“I have raised two children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and one of them is now a voiceover student working to raise awareness among younger children about the LGBTQI+ community and other socially relevant issues. But every time my daughter sits down to study math, physics and geography, it pains me to see her struggle with anxiety,” said one mother.
Schools are supposed to shape a child’s personality and life, but the system sadly binds children to a hundred percentile rat race, which inevitably causes anxiety in students. According to the World Health Organization, “one in four children in the age group of 13-15 years in India suffers from depression”.
The online world cumulatively replicates the emotional and mental stress and anxiety of children, teachers, and parents alike. The confusion over reopening schools and hybrid education amid the pandemic has shed light on the need to engage children to gauge and mitigate their fears and apprehensions.
The traditionalist solution of telling children to get off the internet has changed after Covid-19. Rather, children have been forced to rely on the web for education and entertainment. As a consequence, children are on the verge of losing their social-emotional skills. Additionally, mental health neglect has been amplified due to restricted socialization.
Mental health inclusion
The current scenario is likely to get worse without adequate mental health interventions in schools.
Mental health intervention can be classified into psychological, mental and emotional interventions. It is important to build the psychosocial interface of educators so that they can respond to children with compassion. To do this, the following steps can be performed:
Schools should implement workshops on digital safety and online wellbeing for children.
Integrate primary and preventive mental health as a curriculum for students and teachers.
Collaborate with civil society organizations and NGOs to sensitize children, educators and parents on issues of digital safety, gender rights and mental health.
Focus on the issues that cause children to drop out of school: financial burden, nutritional and menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health of girls.
Increase the education budget, taking into account gender disparities and the widened gender gap due to the pandemic. Focus on women’s leadership and representation at all levels.
Make support for marginalized communities an important theme in all policy-level discussions on education. Strengthen the implementation of grievance redress mechanisms for these communities.
(The writer is a mental health professional)
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