Let’s not forget the littlest ones as we address the needs of children during this pandemic.

While the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic are seemingly endless, the one most germane to our mission is that nearly all children in Tennessee are now coping with some level of trauma from this experience. 

After having the previous school year cut short, children across our state have faced increased stress at home to varying degrees due to social isolation and the country’s economic decline. Some children have watched family members fall ill and possibly die. Others have faced hunger or lack of housing. Given this reality, our state’s leadership was wise to form a COVID-19 Child Wellbeing Task Force charged with examining the holistic needs of Tennessee’s children. 

Stress hormones interrupt everyone’s ability to think clearly and process new information, but this is most certainly the case for children. This means if a child’s social and emotional needs are not being met, their chances for academic success decline dramatically. Add to that the consequences of lost learning time, and it makes sense that the COVID-19 Child Wellbeing Task Force is focused on meeting the needs of children in our state’s K-12 public education system. 

But school-age children are not the only ones suffering from the fallout of this pandemic. High levels of stress hormones are especially harmful to children ages 0-5, when young brains are developing the fastest. Although three-year olds aren’t expected to do math problems or write essays, a child’s ability to learn at that age is just as critical for their long-term wellbeing as it is in 3rd grade. Whether in a formal school setting or not, children start learning from the moment they are born. They’re taking in the world around them and learning to make sense of it. The neuron connections made before age 5 influence and regulate our physical and mental health the rest of our lives. 

The type of nurturing parenting that’s needed for the healthy development of young children can be challenging during normal times. And parents of very young children have experienced a uniquely high level of disruption to their daily routines and supports during this pandemic. Some have lost access to quality child care but still need to work outside the home. Others are trying to meet the intense physical needs of young children while working from home. Even parents who were already at home with their children have lost important social connections and opportunities for self care. The social and emotional wellbeing of children are impacted by all of these situations, and need to be addressed. 

The COVID-19 Child Wellbeing Task Force has been asked to produce a report for Gov. Bill Lee by mid-December that summarizes its work to date and recommends additional actions going forward. We hope one of those recommendations will be expanding the Task Force to identify and address the needs of our youngest Tennesseans. 

With cases of COVID-19 currently rising across our state, the new challenges we’re all facing, unfortunately, don’t seem to be going away any time soon. But every challenge also opens a door for opportunity. National crises always leave a mark on the young people who live through them and often define their generation. Fifty years from now, we should all look back and be able to say that this was the turning point where we collectively recognized the importance of the social / emotional wellbeing of children, including the littlest ones.