Dear Editor,

Children will soon return to the schoolyards after a well-deserved break. The past two terms have however, seen reports of bullying and violence. There is the belief that this largely has to do with the increased usage of social media amongst children, but consideration must also be given to the fact that life as they knew it, significantly changed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has had tremendous negative impacts on large sections of the population, with increased rates of mental illnesses, abuse within and outside of the home and being a linchpin for things such as instability. These negative impacts were witnessed by and/or experienced by many children, who were all the while dealing with isolation from their friends and the safe space that the school environment can often provide. It did not help that learning was largely thrust onto them through online Zoom sessions, robbing them of interactive learning.

The increased rates of school violence we are seeing may be directly linked to the pent-up aggression that many experienced during COVID-19 and the urgent need for increased numbers of school counsellors in schools to support children is very apparent. There appears to be some small glimpse of advancing these services in schools but we still need to address the limited resources, small number of qualified counsellors, and creating the space in schools’ curriculums and buildings for this support to both teachers and students. We should anticipate more efforts being put into ensuring that there is access.

There is a need to encourage the channelling of aggression in healthy ways, such as through sports activities, art-forms and competitions. Children should be allowed to thrive in safe and supportive environments where they and their peers are healthily challenged. Positive behaviours also need to be modeled by parents or caretakers in the home environment as that is the child’s first place of learning. Parents have a role in not only being positive role models for their children, but should also practice being engaged with their behaviours while in school so that they are aware of what their child is getting involved in.

Akola Thompson
Communication Consultant, ChildLinK
To report or seek counselling, please call 914/227-0979/227-2023/233-3500