Back To School. Not As Easy As You Think!
By the Women For Women Group, of YouBelong Uganda
We are all relieved that school will begin again soon. But please beware, and be aware! So much damage has been done to so many school children, even though we know the lockdowns were necessary. Our school children are going to need a lot of help to adjust back to school. Don’t take this for granted, otherwise we are going to see even more emotional pain and trauma in the lives of our children. Covid-19 is not only dangerous to physical health, it is also the enemy of our children’s mental and emotional wellbeing. Two years away from school has had a nasty impact on children and readjusting to school life and work, and socialising with school friends cannot be left to children, alone. It won’t be an automatic process for them, and we do them a big disservice if we don’t realise this. We need to do something about it. Signs of distress may be hidden, so please be vigilant, please don’t just leave them to it!
And while the emotional support and guidance is needed for both girls and boys as they re enter the learning and social dynamic of school, let us not forget the shocking harm that many school girls have suffered during school closure. Many girls of school age won’t be returning to school because of abuse, pregnancies, and forced marriages. This is a national tragedy. And of all the girls who will return to school, many of them come back to the learning and nurturing environment of school life, forever changed. They are emotionally scarred by physical or sexual abuse, either as victims or witnesses, as well as social isolation, and for many a loss of hope in their future. Parents and teachers need to be ready for many signs of distress.
Our plea to parents and teachers is please do not interpret outbursts of anger, signs of depression or anxiety, or difficult behaviour, as children just being naughty, and something to be controlled or punished. Please no corporal punishment! See these behaviours as signs of emotional distress. See these signs as a cry for help, not punishment.
So as the Women For Women Group, of YouBelong Uganda, an organisation committed to the mental and emotional health of Ugandans, we say to parents and teachers, be ready, and act with love, care, and emotional support.
School Principals and Teachers, we suggest to you, that you have preliminary discussions about the emotional needs of school children, who are about to descend upon you. Don’t just wait for issues to emerge in the classroom, have a plan of action, ready.
Be mindful and observe carefully. If problem behaviour occurs, attempt to see behind the behaviour to the emotional needs or distress of girls and boys. Avoid corporal punishment. It is so harmful, and it is against the law. An initiative we suggest, is that schools develop GENDER SPECIFIC SCHOOL CLUBS, so that girls and boys can meet separately, with a senior teacher, and just talk about their feelings. Let girls and boys express themselves, share their fears, their worries, and guide them to support one another. This would be a huge step forward in getting our school girls and boys back into the learning and social environment of school, and it would start to address the harsh issues they have endured in the last two years.
The last two years have been hard for all of us. And Covid-19 issues will be with us for much longer. But as a nation of Ugandans of good will, before God, let us reach out to our school children in their time of need. For they are our future, and we are called to prepare them to be the future of Uganda.