The Hidden Effects of Covid-19 on Young People’s Well-Being
A Growing Challenge
Most of us have faced unprecedented challenges over the last 12 months. In this article we consider the longer-term implications on children and young people’s mental health and well-being, drawing on the experiences of our own Youth and Community Team as well as the research work of other well-placed charities.
There is a growing voice amongst health experts, educators and youth providers describing their significant concerns about the well-being of children and young people as we start to emerge from the long periods of lockdown and other social constraints.
Two thirds of young people surveyed “believed that the pandemic will have a long-term negative effect on their mental health. This includes young people who had been bereaved or undergone traumatic experiences during the pandemic, who were concerned about whether friendships would recover, or who were worried about the loss of education or their prospects of finding work.”
Young Minds February 2021 1.
Those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are identified as having suffered the most. These are the children and young people that have struggled with home education and constrained socialising resulting in family relationships being particularly strained. They are also those from families with deprived backgrounds and in BAME communities, where they are more likely to have lost close relatives or had family members that have been critically ill. These national trends are reflected in our team’s own conversations with young people in Greater Manchester and Sheffield.
“The pandemic has made young people feel annoyed, frustrated, demotivated and unproductive.”
LET Ashton based Youth Worker March 2021
“(During the pandemic, the youth club) Helped me get out of the house, going on walks and other outdoor activities improved my mental health, made me feel more productive and allowed me to communicate and meet with friends after a while apart.”
Ashton Youth Club member February 2021
Lindley’s Response to the Challenge
Lindley Educational Trust has over 55 years of experience helping children and young people build the skills and confidence to reach their potential throughout life. Our skilled youth workers and outdoor instructors facilitate outdoor activities that are engaging and enjoyable. A Lindley experience helps children and young people to develop their skills and confidence to be successful throughout life.
“Four out of five children say they feel more confident in themselves after spending time participating in outdoor activities.”
UCL Institute of Education November 2019 2.
- Enhanced their confidence and skills in teamwork.
- Feel more confident as a result of successfully taking on challenges.
- Feel better about themselves (improved self-esteem, self-image and mental health)
- Feel more able to deliver a task in hand, in a structure manner (planning and resilience)
During the first few months of the pandemic, it became apparent that in the communities that Lindley serves there was magnification of disadvantage. Multi-generational households had less scope to go outside, access to the natural environment became harder, valuable ways of celebrating community and supporting each other were banned and the truth around health guidelines became lost in translation and misinformation.
The Trust’s community-based youth workers rose to the challenge and their great work was recognised and celebrated by a report 6 months into the pandemic. Covid Impact Report Oct 2020.
What is Lindley’s role in helping children and young people recover from the pandemic in the coming months?
….and why should we prioritise outdoor personal development now?
The NHS and The New Economics Foundation both point to the answer to these questions in their evidence-based guidance for improving mental health and well-being. 5 steps to mental wellbeing. It is clear to us that our offer to children and young people is in line with these steps :
- Connect with other people
- Be physically active
- Learn new skills
- Give to others
- Pay attention to the present moment (mindfulness)
By focusing our work in these areas. We are helping children and young people be as well placed as possible to play a full and meaningful role in our society as we emerge from the worst of the pandemic. Outdoor activities provide the ideal vehicle to engage with all 5 steps.
A Lindley experience drawing on carefully facilitated outdoor activities and engagement with the natural environment will:
- Help to get children and young people to a place where they can fully participate in educational catch up.
- Provide a creative stimulus that builds children and young people’s confidence around mixing and socialising.
- Provide a powerful boost to children and young people’s self-confidence and self-esteem, alleviating many of the issues that organisations have to deal with.
Over last 6 months Lindley’s team have worked hard to maintain contact with children and young people. Early on this year, we were unable to work with groups face to face but continued to engage in new and creative ways.
Next steps
As the country works its way through the road map and out of the worst impacts of the pandemic, the opportunities for children and young people to recover lost ground become an important focus for the Trust.
Children and young people need to benefit from youthwork, sports and outdoor activities and Lindley has felt duty bound to help and inform policies and practices. For a small charity we have pushed above our weight. Our skilled staff have :
- Talked about their personal experience on Countryfile,
- Presented to the All Party Parliamentary Group for National Parks,
- Networked with outdoor education providers and youthwork groups across the country and
- Pushed the Department for Education to change their guidance on school trips and recognise the value of outdoor residential programmes.
References
- COVID-19 January 2021 survey (Young Minds)
The survey carried out with 2,438 young people aged 13-25, between 26th January and 12thFebruary 2021 shows:
- 75% of respondents agreed that they have found the current lockdown harder to cope with than the previous ones including 44% who said it said it was much harder. (14% said it was easier, 11% said it was the same)
- 67% believed that the pandemic will have a long-term negative effect on their mental health. This includes young people who had been bereaved or undergone traumatic experiences during the pandemic, who were concerned about whether friendships would recover, or who were worried about the loss of education or their prospects of finding work. (19% neither agreed nor disagreed, 14% disagreed)
- 79% of respondents agreed that their mental health would start to improve when most restrictions were lifted, but some expressed caution about restrictions being lifted too quickly and the prospect of future lockdowns.
- Four out of five children say they feel more confident in themselves after spending time participating in outdoor activities, according to UCL research in 2019.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-nature-children-confidence.html
