Yvette Salvaris
I live in Melbourne, the city with the longest covid related lock down in the world. In 2019 if you had told me socialising was going to be an illegal activity because of a global pandemic, I would not have belied you. In the past 2 years we have found ourselves isolated and having to do things in a very different way. Children have lost valuable school time due to home schooling. School is not just about education, but also about socialisation.
Socialisation is so important for children. It allows children to build skills and become confident in life. Social interactions help to build self esteem and resilience. By making new friends, the fear of unknown social interactions are less scary. By creating connections children are feeling more secure and have a sense of belonging.
Socialisation for children can start and an early age. Primary socialisation from birth is very important for a child. It sets the ground work for future socialisation as they get older. Primary socialisation is when children learn concepts such as attitudes, values and actions. The first introduction to socialisation is usually with in the family. As the saying goes, your cousins are usually your first friends.
Social connections are very important for your health and happiness. Socialisation helps children to feel connected to others and to their environment. Lack of social connection can lead to many different issues. If children are kept away from others they can develop issues with their self esteem and create loneliness. The negative effects of loneliness can start to set in even after a few days of being isolated. At least during covid lock downs, the use of tools such as zoom enabled children to experience a different type of social connection.
Socialisation contributes to the growth of many different skills for children. When children talk to others it is building on their communication skills. Mixing with others enhances social skills such as understanding social cues from others. Children use body language when playing and exposure to elements such as hand gestures and other non verbal cues can help a child to understand that communication come in many forms.
Friends are a network of people you can rely on outside of your family unit. They give you help and support and are always their for you. Lack of socialisation for children makes it increasingly hard to make new friends. By socialising and making new friends children feel connected. Being around different children helps with increasing vocabulary. Especially in the younger years. Friend help children encourage different ways of thinking and help to create memories which can be life long. Friends are the essence of our social network and help us to reduce our stress and improve our emotional wellbeing.
While the pandemic has taken away the physical interactions children have with others, it has created new ways of socialising. The use of technology has enabled children to remain connected to current friends and family. While seeing and talking to someone on a screen is not the same as in person, it is still a way of interaction. However, nothing can replace the warm hug from a friend or the act of getting lost in meandering conversations in person. Social interaction is what makes life enjoyable and fun and with out it in some form, life can be very isolating.
