Stunted development in children
Social interaction is pivotal to childhood development in linguistic, emotional, and behavioral aspects. School closures due to COVID-19 showed us something we often take for granted: simple daily interaction with others. Especially for children, interacting with others is the best way to learn social skills such as conflict resolution, cooperation, and empathy. Neglect, trauma, or environmental deprivation can significantly impact development, and the isolation of quarantine is textbook environmental deprivation. Thus COVID is heavily linked to pandemic-era children displaying delays in cognitive and executive functioning, with exact long-term effects being studied further as the children grow older. While the actual COVID-19 virus itself does not have direct effects on brain development, the environment children were raised in during the pandemic has impacted their social and emotional progress.
Graduating high school on a zoom call
Even though older teenagers already passed the beginnings of early childhood social and emotional development, COVID-19 still greatly impacted their age group as well. The high school graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 experienced their final year of secondary education on glitchy Google Meets and missed out on the multitude of senior year events. These teens had no prom, no final sports season, and no traditional graduation. With completing high school being a major milestone for many, quarantine regulations left seniors longing for closure. Instead of walking across a stage in a long, blue graduation gown being applauded by their friends and family, teens waited for their image to pop up on a virtual slideshow to signify their completion of high school. The transition from high school to college and life after graduation was even more jarring than usual; many teens expressed increased anxiety over their adulthood due to the pandemic.