I'm a mother to a 1.5 year old boy who is outgoing, social, and just the sweetest little kid.
I've experienced a few things since COVID began and want to share them-- I hope they will resonate with some of you
1. I bring my son to our neighborhood park regularly. The swing set and playground is open. We arrived prior to anyone being there but soon after, another mother with two children (similar age to mine) arrived. Being the social butterfly that my son is, he approached the kids to interact. The mother grabbed her children's hands and backed away from my kiddo while discussing social distancing with me. So my little boy, who's only hope was to make new friends, got to experience a mother pull her children away from us while scolding me on protocols while outside at a public park. My question is this- how do we think children interpret things like this? Does my son feel her fear of him? Does he see that she doesn't want him playing with her children? Does he feel unloved? Her children later were playing on the swings and the play set (which i can only assume had the germs of many children all over it based on it being used by the general public)
2. My husband brings him to get an oil change. Luke and husband both are glared at by mask-wearing individuals who are also there. The assumption these days is that it's "inappropriate" to bring your children out as you "put them at risk". So my son experiences another individual who displays a negative attitude towards him being in the community. Over time, my only guess would be that he wouldn't want to go out into society because he is not being welcomed there.
3. Children learn communication in their toddler years. With everyone wearing masks around them, it is virtually impossible for them to learn nonverbal skills and facial expression recognition. They receive no smiles from people, they can't see nose scrunches, they can't see frowns, they can't see silent laughter. My child is growing up in a society with no displayed emotion, with no cueing that would help him learn about people and how to interact with people. This is not only him, this is all children. What do we expect from them in the future? This is hugely concerning to me; most people can't help but notice negative changes in social interactions/self-esteem/communication in current teens and young adults because of technologies and social medias-- adding in masks will create an even bigger problem and potentially irreparable psychological damage.
4. Lastly, not only are children not seeing smiles and positive interactions, they're getting little to no physical interaction with loved ones. I have friends that haven't seen their parents since March (meaning their children haven't visited their grandparents in 8 months). These grandparents don't want a visit, they're scared (or perhaps their assisted living home won't allow visitors)-- others have visits through sliding glass doors. How do we expect our children to interpret this? Grandma doesn't want to hug you? Grandpa doesn't want love you enough to come for a visit? We know with scientific evidence that physical touch connects people, it increases endorphins, it improves quality of life. We are stripping our children of this. It's not fair to them, they don't understand.
Young children are incapable of interpreting data, categorizing it, and creating other outlets for their emotions like adults can sometimes do; instead, they internalize it. It is creating an environment where we're going to see a dramatic spike in emotional dysfunction and depression in our young population (it's already happening). This future generation will only be worse unless we do something soon.
