Abstract
This article answers the research question of whether it is true that the socioemotional and psychological well-being of children and young people has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The conclusion is twofold. Doomsayers have written off children and young people because they are socioemotional and psychologically 'damaged' by COVID-19. The positivists, on the other hand, see COVID-19 as a wonderful learning factory where children and young people learn to cope with socioemotional and psychological setbacks. Doomsayers are guided by capitalist insights. Those insights are that children and young people as future "wage slaves" are unable to provide pensions and care for the "older" generation because they have become socially and mentally handicapped by the COVID-19 pandemic. The positivists, on the other hand, are guided by the view that COVID-19 is an incentive to strengthen existing social groups, such as extended families, neighborhoods and tribes, with their solution-oriented approaches to issues and problems learned during COVID-19. This article reaches this conclusion by reasoning critically about the assumptions underlying the view that children and young people are worse off socioemotional and psychologically because of the COVID-19 pandemic than they were before it. Not only does this article make use of logical reasoning, but also of the existing literature on children and young people, the COVID-19 pandemic and socioemotional and psychological wellbeing. This article is structured as follows. Figures are presented on the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people in many countries, non-Western and Western. Furthermore, a distinction is made throughout the article between immigrants, refugees and the indigenous population. The first two groups are particularly affected by COVID-19 in socio-economic and psychological terms, as is the case for the indigenous population with a low socio-economic status. This article also contains the scarce figures on the availability of online education for children and young people, for immigrants, refugees and natives. Finally, the socioemotional and psychological well-being of children and young people is examined through the lenses of negative and positive psychology. This article harshly doubts the efforts of mental health services for children and adolescents, they are too individualistic, especially in the western world. This article supports the preventive approach to the possible psychological lack of socioemotional and psychological well-being of children and adolescents through psycho-education and an approach through extended families by leaning on their sources of strength and resilience. A great example is the Chinese approach.
Highlights
Loud and clear are the cries of alarm about the socioemotional and mental health of children and young people by COVID-19
John Hopkins Medicine5 in the United States, Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, says the following on its website about young people: “But according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over the summer, in the United States, people under age 30 accounted for more than 20% of COVID-19 cases and were seen as more likely to transmit the virus than others
Rather psychology/ psychiatry, a distinction is made between negative psychology, that of symptoms and disorders, and positive psychology, that of systemic power sources and resilience to be used in the face of serious setbacks, such as the COVID19 pandemic
Summary
Loud and clear are the cries of alarm about the socioemotional and mental health of children and young people by COVID-19. The worst are the states and counties (total 16) within the quadrant 'Fewer vaccinations, more infections' It is not yet clear what the above data mean for children and young people. “But according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over the summer, in the United States, people under age 30 accounted for more than 20% of COVID-19 cases (as of mid-2020, about 26 percent of the world's population were under 15 years old6) and were seen as more likely to transmit the virus than others. Studies in a number of OECD countries found an infection risk that is at least twice as high as that of the native-born Both the experience from previous economic crises and first indications on labor market and social outcomes during the current pandemic suggest that the COVID-19 crisis is likely to have a disproportionate impact on immigrants and their children.”.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
