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SUPPORTING STUDENTS AND THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY DURING A PANDEMIC
DR. ANNIE JOHN
Head, Counselling Services
Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru
To say that the COVID-19 situation caught us unawares would not be the complete truth. We, in India, were aware of it in December 2019, when students studying in Wuhan began to return home. But we did not imagine the magnitude and severity of the illness till early March, just before the lockdown was announced. The adverse impacts of an epidemic, and of the subsequent quarantine measures, on the psychological health of society have been recorded after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014 (Brooks et al., 2020). Emotional disturbance, stress, low mood, irritability, insomnia, post-traumatic stress symptoms, anger and emotional exhaustion were some of the psychological symptoms reported in the review. Some of these were short term and some were experienced even three years after the quarantine was lifted.
The wellbeing and the psychological safety of all members of a school community, in so far as they affect student wellbeing, fall under the care of the School Psychologist (SP). Anticipating consequences of the novel coronavirus lockdown and quarantine on the mental health of the school community, the SP is in a position to put in place preventive measures, in addition to responding to needs that arise, to alleviate distress in the school community – the students, teachers and parents.
Students are the focus
Proactive mental health measures are a part of the SP’s job and the most effective way to do this is through adults who regularly interact with students. Younger students as well as older students are influenced by the way their teachers and parents respond to any crisis. In a situation like the pandemic, the first point of contact for students being teachers and parents, it is crucial to reach out to this section of the school community – be it conveying information, instructions or attitudes that need to be imparted. Teachers and parents need to be provided with information regarding the virus from a reliable source, and communicate this information in ways that are both reassuring and supportive to students. The SP cannot interact with each student directly, in times of a crisis, but can guide the behaviour of the adults around them to make students feel safe.
The World Health Organization, (2020) on the 31st of January, declared the novel coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and shared information on how the virus was transmitted and recommended measures that would keep a community safe. The SP, who is usually also involved in the teaching of Life Skills could share such information with teachers, and ensure that students are given instructions on hygiene, imparted in such a way that they are not made anxious, reassuring them that the precautions taught are intended to keep them safe. This could be explained in language that is adapted for students depending on their age and level of understanding. When ‘Social Distancing’ becomes a necessary part of the preventive action, and schools are closed down as a result – educating teachers and parents on various aspects of keeping themselves and the students well can be done online.
Once the magnitude of the illness reaches pandemic proportions, an increase in psychological distress resulting from anxieties arising due to the fears associated with the pandemic should be anticipated. Anxieties related to falling ill with the virus, that those vulnerable would fall ill with poor chances of recovery, to whether family members living far away would be safe; anxieties regarding the future which consist largely about how long the lockdown would last; and anxieties about coping with the current change in lifestyle can be anticipated as those that need to be addressed.
The pandemic made everyone, including students, anxious about the future, especially the lack of clarity regarding when institutions of learning would function normally. A measure of predictability in our lives is necessary for our sense of stability (Grupe & Nitschke, 2013; Peters et al., 2017). This applies to school going and college students at all ages as well. Younger students are unsure when they will be able to see their friends again, they are anxious that their friends might forget them or that they will never be able to play again. Older students are uncertain about the scheduling of exams, or whether colleges will admit them or even reopen for classes. The SP could explain to parents, by way of an email, or through a Webinar, that children of different ages express their anxieties in different ways. To look out for these expressions of anxiety, and to support and reassure the child and that it is an ongoing process. In addition, it should be pointed out to parents that this time with their children is an ideal opportunity to bond and to spend meaningful time with each child in the household. In situations of scattered families, this may need to be done through ‘virtual’ means. Parents can be encouraged to use instances from the crisis situation to teach skills of empathy and resilience, given that the pandemic throws into sharp relief the vulnerability of many. Children can learn household chores, help their parents with household work and develop an appreciation for all the effort it takes to make the home run. They can take responsibility for their own learning and learn to plan their days, revisiting the plan if necessary, as having a schedule or routine at home will help them attain some amount of normalcy in their lives.
Online classes for grades 6 and above bring with them a different set of concerns to student well-being. Attention span, fatigue that sets in when listening to long periods of time learning online, the amount of synchronous and asynchronous learning that is taking place, and a careful balance of the two so that the students are not overwhelmed with work, and the amount of time needed to make shifts in attention from one subject to another are subjects for discussion with teachers on an ongoing basis. For the younger student, that is from grades 1 to 5, a contact time of 15 minutes with teachers up to 3 times a week would help to give a sense of normalcy and continuity to the students. Teaching material could be posted online for parents to access. When students turn off their video, teachers should understand that it may be that the student does not have a space in the house that they feel can be shared with the rest of the class, rather than assuming that the student is skiving out of the class. Teachers also need to look out for signs of stress among their students and know how they may extend help, which might be in the form of a simple chat with the student or a referral made to the SP.
While most students would be happy to return to school and their friends, those with social anxiety who experience difficulties in interacting with their peers will find their anxieties returning when schools open for regular classroom instruction. Teachers will need to look out for signs of stress in this group of children post lockdown.
Teachers need support too
Teachers, realising that their work would be largely online in the opening weeks of the new school year, that could perhaps continue in some instances for an indefinite period of time, would have worked tirelessly through the vacation, learning new methods of teaching and being trained in online schooling. Learning these technologies would have been unchartered territory for most teaching staff.
This adds a new dimension to the scope of tasks to be managed, adding on to growing anxieties, teachers would question their ability to master these technologies sufficiently to conduct a smooth flowing online class, with students restless, irritable from the long time away from their normal school day, perhaps watched over by a critical parent in the background - the success of this new way of teaching and interacting with students becomes a new challenge to master. As SPs we need to prepare for what could become an enormous stress for teachers in these times. The SP’s role is to advise the teaching community on how to manage these anxieties, to be realistic about expectations and to be patient with themselves and with each other. To look out for manifestations of continuing stress amongst colleagues and sensitize each other with the awareness that support mechanisms exist, and that these could be put into place for staff members who require them. Tools that help bring down stress levels, and techniques and practices that lead to distressing and relaxation should be highlighted to the group in online meetings.
Reaching out to teachers regarding their own well-being can be done in an online meeting, either with groups of teachers or with the whole teaching community together, fostering the idea that they are not alone in this, that the concerns they experience are commonly shared. This would help them feel a sense of belonging to a group that shares similar distress. To be prepared for feelings of vulnerability, to recognise and identify these, and understand the distressing emotions that arise in response to the situation; that there will be anxiety, perhaps even escalating tensions as a result, and to accept these feelings of anxiety as something that is natural, and reasonable in these fraught times, and to learn to manage them. Understanding that the changes in emotions and behaviours experienced are common to the group gives a sense of calm and instils hope. However, when these emotions begin to overwhelm, leaving them feeling inadequate and unable to cope, the SP can direct them to support systems that they can access. The SP is also in a position to convey the unique predicament that teachers might find themselves in, to management teams, and encourage that the latter be supportive of their staff.
Teachers can learn that self-care, in its various forms – physical, emotional and social connectedness is essential for their own mental health and a necessary asset when they are required to extend their support to colleagues and students. (Norcross & Phillips, 2020).
Parents can help
Parents are part of the school community and home school connections work in many ways to keep our students safe and well. During the lockdown phase of the pandemic, students and parents, and may be even extended members of the family, are together at home for many hours giving rise to situations that are stressful for both.
Parents who are used to spending a few hours with their children are now confronted with the task of keeping them entertained, busy, dealing with the emotions and behaviour that arise out of long hours of being together in “a lockdown”, locked up space. Furthermore, parents must deal with their own emotions, their insecurities regarding their own jobs, their work as well as keep the household running. They must make sure that they do not involve their children in situations of domestic disagreement and learn to draw boundaries in these interactions. Parents with children of varying ages will face challenges of explaining the situation to young ones, dealing with the frustration of older children not permitted to meet up with their friends, and managing the elderly without being unduly impatient or hurtful. Online sessions with parenting tips will support them and provide some consistency of care to the students. In view of the fact that there is so much information available and accessible to parents, these sessions can be brief and illustrative, and effectively designed.
In closing
The School Psychologist can also be available for individual online sessions with the school community – students, teachers and parents. Parents and teachers need to be made aware of the pandemic-specific signs of distress that may present and be encouraged to refer children for counselling, when relevant. As the mode of the counselling session changes to an online session, concerns about privacy and confidentiality need to be addressed at the outset. It is also to be recognised that very young children find online sessions difficult to manage, and if necessary should be kept to a short duration of perhaps 20 minutes. When necessary, the SP can initiate a referral to a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist.
School Psychologists can have a powerful impact on the wellbeing of the school community, with the students, teachers and parents and this is especially evident in times like a pandemic when anxieties tend to overwhelm and take over our lives. Students are exposed to the uncertainties of the time and the realities of loss and grieving; they feel disconnected, isolated and unsure; yet with the right advice, reassurance, and support they will learn how resilient they can be. School Psychologists who are part of the faculty of a school or learning institution have a responsibility to the school community in times of crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic is one such situation.
Acknowledgement
Radhika Srinivas D’Costa, School Psychologist at Mallya Aditi International School, for her suggestions.
References
Brooks, S. K., Rebecca, K. W., Louise, E. S., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet. Vol. 395 (10227), p 912-920
Grupe, D. W., & Nitschke, J. B. (2013). Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety: an integrated neurobiological and psychological perspective. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14(7), 488-501.
Norcross, J. C., & Phillips, C. M. (2020). Psychologist Self-Care During the Pandemic: Now More Than Ever. Journal of Health Service Psychology, 46, 59-63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42843-020-00010-5
Peters, A., McEwen, B. S., & Friston, K. (2017). Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain. Progress in neurobiology, 156, 164-188.
World Health Organization. (2020). Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak, 18 March 2020 (No. WHO/2019-nCoV/MentalHealth/2020.1). World Health Organization.