COVID-19 had many challenges for different age groups relating to routine activities under lockdown. The challenges have, in turn, influenced people negatively depending on the severity of the effects. However, the most challenged group is adolescents and children still growing and grasping different challenges during the lockdown. Before the COVID-19 lockdown, life was moving smoothly, but sharply changed upon different interventions to ensure the pandemic and spread of Covid were curbed. The abrupt change negatively impacted children’s emotional intelligence (Requejo & Ramajo, 2021). When children are negatively influenced, their emotional intelligence is significantly reduced.
Emotional intelligence is the ability of children to make a proper judgment in their environment regarding the prevailing conditions. Intelligence guides the children internally without relying on their parents or guardian to make informed decisions. When compromised, the children lose focus, leaving them vulnerable to devastating conditions that leave them in a position where they will not be able to make proper decisions without consultation. That is why it is necessary to protect children from negative influences that may leave them vulnerable. This has been the duty of parents and guardians from time immemorial. However, COVID-19 made this impossible as stringent measures were implemented regarding socialization and movements. Further closure of schools left children settled at home with limited movement restrictions that negatively impacted them.
In their growth stage, many children were confined to routine duties to keep them busy. Sadly, the routine duties away from their everyday life of socialization with their teens kept them worried as they could not enjoy their standard patterns of schooling and playing. As evidenced by the research, the extended lockdown led to increased isolation, leading to stress among children. The stress came with negative emotions, which enhanced reduced emotional intelligence. Despite the efforts to eliminate negative emotions through stress management, a significant stride is yet to be made as children have not fully recovered from their challenges (Requejo & Ramajo, 2021). Schools have been tasked to ensure positive growth is witnessed as reduced emotional intelligence interferes with levels of education performance.
Different studies have revealed that the pandemic greatly influenced children’s mental, socio-emotional and physical well-being. By altering the physical activities of their daily routine, children surrendered to viewing cartoons and other less physical activities. Coupled with poor diets due to hardening economic challenges, the same children enjoyed poor diets that led to more medication than the ones that have been under medication due to neurodevelopmental disability (Masi et al., 2021). The fact that increased medication was witnessed confirms that COVID-19 negatively impacted the children. A simple alteration to the activities of the children who could not understand the dangers awaited them worried them. Since they could not comprehend what awaited them and had to be put under restricted watch, the young ones got stressed, negatively affecting them, thus confirming the reduction of their emotional intelligence.
Apart from the children that affected emotional intelligence, thus reducing the social capability of the children, they were denied access to their play groups. The challenge enhanced hostility among children and led to withdrawal from different playing groups that had previously formed the children’s basic unit. The children were conditioned to preset activities that revolved around their homesteads. They were withdrawn from such groups, increasing anxiety and depression among these children (Nicolì et al., 2022). The increased depression and anxiety witnessed among the groups have led several youths and children.
Conclusively, COVID-19 led to several set mandatory regulations that have since enhanced the withdrawal of children from their playgroups. The stringent measures and long isolation days on routine duties away from the regular school days negatively affected children. The anxiety that accompanied such withdrawal led to depression, which enhanced hostility. The pandemic adversely affected most of the youths.
References
Nicolì, I., Spinelli, M., Lionetti, F., Logrieco, M. G., & Fasolo, M. (2022). Protective and risk activities for emotional and behavioural well‐being of children and adolescents during the COVID‐19 lockdown. Child: Care, Health and Development, 48(6), 895–900. Web.
Martín‐Requejo, K., & Santiago‐Ramajo, S. (2021). Reduced Emotional Intelligence in Children Aged 9–10 caused by the COVID‐19 Pandemic Lockdown. Mind, Brain, and Education, 15(4), 269–272. Web.
Masi, et. al. (2021). Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the well‐being of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their parents. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 57(5), 631–636. Web.