Coronavirus: Report highlights toll on children’s mental health

The coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity to rethink the way society and the state treat children and reflect on more child-centred policies, as it exposed long-standing issues surrounding children’s health, commissioner for children’s rights Despo Michaelidou said on Monday.

The commissioner was speaking as she submitted her annual report to House president Annita Demetriou and informed her of the work accomplished during the period under review.

During the meeting, both sides had the opportunity to exchange views and discuss child welfare issues, focusing on the impact of the pandemic on mental health.

The emergence of the pandemic “overturned the illusion” of absolute control over everyday life, while the prolonged isolation has had “serious psychosocial effects on children and compromised their well-being”, the commissioner said.

She explained societies were unprepared to manage the extend of the health crisis, particularly in areas such as health systems, welfare and education.

According to the commissioner, mental health, which is important in child development, “has not received adequate attention”.

“Unfortunately, it was the prevailing view of children and professionals I met with that the required and expected attention to mental health issues was not given,” she said, explaining children considered the mental health impact more serious than the impact of the virus itself.

Children spoke of lost childhood, lost experiences, lost motivation for life, anxiety, fears, insecurity, instability and disorganisation of their lives which was partly caused by social isolation, and withdrawal from school communities coupled with the risk of loss, illness and threatened death of loved ones, the commissioner said.

Special focus in the report was given to the impact of the pandemic on children with disabilities.

“Children with disabilities experienced social isolation, increased levels of stress in the family, aggression and fatigue.”

And the pandemic also prevented parents from effectively exercising their parental care, as it caused occupational challenges apart from the psychological and emotional impact.

They also discussed the increasing incidences of bullying, football hooliganism and the ways in which the state should address them.

Michaelidou said the problems and difficulties highlighted as a consequence of Covid-19, are “an opportunity for exploration and reflection”, to rethink the way society and the state treat children and childhood.

“By making practical use of the new data, we can move towards well-planned programming on the basis of children’s rights, so that, we can repair the damage that has already been done to children in the last two years and prevent its impact in the future,” she said.

She recommended the state, through child-centred policies, to invest in children and their families as a priority and aim for holistic protection of their health.