BENGALURU: Students across the board have faced diverse problems coping with the lockdown, and psychologists are of the view that after the pandemic, there could be a wave of mental health issues among children, who are in their formative years.
“A student of Class 12 was worried about what the future held -- when colleges would open and if he would make the cut,” said a child psychologist. Various organisations, in collaboration with UNICEF, have also set up a telecounselling centre ‘Swasti’, where 50 psychologists help children cope with stress.
Child psychologist Manika Ghosh, who is associated with ‘Swasti’, told The New Indian Express that there is a need to strengthen resilience in children, and try to engage them in fun activities like storytelling. She warns against worrying about examinations, which is becoming common these days, especially with parents being competitive.
“Even if you lose one year or six months, you have your life and will bounce back,” she adds.
The stressors for students across age groups are different — kindergarteners miss freedom and feel claustrophobic, which can be stressful especially as parents can’t take them out either. At a higher level, children miss their classrooms, friends and mischief.
For those in Class 10, 12 and beyond, there is a huge amount of despair, Ghosh adds. In all this, parents play a big role in understanding emotions, she said. An education department official admitted that the administration did not have a strategy in place to alleviate stress of students, and it was the responsibility of teachers to be in constant touch with students.
The Department of College Education has now roped in Sandalwood actor and anchor Ramesh Aravind to interact to students over a webinar on June 18, on the department’s YouTube channel ‘Vijayi Bhava’. Ramesh will talk about ‘Success Formulae for Students’, and aim to involve college students.
In case of distress, students can dial the Swasti telecounselling setup in ssociation with UNICEF on 080-47186060