Protecting childhood.

Byline: Madeeha Ansari

CHILDHOOD is a precious, fleeting experience. As we navigate our way through the most extraordinary time in living memory, one of the most important things we can do is to remember how this time will define the earliest memories for an entire generation, growing up in the 'new normal'.

To understand what the Covid-19 crisis has meant for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds requires stepping out of our shoes and into smaller ones. To varying degrees, it has meant: No school. No friends. Fear of hugs. Stressed adults. Sibling care. More time. Less time. The trauma of unexplainable loss affecting people in inner as well as peripheral circles, and an invisible terror that pervades every space, spares no one - and is seemingly without end.

Hidden cost of Covid-19: Long-term effects of disasters and related school closures on children

The reality of phenomena like 'no school' translates into learning losses from which it may take years to recover. A study of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake by the Harvard LEAPS project found that four years after the disaster, children who had missed three months of school were 1.5 years behind where they should have been. Since students were behind the curriculum when schools reopened, they continued to fall further back. The story of education during the pandemic has not been a uniform one; those for whom digital options are not viable have struggled to keep learning, and will continue to do so unless low- or no-tech options are truly strengthened.

However, there is a radical argument to be made even for children who are soldiering on with access to Zoom: perhaps we need to be worrying them less, and giving them more space to play. Schools are closed and we urgently need to think about mitigating imminent learning losses. But there is one big missing piece in the conversation in Pakistan: children's learning is affected by multiple factors, one of which is well-being. There is a lot of science to support the positive impact of happy, playful experiences on brain development for young children; they can provide respite from the stressors of everyday reality, and can help build the resilience to keep coping and hoping.

What has the crisis meant for children's well-being?

Let's then take a closer look at those who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Children in fragile households are experiencing even higher levels of vulnerability. Those at risk of being forced into...