More kids across the country are heading back into classrooms as schools start to reopen, but students may face challenges as they adjust to life on-campus during a pandemic.
It's been a hard year for everyone, including kids.
“Interaction with friends, having social experiences, being outdoors and physical, going to school are all really, really critical parts of their development, and all of those have been really drastically impacted over this past year,” said Dr. Itai Danovitch, Cedars-Sinai Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences chair.
Danovitch told KCBS Radio that getting some of their routine back when they return to classrooms may be difficult for some students because after so many months of distance learning, it's going to a big change.
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“In this case the change involves leaving a home, a location of safety, and getting into school where there’s more uncertainty, getting used to totally new routines and interacting with peers that people haven’t seen in a long time that may have changed – or people may have changed themselves,” he said.
Children and teenagers may be anxious or afraid as they head back into classrooms, and Danovitch advises that parents acknowledge and validate those feelings, but try to reframe them as excitement.
He added that while this re-adjustment might be tough, children have an incredible ability to adapt.
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