Parents and Children in the Pandemic

The role of the family is very important in the child’s development from the following points of view: physical, intellectual, moral and aesthetic. Even more during the pandemic, the child is in dire need of the help and support of the family.

The family is concerned with the physical development of children. It provides food and clothing for children, protects them from dangers, leaves them playtime, creates the best possible rest conditions for them and takes care of their health. All this has acquired another dimension in the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents took care not at playtime, but at the place where they can play safely without getting sick. They took care not to spend too many hours in front of their laptop or phone, because they wanted, in addition to the hours spent online with school activities, to also play their favorite game on their phone.

A rational lifestyle can only have positive consequences on its physical development. The family forms the child’s first skills of personal and social hygiene and accustoms him to use natural factors (water, air, sun) for the well-being of the body. The sun didn’t really get the kids because of the restrictions of the pandemic, but they benefited from lessons of proper hand washing and proper ventilation of the room where they spend their time. All for their own good.

During puberty, the physiological changes produced in the body pose new problems for the physical development of the child. Through persevering and affectionate guidance, by modifying the rest regime, by creating new hygienic skills, the family could solve them in due time.

Within the family, the child acquires his language. The volume, accuracy of the vocabulary and the correctness of the child’s expression depend on the work done by the parents in this direction. For this activity there has been enough time in the pandemic. A large part of the parents worked from home, so they were able to deal with the development of the language and intelligence of their children.

Another important aspect with major influences on the child is the cultural model of the family. If it is a family without education, uninterested in school or culture, this will negatively influence the education of their children. If it is a family with at least secondary education and passionate about education, children will taste the beauty of teaching. Mothers, being more time with children than fathers, have a very important role in the educational training of children, even in the pandemic.

Within the modern family, some mutations occur, which consist in replacing the three-generation family with the two-generation family. From this it can be concluded that grandparents participate less and less in the education of grandchildren. Other social influences can also be the migration from village to city and the urbanization of villages. Thus, the possibilities of using audio-visual means, the contact with technique, cultural and sports concerns increase, resulting in a change in the mentality of the family.

The low standard of living forces both parents to find at least one job in order to be able to ensure a decent living for their children. Under such conditions, the supervision of children is limited or entrusted to other persons or social institutions (e.g. nursery, kindergarten).
A special case is represented by the families in which one of the parents is unemployed. This parent will be able to take care of the children more, but the major problem will be to provide the necessary for a modest living. The situation of families in which both parents are unemployed is critical, because with two unemployment benefits one can barely provide food, and not even a modest living can be talked about.

Culture is another element generating ethical values. Whether it’s the ethnic community you come from, the religious one or your classmates, you identify with this group, you connect with them common interests, principles, values. Culture teaches us what is right and wrong, it also teaches us about beauty, in all its forms, about the aesthetic values in all branches of art, in the folk traditions, in the specifics of each people.

The love of parents for children is also manifested in practical aspects, as we have shown. Whether it’s a pandemic or it’s not, mutual respect, concern for the development of children must have an important place in the family.

Bibliography

1.Anderson, K. J. şi Minke, K. M. (2007). ”Parent involvement in education: Toward an understanding of parents’ decision making, ” The Journal of Educational Research
2. Carter, R. S., şi Wojtkiewicz, R. A. (2000).” Parental involvement with adolescents education: Do daughter or sons get more help. Adolescence”
3. Cookstoon, J. T. şi Finlay, K. A. (2006). ”Father involvement and adolescent adjustment: Longitudinal finding from add health. Fathering”
4. Erion, J. (2006). ”Parent tutoring: A meta-analysis. Education and Treatment of Children”
5. Iluţ, P. (2005). „Sociopsychology and family anthropology”, Bucharest: Polirom.6. Korkmaz, I. (2007). ”Teachers’ opinions about the responsibilities of parents, schools and teachers in enhancing student learning”, Education

 

prof. Luminița Melania Dîngă

Liceul Teoretic, Ghelari (Hunedoara) , România
Profil iTeach: iteach.ro/profesor/luminita.dinga

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