understand something. In addition, the narrowing of community life – the lack of classmates but especially friends – also has a negative impact on the mental health of young people.
An important period of social socialization is youth, so that the isolation of the age group has a clearly negative effect on the mood and psychological well-being of those affected. The desperation, lack of security, and control that comes with the situation can lead to anxiety.
However, students may feel that the expectations placed on them have not changed compared to before, for many of them the digital teaching method is just an additional anxiety, while they do not receive enough help and support to cope with the situation.
Not to mention, the more time spent at home goes hand in hand with the time spent in the largest online space, significantly increasing the potential for online damage.
Recent research on the adaptation of Hungarian youth remains scant, but similar data has been obtained in Germany to a survey of children’s rights organizations: about one in three children has had a mental problem since the outbreak.
You need to learn to manage stress.
According to the founders of the Deep Air Project, in general, uncertainty, lack of information and loss of control are among the sure sources of a high-stress response, that is, distress.
However, Juhász Bettina and Pető Dorina draw attention to the fact that although the annoying loss of young people is the omission of community experiences, it is important to note that it is not necessary to bury an entire generation, negative suggestions do not help but make worse the situation.
It’s important to see the perspective, frame the situation, support coping now, and then regenerate. It is also recommended to establish and maintain a daily routine that provides a sense of security in this precarious situation.
The founders of the Deep Air Project find it effective to support coping by introducing young people to various stress management techniques.
These methods are presented in the Sulinyugi program, which has 45-minute interactive sessions on the subject specifically in the school setting, in the teachers’ classes. In addition, it provides teachers and parents with the necessary information in a specific way.
The Deep Air Project also seeks to support day-to-day combat: in their posts shared on social media, they describe, among other things, techniques that can help both children and adults to deal with restrictions related to an epidemiological emergency.
However, Bettina Juhász and Dorina Pető believe that
In public education, more emphasis should be placed on how future generations can process loss, grief.
In addition, the stress, anxiety and exhaustion caused by the epidemiological situation also threaten parents and educators, so in addition to supporting children, it would be worth paying special attention to their own mental health.
(Cover Image: Tar Zsombor The sixth-year student of the bilingual English and German primary school Zoltán Zelk is responsible for an online German class at his home in Nyíregyháza on March 8, 2021. Photo: Attila Balázs / MTI)
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