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- Ελληνικά
The emergence of the pandemic, at a time when a sense of absolute control over everyday life prevailed, came to overturn this illusion and confronted societies with important dilemmas and individual choices. Societies found themselves unprepared to manage the extent of the health crisis, particularly in individual areas such as health systems, welfare and education.
Health security took precedence over other rights, such as the free movement of citizens. And prolonged isolation has, as recent research shows, had serious psychosocial effects on children and compromised their well-being. Mental health - so important in childhood to enable children to master their developmental challenges - has not received adequate attention.
It would be no exaggeration to say that the slogan adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its campaign on the occasion of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, 'Mental health for all: let's make it a reality', recognising the serious, complex and long-lasting impact that the pandemic has had on people's mental health, and in particular on vulnerable groups such as children, has hit the nail on the head.
Over the past two years and in the exercise of my responsibilities, I have made it a priority to investigate the impact of pandemic mitigation measures on the psycho-emotional wellbeing of children, and to intervene where any decisions or perspectives have not prioritised the best interests of the child. My aim: to limit as far as possible the adverse effects on children's mental health. Unfortunately, it was the prevailing view of children and professionals I met with that the required and expected attention was not given to mental health issues. And the responses given by the children themselves overemphasised that the focus of all management was on physical health without linking it to mental health. Children considered the impact on their lives and mental health to be more serious than the impact of the virus itself. They spoke of lost childhood, lost experiences, lost motivation for life, anxiety, fears, insecurity, instability and disorganization of their lives. Children with disabilities experienced social isolation, increased levels of stress in the family, aggression and fatigue. Occupational challenges or psychological and emotional impact on parents as well, prevented them from effectively exercising their parental care.
Social isolation, withdrawal from school communities, diversification of their daily routines, all invested with the risk of loss, illness and threatened death of loved ones, were stressors in children's lives.
Social isolation, withdrawal from school communities, diversification of their daily routines, all invested with the risk of loss, illness and threatened death of loved ones, were stressors in children's lives.
But I cannot fail to acknowledge the tireless efforts and dedication of all the professionals who, under very difficult and unprecedented circumstances, worked with and for children, in innovative and original ways to protect them from the worst.
The problems and difficulties highlighted by the new state of affairs, as a consequence of COVID-19, are an opportunity for investigation and reflection, in order to lead us to rethink the way we as a society and state treat children and childhood. By making practical use of the new data, we can move towards well-planned programming on the basis of children's rights, so that, as far as possible, we can repair the damage already done to children in the last two years and prevent its impact in the future. I expect that the state through child-centred policies will invest in children and their families as a priority and aim for holistic protection of their health.
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