The suspended time. These are the words that come to my mind to define the situation that all adolescents and pre-adolescents are experiencing in this period of pandemic. Covid and adolescents, a combination that is too often underestimated. If not, watching any news, to point them out as those who overlook the various restrictions. Like those who do not respect the current regulations put in place for the welfare of the community. Young people who do not give up on aperitifs. Teenagers who "are living on vacation", as some say. But are we sure this is really the case?
COVID AND ADOLESCENTS: WHAT TO THINK ABOUT?
Turning on the television or browsing any
social network, you hear about Coronavirus and the effects that this situation
is producing at various levels. At the health level, first of all, and at an
economic level. Too little importance is given to the effects that the
Coronavirus is producing on a psychological level. Both in adults and in
children. Furthermore, particular attention should be paid to the relationship
between Covid and adolescents: young people, in fact, are facing a global
pandemic while they are going through a phase of life that is certainly full of
complexity and challenges.
Too little space, therefore, is given to
the relationship between Covid and adolescents. There are many questions we
should ask ourselves. For example, how are the children experiencing this
period of crisis? What are the consequences on children of this period of
uncertainty, fear, suffering and death? How do they live the restrictions, the
lack of possibility of being able to share their daily life with friends and
companions? The typical transgression of this period: how can it be expressed?
How can today's teenagers distance themselves from the adult world if they have
to do it inside their bedroom? These (and many other) questions we should ask
ourselves, as adults, to support the new generations in this time of great
crisis.
ANXIETY IS NOT PREPOGATIVE (UNFORTUNATELY) OF THE ADULT
WORLD
It seems obvious to say it: even children
and young people suffer from anxiety. Nothing could be more wrong to think
otherwise. But sadly, there are still those who still believe that children
have no reason to experience worry or outright anxiety. Who knows why, then? As
if anxiety were the prerogative of the adult world. Unfortunately, however,
this is not the case.
The sense of uncertainty to which we are
all subjected in these long months, in fact, also affects children and young
people. L ' anxiety in adolescents can manifest itself in many different ways.
Boys can express it verbally and express concern, along with mental and
psychomotor agitation. Other times they can express it through closure and withdrawal.
At other times they can show impatience and aggressive behavior. Some guys, on
the other hand, can sometime their anxiety by showing general malaise,
headache, or stomach ache. Sleep-wake rhythms may alter, appetite may fail or,
on the contrary, increase significantly. In short, there are many ways in which
children can express their anxiety. And, from what emerges from recent studies,
anxiety is a dramatically present element in the relationship between Coved and
adolescents.
ADOLESCENTS, BETWEEN AUTONOMY AND DEPENDENCY
Adolescence is, by definition, a complex
period. In fact, there are many challenges that young people have to face
during this period of life. First of all the physical changes that, starting
from puberty, transform the child's body into an adult physicality, through the
maturation of the reproductive system and the appearance of secondary sexual
characteristics. Along with these, also changes at the cognitive level, with
the development of the formal operative stage and of hypothetical deductive
thinking. Furthermore, other changes are those that take place on a social
level, in which the peer group acquires a central role in the child's life.
The changes that children face are real
challenges. In fact, during adolescence, children have to transform their
childhood identity into something different, into an adult identity. As you can
imagine (and remember) it is not easy. Building your own identity is an ongoing
process. It is a recursive path, one of continuous distancing and re-approaching.
It is a continuous passage from the world of childhood to that of the adult,
through processes of autonomy and dependence. In short, encounters and clashes.
The target? Making sense of the question "Who am I?" and find your
place in the world.
COVID AND ADOLESCENTS: THE CHALLENGES
Let's try to see together the challenges
that adolescents face in order to give meaning and meaning to the question “Who
am I?”
L ' IDENTITY BODY adolescents, which develops from the
image body that kids build self-confidence. The body image is a subjective
construction, which includes physiological, psychological and social elements.
The body image, therefore, is also structured by comparison with others.
L ' IDENTITY STAFF, intended as a
definition of themselves. To do this, the growing autonomy with respect to
parental figures is fundamental.
L ' IDENTITY OF SEXUAL as multidimensional
construct composed of four components: biological sex, gender identity, gender
role, and sexual orientation. Another fundamental element, moreover, is the
integration between the affective and sexual spheres.
L ' IDENTITY SOCIAL , that kids build away from the role
of child, through the peer group, to find their place in the world.
THE CENTRAL ROLE OF THE EQUAL GROUP
To face the different challenges that
adolescence brings with it, therefore, children need to experiment and
experiment. It is, in fact, a continuous and recursive process of distancing
and rapprochement from the parental figures, in order to achieve an autonomy
that is not physical, but also (and above all) psychological. To do this, the
role of the peer group is fundamental and, in adolescence, plays a central role
in development. The peer group, in fact, represents a real social laboratory
where to choose, experiment, experiment and move independently from the adult
world. It is central to all the challenges mentioned above. Friends and the
target group, therefore, are central to the construction of identity.
What happens, then, if the kids are locked
up at home and have no way to meet their peer group? What happens if the school
is remote, the training sessions are stopped and the meeting places are closed?
These and many other questions we should ask ourselves regarding the
relationship between Covid and adolescents.
We do not yet know what consequences the
period we are experiencing can bring to the growth and development of
adolescents. What we do know about the relationship between Covid and
teenagers, however, is that it requires reconsidering how some of the development
steps presented above are achieved. In fact, what has worked up to now is no
longer possible or, at least, must be transformed.
COVID AND ADOLESCENTS: SOME REFLECTIONS
No, teens are not on vacation. Distance
learning is no longer simple because “so much they can copy”. The kids are not
happy because they can wake up later and take lessons in their pajamas.
Teenagers are finding themselves having to face their growth spurt in a
certainly new context, where the encounter with the other, at best, is mediated
by a mask. At worst, however, from a screen. Behind social networks or through
video calls. Or via online video games.
Fortunately, new technologies make it
possible to maintain a concrete interaction, albeit at a distance. This,
however, requires a change and a limitation from what was happening before.
Some say, however, that the choice to meet behind a monitor existed even
before. True. But it was, in fact, a choice. Not a necessity.
We don't know what the consequences of this
pandemic will be on children. There is still a lot to understand about the
relationship between Covid and adolescents. What needs to be kept in mind,
however, is that, as adults, we have a duty to think about this relationship.
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