COVID-19 And Children Issues: A Global Concern

   

There are many issues worldwide because of the global spread of the pandemic of coronavirus. Yet I'm now emphasizing the pandemic's effect on children.

It is estimated that this year the UN has put an extreme poverty of an estimated 42-66 million children as a result of the crisis.Distance and physical closure to save lives and stop the virus spread have triggered a drastic decrease in economic activity in all main economies and the resulting global financial crisis.

Such household income shocks, although temporary, may have catastrophic effects on children, especially those who have limited assets in poor households. The longer shutdown economies, the less likely to "pick them up." At the household level, poor families will gradually see pan-winners losing their jobs or be forced to sell productive assets in order to survive.

The global poverty rate of people with disabilities is excessive. Among the lower socio-economic community it has been found that the consequences of the COVID-19 are potentially greater. One of the most reliant children with disabilities on face-to-face programs, including health, education and safety which have been discontinued as a result of social distancing and lockdown.

Research has already shown that child labor is strongly linked to financial shocks in a family, including illness, disabilities, or loss of employment in a family. Many families are not compensated or rescued to survive financial losses, including loss of income, and their children may be at increased risk of joining the workforce to sustain the survival of their families without sufficient state aid.

Besides underprivileged children, other vulnerable groups of children have particularly serious effects of the pandemic and must be covered. In particular, children without supervision are at risk of abuse and other harmful coping mechanisms.

There are also major threats to child mental health and well-being. Refugees and internally displaced children as well as detained children and violent war situations are especially vulnerable. In this period of heightened stress, children who encounter family crashes are at risk to lose the sense of stability and security that relies on their childhood.

UNESCO estimates that on April 8, more than 1.5 billion students were out of school in 188 countries, representing more than 91 percent of the world's population of students, as a consequence of COVID-19. The longer schools are shut down, the less likely that children can learn and gain the basic skills of life that enable a successful transition into adulthood. Lifelong conditions are likely to evolve because their neurological function is compromised during the critical early childhood development period. Kids seem to go out of school will only face a higher risk of child marriage, child labor, but will also face a precopious drop in their lifetime earnings.

UNESCO has suggested that countries "adopt a range of modern, low technology and non-tech approaches in order to ensure that learning is continuous." Since many of the public schools are not set up to use online education platforms, they do not have the technology or the appropriate equipment to manage the online learning platforms. About half the world has no internet connection.

"Youth is our future. If the virus created such serious problems for them, they could be our problems in the future." 

Home is a source of protection and comfort for most children. The opposite is unfortunately the case, though, for a minority. Caregiver abuse is the most prevalent form of child abuse. Such violence is more likely when families are confined to their homes and suffer from extreme stress and anxiety. The overall lockdowns are also unfortunately a chance for child predators to hurt them. 60% of all them worldwide live in countries with fully or partially lock-downs. Three-quarters of young children (ages 2-4) are mentally violent or physically abused, or both at home by their parents, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Exposure to aggression, in particular at an early age, can affect brain development for children and is associated with lower levels of education and increased rates of stress, anxiety, violence of substance and suicide.

Such serious problems are increasing at alarming rates. The government should look after these issues and take certain steps.

Misbah Imtiaz

Master's degree in Mass communication from National University of Modern Languages Islamabad.