The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selected aspects of the functioning of children and adolescents (in the perspective of Polish and international empirical research)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to try to show the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selected aspects of the functioning of children and adolescents. The study answers the questions: what is the impact of a pan- demic on the mental health of children and adolescents; intra-family relations and the process of remote education? The article is a review and is the result of a literature search on the subject.

Children and adolescents are the most vulnerable categories of society already feeling the effects of the crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they are not at risk, they experience psychological effects daily related to some destabilization of their daily routine, isolation from friends and peers, limited possibility of pursuing their interests and hobby outside the home caused by lockdown and loss of sense of security. These effects may last for years and affect their further educational and, more broadly, life chances (employment, future earnings, health). Additionally, during a lockdown, children and adolescents may become victims of domestic violence (physical, psychological, sexual). The pandemic also revealed weak links in remote education: difficulties in schools adapting to the new learning environment, shortcomings both among teachers and students in the provision of appropriate computer equipment and the Internet, deepening of existing educational inequalities, especially as regards students from the less privileged social environments.