Covid Isolation Effects on Pakistani Kids

It’s not easy and fun for everyone. Covid Isolation effects on Pakistani kids are not something which is often mentioned or discussed in the public or even in the family gatherings. People think that kids are not going to school so they would be excited to stay at home all day but that’s not true at all.

The isolation has hit the students hard. A while ago I walked into my son’s room and found him crying because he couldn’t understand some stuff and felt he had to figure it out by himself because “work from home”. Now I teach him myself so he’s happy. But not everyone can do that. Now that it’s spring, I’m taking my son out to play in the park. He sits on the bench and is too shy to reach out to children and play with them. I realized he has forgotten how to socialize with new kids. Being an only child he suffered the most.

Covid hasn’t helped either. Students in Pakistan feel increasingly isolated, pressured and dejected. A first-year student at a local university died by suicide and all I can think about is how every time I ask my college friends how they’re doing it’s the same answer of burnout and exhaustion and general un-wellness. I feel sick to my stomach knowing that schools like Beacon-house are so obsessed with their own elitism that they will push students so far in an effort to maintain the already harmful normalcy even during a pandemic. 

Right now so many schools are only further traumatizing students by overworking them during an already traumatic time. There is no reason for school to have been conducted the way it has been this year. There’s no reason for students to have to prioritize school over their health—mental or physical. There’s no reason for professors to be overloading students with work ever, but especially right now. I am so genuinely sad and heartbroken. I would urge the parents to take their kids to the parks and outdoors as much as possible.

Don’t let pandemic and silly government procedures ruin their childhood. This time would never come back for them. I’m scared for my friends & fellow parents who are barely surviving right now due to academic stress. This is so devastating & I hate it. Students need a break honestly. All of that piling up with work just to overwork them to exhaustion and then when they can’t handle it anymore it’s the same old stigma. Schools and colleges have no business overworking students to the point where mental exhaustion is constant and ubiquitous. I’m sick of elitism and the valuing of prestige and academic success over well-being.