If you are involved in education, you recognize that the last couple of years have been hard.
I think I've honestly said, "This is a weird year, but it's has to get better." for three years now. We made it through COVID virtual education. Then we spent two years catching children up from virtual education. This is the side effects I've seen from living with a COVID society in children.
Keep in mind that for some of these kids, most of their lives have been dealing with the fear of viral disaster. There has been a unifying occurrence across ages from preschoolers to young adults.
Anxiety and fear is a common denominator. Think about it. Adults were freaking out if someone coughed in public, touched something without hand sanitizer, or lowered their mask. There was a fear of the unknown. What would happen if you got the virus? What would happen if you got the vaccine? What would happen to our economy? Would I be able to get toilet paper?
This fear filtered down to the young. The difference is that the older moved on, but the younger generation held that fear of the unknown. If you question youth from 12 to 25, they will say that anxiety is one of the biggest areas in which they struggle.
The next is the feeling of loneliness and isolation. Even surrounded by others, there is a fear of getting close to people. Everyone became so accustomed to staying home that this habit is hard to break. They desperately long to connect and hang out, but can't seem to do it. There is an anxiety of connecting. If you don't believe me, ask a young person to call someone and talk to them on the phone.
The last thing is over-exposure to social media/digital content at too young of an age. Children developmentally need interaction to build social skills. If interaction is replaced with digital content, children gain book knowledge but lose social growth. They become delayed in how to interact, share, take turns, and simply talk to others. They isolate, play by themselves, and struggle to communicate effectively. They struggle with how to identify their emotions, process their feelings, and work through conflict- all things learned when interacting with others.
So my point my tired but overcoming educators and people in general? We need others. Life was created to be with people. I'm an introvert. It was painful in school to interact with others because I felt so awkward, but I was gifted with extrovert friends that forced me to step out of my comfort zone. Even though it was painful, I craved human connection. So here is my take-away.
Get out of your box. Go out with a friend. Put down your social media (after reading this) and spend some face-to-face time with a friend, instead of Facebook. Make a connection. You may not realize it, but you need it.
Have a great week high-heeled warriors!
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