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Communicating with children during emergencies: Experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic
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Suyashi Smridhi
12:30
Gomathi: "But replicating classroom environment is not possible in online classes. One more problem in this is that the monitoring by parents has increased manifold. For this we have been organising many programmes with parents to help them understand issues like stress management etc."
12:31
The moderator thanks Gomathi for the perspective she brought in. Nandini asks Gomathi if what AhaGuru is teaching is academic syllabus or something over and above it.
12:32
Gomathi says that their work is about helping the kids who want to go and attempt competitive exams. "We teach them the syllabus but our classes aim to make their concepts clearer and knowledge deeper. The problems that we are encountering are that the kids are asking us for more work to do rather than demanding their parents for more playtime," she adds.
12:34
You are dealing with the more motivated ones, observes Ramya and asks Sonal how helpful child helplines have been during the pandemic. Sonal thinks that the childline was beyond brilliant. "No matter how many constraints they face, their services are beyond words," she says.
12:35
12:36
Sonal: "WCD's measures had a lot of gaps. We trained a lot of child helpline workers. When children call in and say that we don't have food to eat, the workers are confused and don't know what to do. But during the pandemic, it became common. The girls got free sanitary napkins in schools. When schools were closed they had none at all. All the efforts that were made previously went to waste. These are Delhi-Mumbai slums. They used ash and what not. My social workers saw this."
12:37
The children at the margins fell right off the line, highlights Sonal. "The children were involved in begging, even their families were involved in it. They came to the point of prostitution," she says.
12:38
Sonal feels that on ground implementation is lacking. She is skeptical about the times the government says that no child is left behind. "Is it too much to expect basic compassion from our government? Shailaja from Kerala taught us that. Is it hard to expect compassion from the other governments," Sonal asks.
12:39
Agreeing completely to what Sonal said, Ramya asks Nandini if she has seen a significant rise in children who were seeking help, especially during the pandemic.
12:40
Nandini: "We need to tell our young ones that it is okay to ask for help. In homes like yours and mine also, we know that there is something off about the kids. But there is still stigma associated with seeking help. Most of the help that was sought was through online webinars and corporate events. All the questions were of this type only. I need to work, my child needs help with school, my husband is entitled."
12:41
Nandini adds that everybody was stressed because of the work and lack of help at home. "All of this was being taken out on kids. But where will the kids go?" She asks.
12:42
12:44
Nandini discusses how young adults appearing for competitive exams were another group of people who were under great stress with exams being postponed. "It is really important for people to ask for help. When you see something is happening with you, you need to nip it in the bud," she points out.
12:45
"There was an unsaid expectation by schools that the kids have decent laptops and internet connection at home to finish the course work. But who is going to pay for all these? One thing that has impacted me during the pandemic, is that people have become more empathetic," says Nandini.
12:46
Steering the discussion towards handling grief, Nandini points out how the sudden loss of loved ones is brutal. She adds that children have their own way of processing all that grief. "They might or might not want to talk about them. But it is important to not brush them under the carpet," she says.
12:47
Ramya agrees to what Nandini said and adds that not just for children, it is really important for everyone to address these issues. She asks Nandini if we should collect data on children with learning difficulties during the lockdown.
12:48
Nandini: "One of the schools that I consult is a matriculation board and typically they are first-generation learners. They have ADHD or dyslexia or other such problems. What happens with them is that they are promoted invariably and their learning grows with time."
12:50
Nandini adds that mental health and motivation issues are being neglected, and hence working on learning difficulties gets even less focus.
12:51
Gomathi: " Almost 50 per cent kids in classes three and four are unable to do subtractions. By next year, I am sure this will reach close to 80-90 per cent."
12:52
12:53
Gomathi says that there is a need to address this problem in rural areas where there are absolutely no resources available for children to fill the gaps. "We have observed this in our work. The kids that we have worked with were able to solve fractions in three months mentally, which is something they usually felt was difficult," she says.
"I think it is about how we are going about things. It is definitely possible to bridge this gap," Gomathi asserts.
12:54
Nandini rues that children with learning difficulties and/or social and emotional issues are sometimes blamed by the teachers for slowing down the class.
12:55
Sonal adds that we don't teach children that it's okay to fail, not fit in. "Failure and rejection is okay. A lot of our children are looking at us for directions. We need to make sure that they know there are no participation certificates in real life. For that we as adults know better. We need to understand inclusion, failure, success and feeling overwhelmed in order to teach them. We need to normalize failures."
12:56
Ramya thanks Sonal for that perspective and asks the panel if they think digital is going to stay.
12:57
Gomathi: "Parents are willing to send their kids to schools for regular classes. But there are increasingly more students who are asking for online help to prepare for competitive exams. Travelling becomes tedious for children. They are more open to take online classes. In terms of hiring too, it affected students who just passed out, because companies don't know how they performed."
12:58
With the possibility of continued online learning staying, Nandini mentions about TTK hospital in Chennai that treats children for screen and technological addiction. "We need to ask the children what are the other things you would also do, in addition to their screen time," she says.
12:59
Nandini says that communication with children should be open and their personalities need to be embraced, while having faith in one's parenting skills. "The rule of the thumb in cases where kids seek help is that it is their parents that need to learn and not just the child," she highlights.
1:00
Do you think digital is going to stay?
Yes (66.7% | 2 votes)
 
No (33.3% | 1 vote)
 
Total Votes: 3
1:01
Ramya says that the discussion turned out to be far more fruitful than she expected. She says that there are many story ideas that came up. She ends on a hopeful note by saying that the lessons we learnt during the pandemic can help our kids in the future.
1:02
With this, the session comes to a close. Thank you for joining us.
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