Young people have used their free time during lockdown to develop new skills, explore their creativity, or watch more Netflix. But what can be learned from such experiences?
Children at risk for speech and language difficulties have been a brutal hit. During the initial lockdown, some received remote speech therapy via video.
1. I learned to accept criticism.
Criticism can be unpleasant, and hearing feedback from your peers or boss can be daunting. Yet, understanding how to accept criticism can be invaluable to your professional growth. When hearing critical remarks, you must put aside emotional reactions and consider the message behind each comment – there may be truth in what was said, which can actually help boost performance levels.
Although lockdowns haven’t always been pleasant experiences for young people, they have provided them with the opportunity to learn something new and reevaluate their lives.
3. I learned to be creative.
Creativity can help alleviate feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression while improving immunity and energy levels – as well as keeping the mind active, which is vital for learning. Tapping into creativity may even prove helpful during lockdowns as a way of getting through them faster while becoming better prepared for life afterward.
As expected, when participants were asked to rate how much their creativity changed during the lockdown subjectively, most indicated it had changed drastically. We used exploratory principal component analysis to analyze our results; component loadings can be seen in Supplementary Table 4. SCC was found to correlate significantly with both basal creative personality trait BFI-O and an externally rated measure of top-5 creative productions freely reported by participants; it did not connect considerably with changes in free time or social interactions during this period.
Although most children adapt quickly to restrictions put into place due to the pandemic, some may struggle with developing their speech and language abilities. Consulting your teacher or health visitor and requesting the services of a speech and language therapist are great ways of making sure your child receives the support they require.
4. I learned to be myself.
It can be easy during a pandemic to lose some of your daily freedoms; you might find yourself confined to your home, limited in movement, and having curfew restrictions placed upon you – making it hard to be yourself and express your true personality – yet use this time as an opportunity to learn how to be yourself, an invaluable lesson that could last throughout life.
Louise Hearn, mother to three young boys, says Aiden, 10, has had difficulty making friends due to the pandemic. Although he communicates with other Zoom users and plays online games to try to keep busy, he doesn’t speak very much face-to-face.
Many children need speech and language therapy to develop their communication skills, yet during the initial lockdown, some couldn’t receive this in person. While remote sessions might have been practical for some parents or kids who refused to cooperate with video sessions – it is therefore vitally important that you contact both your health visitor and teacher and determine if additional help may be necessary.
