The Lost Year for Kids: Impacts on Kids' School and Daily Activities

lost year for kids coronavirus pandemic

By Fatima Virrey , Parent Herald Oct 16, 08:51 am

Photo: (Photo : olia danilevich from Pexels)

This year is a lost year for kids. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, children are missing out on a lot of things.

The students are supposed to be back in school, but many are not. Parents are now worrying, and they are starting to fret, especially as they watch their children go through their remote learning classes.

They think about what this unusual academic year has on their kids. Also, they are now thinking about how this is a lost year for kids and others.

Lost year for kids with their learning

Experts say that most kids will have fallen behind where they oppositely would have been if only schools did not close in March. Their estimate says that kids who are doing distance learning and who only have the usual academic instructions will lose up to four months of education by the time that they resume face to face classes in January 2021, if it will happen. And for children who are getting lower-quality remote instruction could lose up to 11 months of learning. For those who don't have remote learning at all, they could lose 14 months of learning. Thus, a lost year for kids with their education.

Inequality will be a bigger problem

Experts say that equity problems during the coronavirus pandemic have always been there, although they are now magnified. Kids in the highest poverty places are much more likely to have begun this year learning remotely, but children in lower-income houses are much more likely to lack the tools they need, like high-speed internet and gadgets. They are also predicting a high number of high school dropouts if this continues. That is a lost year for kids, especially for those struggling financially.

An urgent need to figure out where exactly the kids are

In the article by the Huffington Post, experts pointed out how important it will be to have ways of knowing how much children have been affected by the pandemic to even think about getting them the help and the support they need. They say that there will be a lot of children at risk of having depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. The same goes for the learning of children. That is a lost year for kids not just about their physical and psychological health, but also on their future.

Helping children to love learning again

Many factors led to kids' dislike in learning again. There is Zoom fatigue, and the fact that two-thirds of teachers today say that their students are less engaged with their distance learning is also one. Experts say that parents need to focus on the things that they know have a long-term effect, and that is by reading them a good book. Also, parents must make sure that kids are learning things that they are interested in doing.

Parents and teachers should be prepared. This year is a lost year for kids and their learning, as well as their love for it. Those kids who seem to enjoy their online classes may even lose their passion for learning. Experts say that a child may be doing all the work, but that does not mean that they are learning anything new.