Q) In this period of unprecedented challenges, social distancing, and uncertainty, discuss how Social-emotional learning can help children to manage their fear, anxiety, unease, and stress. (150 Words)
Topic: GS 4: Emotional intelligence - concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
Approach Answer:
Introduction: Social emotional learning deals improving social and emotional intelligence, attitudes, and behavioural adjustment in a child. Emotional intelligence is the capability of an individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, and utilise emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour.
The situation created due to the lockdown has created an additional stress on the children, due to social distancing and uncertainty:
1. This has stopped the mental development of the kids who generally learn better alongside their peers, as they understand them better.
2. The loss of human touch and confinement into homes have made a psychological toll.
3. Further, there is fear, anxiety and uncertainty about the future.
This can help a person to manage their emotional stress in following ways:
1. Understanding self: A person can study themselves with the help of social-emotional learning and discretely understand the response of oneself in different situations.
2. Understanding others: A person then understands others better, including peers, teachers and parents. In such a case a child can deliver up to others expectations.
3. Removes uncertainty: A clear understanding of self and the others removes the uncertainty of the future. It ensures some sense of predictability of outcomes. Thus addressing the fears and anxiety.
4. Helps in creating focus: It makes it clear in the mind of a person that what they want, what are their objectives. With this and better emotional stability it creates focus.
5. Better Educational outcomes: All this in turn leads to better educational outcomes.
6. Reduces stress : When the outcomes improve, a person is at ease which reduces stress.
Conclusion: The emotional intelligence is thus a necessary key to reduce stress levels, especially in the era of social distancing. Such training should be easy even without the physical classes. For this online lectures, storey telling by the parents and discussions with peers, parents and teachers can be helpful. Further, meditation or concentration through Yoga can help in boosting focus of a person. All this can help in managing psychological problems associated with the lockdown.
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