The COVID-19 public health crisis has presented our communities around the globe with unprecedented health, socioeconomic, and human rights challenges. While the virus does not discriminate, health disparities caused by poverty, racism, and other social ills has led to stark inequalities in terms of which communities have been most severely impacted by COVID-19. The constant flood of information on these compounding challenges add to our worry of being infected by the virus, concerns over job security and economic upheaval, and loneliness caused by social isolation. This overwhelming multitude of fears and concerns can lead to major psychological risk factors, such as anxiety, depression, and so on.

India is one of the severely affected countries and is trying its best to overcome the crisis and adapt to the new reality. Nearly all the nations have responded to this public health crisis in part by closing their schools, affecting close to 80 per cent of the world’s school-going population, according to data from the World Bank. While children seem to be less vulnerable to severe illness resulting from COVID-19, staying away from school contributes to a tragic situation for children, particularly those who rely on schools as a safe learning space, for feeding programmes that provide a main source of nutrition, and for fulfilment of their social and emotional needs.

Education thought leaders around the globe have identified Social Emotional Learning (SEL) as a major priority for educators to focus on as education systems work to rapidly transition to remote learning while attempting to mitigate the widening of achievement gaps that result from existing digital divides (WHO, USESCO). The challenge of providing SEL is all the more daunting in light of the reality that the teachers and adults who children turn to for social and emotional support are themselves likely to be struggling with their own mental health challenges during this time. Survey findings released recently by the Collaborative for Social Emotional and Academic Learning and Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence showed that US teachers’ most commonly cited emotions during this crisis are feeling anxious, fearful, worried, overwhelmed, and sad. Teachers cited worry over themselves or loved ones contracting COVID, but also the anxiety they feel over trying to juggle caring for their own families at home while also trying to work full time from home and figuring out how to transfer their teaching practice to online platforms, which many have very little, if any experience of using.

While these challenges are difficult to process, let alone allow us the mental latitude to think of solutions, the present situation  can be viewed as a wake-up call that we must heed as we re-imagine how our education systems can better support psychosocial well-being as a foundation for learning going forward.

For Parents/Guardians

In addition to keeping themselves and their children physically safe amid the pandemic, parents are being challenged to take extra care of their emotional well-being as well. Extended responsibilities of home schooling and creating a positive learning environment, on top of professional commitments and household chores can take a huge toll on parents’ overall health. When we practice and build our own social-emotional skills such as self-awareness, emotional management, and social awareness, we are better equipped to navigate stress and anxieties, and overcome challenges. The following are some of the fundamental skills with relevant resources which can be practiced by parents:

Personal well-being practices

One great way to support your own well-being during this crisis and beyond is to establish or grow mindfulness practice. Mindfulness can be defined as the state of being aware and focused on the present moment; accepting the present while being open and curious about what is happening around and inside us. Dedicating even just a few minutes of your day to incorporate mindful practices can help in calming your mind and build healthy coping skills. Below are some useful resources for mindfulness exercise and wellness routines:

Mindfulness and Meditation Practices for Kids (and Adults)

How Mindfulness Can Help During COVID-19

Opening Doors to Mindfulness During the Time of Lockdown

Anxiety Management Techniques

Dealing with Coronavirus Anxiety

Tips for Staying Active

Actively listening to your kids and addressing their queries 

Understanding and listening to children’s feelings and their questions patiently will help them better understand and process the situation, and also give parents an opportunity to address any misinformation or rumours they may be hearing through their friends or social media. The following resources offer tips for having these conversations with your children:

How to talk to your anxious child or teen about coronavirus?

How to have reassuring conversations with kids?

What parents can do to manage coronavirus stress in kids?

Establishing routines

Making a schedule for you and your children to engage in structured activities, even for free time will help to have an engaging day. Children can also help plan their own routines and take ownership over developmentally appropriate activities. These habits can be a small step towards children feeling a sense of normalcy, learning to regulate their own emotions and building their decision-making skills. Hopefully, they may also help give you a little break as well!

Tips for creating structures

How to turn your home into a school without losing sanity

Sample schedules

Healthy work from home habits

Working from home, a new normal amid the pandemic can be quite hectic and challenging, especially if you are a parent. It is important to create a healthy environment to work at home and the following tips can be useful in achieving this.

Some of the useful resources are as follows:

Ergonomic work-from-home tips

Work from home with kids

How to make work from home easy?

Practice physical distancing not emotional distancing

Being physically isolated for a long period of time can have long-lasting psychological impacts. However, the present need for physical distancing does not have to mean that we cannot still connect with our loved ones using the new technologies as well as bringing back dying practices like letter writing.

How to deal with social isolation?

How to cope with loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic?

How writing letters can help you through the coronavirus pandemic?

For Children

The sudden disruption of routines, lack of social and physical activities and constant worries of the pandemic situation can be stressful for kids. They might find it struggling to express how they feel about it and can exhibit extreme behaviour like being sad, alone, irritated, and angry. By supporting children with their continuous learning can help in keeping a sense of normalcy and routine in their lives. Here is the repository of resources that can be useful based on one’s needs and interests.

Knowing coronavirus through storytelling and discussion for SEL

Knowledge makes one feel empowered, but with the ongoing constant coronavirus updates this knowledge can be overwhelming as well. It is important for children to make sense of the current situation and feel heard and given the opportunity to get their questions answered. Below are some of the resources in child-friendly language, briefly explained through stories or comic strip format to provide them with accurate knowledge.

My Hero is You

Coronavirus: A Book for Children

The Mystery of the Missing Soap

Corona Comic Strip

The Novel Coronavirus: We Can Stay Safe

Questions about Coronavirus

Activities for increasing well-being

Being involved in creative activities can make children express themselves better and learn new things in a fun way. It overall creates a positive environment with a warm opportunity to spend time together as a family. Few ideas for such creative activities are given below:

Art as Therapy during Pandemic & Eco Anxiety

Art Activities

Ten In-Home Montessori Activities

List of ideas for being home with kids

Activities for building social and emotional competencies (English and Hindi)

Cartoons for building SEL skills (English and Hindi)

For Teachers

The complete shift to remote teaching can be overwhelming for teachers. With the constant juggling between taking care of the well-being of their own families, it also becomes prioritize caring for their student’s emotional well-being, which is arguably more important than concern over academics during this time. Understanding your emotions and implementing SEL skills can help both teachers and children to overcome these challenging times. The resources compiled below may be helpful for teachers in easing this transition:

Leaning into Social-Emotional Learning Amid the COVID-19 Crisis

What to do and What not to do while teaching kids at home

Teacher- Student Mental Health: A Two-way Street

Online Resources for Learning

Designing Engaging online lessons and activities

Article contributed by Anchal Sharma. She has been working in Education Sector for the past 5 years now, earlier as a teacher, Assistant School Leader and now as a Research Assistant with TERI on a research project by Columbia University about the role of technology in Education.