(English translation available after the Chinese article)

COVID-19疫症由2020年1月起，影響全球已超過一年半。香港兒童在這一年半期間，經歷了約一年停課。（不同年齡停課時間不同，平均約大半年至一年）

疫症期間不少公共設施曾暫停開放，包括兒童遊樂場、室內兒童遊戲室、圖書館等。家長亦因為擔心孩子受感染，而減少帶孩子外出，少了跟親戚朋友聚會。

這些種種因疫情關係的轉變，對兒童社會情感學習（Social Emotional Learning）有甚麼影響？

甚麼是社會情感學習（Social Emotional Learning）

根據南華早報舉辦的講座，講員指出社會情感學習是指理解、學習和認出自己的情緒，以及知道自己的情緒與別人的關係，亦包括有能力面對別人的期望和需求，即使這些期望和需求與自己的需求有衝突。孩子亦要學習理解和回應其他人的情緒。

疫症如何影響孩子的社會情感學習？

1. 孩子失去真實的社交經驗

孩子需要真實的社交經驗，透過跟長輩、老師、同學、同齡朋友等相處，學習與別人互動、交朋友和分享東西。

上課時學習課堂規則，要對人有禮貌，要尊重別人，與不同性格的人相處，表達自己的需要和感受。

疫症期間，孩子未能上學，未能約朋友外出玩樂，就算以網上會議形式與朋友連繫，也未能補償失去了與父母以外的人真實相處的體驗。

2. 情緒發展受影響

孩子需要透過社交去學習如何表達和抒發情緒。

與朋友一起玩時，別人搶了自己的玩具，感到不開心和生氣，應該如何處理自己情緒？相反，如果是自己搶了別人的玩具，令對方感到不開心和生氣，應該如何安慰對方的情緒？

孩子在疫症期間未能與朋輩相處，少了學習情緒的機會，情緒發展會較疫症前為慢，尤以幼童為甚。

3. 錯過了重要經歷

經常困在家，未能外出玩耍，甚至因為不能與親戚朋友聚會，錯過了很多本來美好的經歷，例如開大型生日會、家庭外遊、參與別人婚禮等。

年紀較大的孩子可能因此而感到失落，甚至傷心。

年幼的或許未有太強烈的感覺，但也可能因為長期留在家，未能外出「放電」去發洩精力和情緒，而令情緒受壓，不懂表達情緒。

家長如何幫助子女在疫情期間建立社會情感學習？

1. 指出和接納孩子的情緒

當孩子有負面情緒時，告訴他當時的情緒，例如：你是不是不開心？你是不是很生氣？

同時父母要表示接納孩子的情緒，這樣孩子能學習不同的情緒，亦能放心表達情緒，不會壓抑自己的情緒。

2. 每天留一段時間給孩子談談自己的情緒

父母要每天留一段時間給孩子談談自己的情緒。今天感覺如何？自己有甚麼情緒？甚麼事情令你產生了這些情緒？你如何處理這些情緒？

漸漸孩子會感到有安全感，有心事時會願意與父母傾訴，抒解自己的情緒，並從分享中學習處理情緒的正確方法。

3. 培養孩子感恩的習慣

我們總會遇到不如意的事，如果我們把注意力都放在不如意的事，而忽略了值得感恩的事，我們很有可能經常情緒低落。

學習感恩，會讓我們提升幸福感，亦可以幫助我們渡過難關，變成心靈強壯的人。每天問問孩子有甚麼事值得感恩？吃到一頓美味的晚餐；聽到自己喜歡的音樂；天氣很好可以到遊樂場玩。

一件小事情也可以是一件感恩的事情，孩子就不會覺得事事都理所當然。當遇到不如意事，情緒也不會那麼容易被打倒。

希望我們的孩子都能成為心靈強壯的孩子！

資料來源：

COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit – Early Childhood
How can parents build social-emotional skills in their child amid Covid?
Social and emotional development (lockdown impact)

本文章所發表的全部內容均屬個人意見，並不代表Little Monkey之言論及立場。

關於作者

思嘉是一個在職媽媽，兒子約四歲，很明白在職爸媽面對的挑戰，希望能透過文字，跟各位爸媽分享有關為人父母的課題，互相支持和勉勵。

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[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]

The Impact of the Pandemic on a Child’s Social Emotional Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world for more than one and a half years since January 2020. During this time, Hong Kong’s children have experienced about one year of school suspension. (The suspension time varies for different ages from half a year to one year on average)

Many public facilities were temporarily closed during this pandemic, including children’s playgrounds, indoor children’s playrooms, and libraries. Parents were also worried about their children getting infected so they reduced the frequency of taking their children out and had fewer gatherings with relatives and friends.

With all of these changes, how does this affect a child’s social emotional learning?

What is Social Emotional Learning?

According to a lecture held by the South China Morning Post, the speaker pointed out that social emotional learning refers to understanding, learning and recognizing one’s own emotions as well as knowing the relationship between one’s emotions and others. This also includes the ability to handle the expectations and needs of others even if these expectations and the needs conflict with one’s own needs. Children also need to learn to understand and respond to other people’s emotions.

How has this pandemic affected the children’s social emotional learning?

1. Children miss out on in person social experience

Children need in person social experiences with elders, teachers, classmates, and friends of their own age, to learn to interact with others, make friends and share things.

When they are in class, children can learn the classroom rules, be polite to others, respect others, get along with people of different personalities, and express their own needs and feelings.

During the pandemic, children cannot go to school and cannot have playdates. Even if they connect with friends’ online meetings, this cannot compensate for the loss of in person experience of being with people other than their parents.

2. Emotional development is affected

Children need to learn how to express emotions through social interaction.

When playing with friends, if another snatches your toys, the child will feel unhappy and angry but how should they express themselves? On the other hand, if they take others’ toys causing them to be unhappy and angry, how should they comfort the other person’s emotions?

Children cannot get along with their peers during the pandemic and as a result, have fewer opportunities to learn about emotions. Thus, their emotional development will be slower than before the pandemic, especially for young children.

3. Missing out on important experiences

Always being stuck at home and unable to go out to play, and missing out on a lot of family and friend’s gatherings means losing out on a lot of happy experiences such as large birthday parties, family outings, participation in other people’s weddings, etc.

Older children may feel lost or even sad because of this.

Younger kids may not have strong feelings, but because they are stuck at home for a long time and cannot go out to “discharge” their energy and emotions, this might cause them to suppress their emotion and not know how to express their feelings.

How can parents help their children establish social and emotional learning during the epidemic?

1. Recognize and accept children’s emotions

When your child has negative emotions, help him/her recognize that emotion. For example: Are you unhappy? Are you angry?

At the same time, parents should express acceptance of their children’s emotions so that children can learn different emotions. They can then feel free to express their emotions without suppressing their emotions.

2. Set aside a period of time every day to talk to your children about their emotions

Parents should set aside a period of time every day for their children to talk about their emotions. How do you feel today? What are your emotions? What caused you to have these emotions? How do you deal with these emotions?

Overtime, children will feel safe and be more willing to talk to their parents when they have concerns, express their emotions, and learn the correct way to deal with emotions through sharing.

3. Cultivate children’s habit of gratitude

We will always encounter situations that we are not happy with. But if we focus on the unhappy situation and ignore being thankful for what we do have, we are likely to become more depressed.

Learning to be grateful will increase our sense of happiness, and it can also help us overcome difficulties and become mentally stronger. Every day, we should ask our children what is worthy of gratitude? Eating a delicious dinner; hearing your favorite music, when the weather is good and you can go to the playground to play, etc.

A small situation can also be a grateful moment so the child will learn not take everything for granted. When encountering issues, their emotions will not be so easily knocked down.

Let’s hope our children can become mentally strong!

Sources:

COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit – Early Childhood
How can parents build social-emotional skills in their child amid Covid?
Social and emotional development (lockdown impact)

All the contents published in this article are personal opinions and do not represent the opinions and views of Little Monkey Hong Kong.

About the Author

Scarlett is a working mom with a 4-year-old son, who knows the challenges encountered by working parents. She would like to share some thoughts on parenthood that may serve as support and encouragement for moms and dads.

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Website：https://www.scarlesson.com/