Children in COVID-19 Pandemic

Group Assignment

By
Aatreyee Tamuly M2020CF002
Aditi Borkar M2020CF003
Purwi Saxena M2020CF015

Course Teacher - Dr. Josephine Anthony

SWCF 05 Vulnerable and Marginalised Children:
Issues and Perspectives

M.A. Social Work with Children & Families

School of Social Work
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Mumbai, India
 Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Effect of COVID-19 on Education 3
Impact of COVID 19 on Child Marriages 9
Child Labour 10
Health of Children 12
Socialization 14
Children Orphaned due to COVID-19 Pandemic 16
Vulnerability Framework 18
Protection System 19
Gaps in Protection of Children during COVID-19 22
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory 23
Conclusion 25
References 26
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc all over the world. Everywhere extensive social
distancing policies have been in place, restricting people's daily activities, and governments
around the world are pleading with people to stay safe and stay at home. This, of course, means
that most people, especially children, spend the majority of their time at home. COVID-19 was
declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. On March
22, 2020, India observed Janta Curfew for a day. On March 24, India imposed a 14-hour Janta
Curfew to tackle the Coronavirus outbreak. And since then the Indian government has been
extending the lockdown period in stages as it monitors the virus's effects. As a result of the
lockdown, schools have been shut, people are stuck at home with very restricted outside
movement causing significant changes in the lives of children and their family members.

What is happening in India today in the aftermath of COVID-19 which has disrupted lives,
exacerbated vulnerabilities, and undermined the dignity of people who are already marginalised.
The restrictions imposed by COVID-19 have resulted in grave violations of fundamental rights,
exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, and triggered a pandemic of hunger and poverty where none
previously existed. Children from all vulnerable sections of society, such as children of migrant
workers, daily wage earners, child labourers, children on the street, children in child care
institutions (CCIs), or children in conflict zones, children with disabilities, transgender children,
children living in poverty, and children living in disaster-prone areas, have all been severely
impacted during the pandemic.

To understand the vulnerabilities of children that have heightened due to the pandemic, the
following situational analysis has been done:
​
Effect of COVID-19 on Education

India suspended its schools as an emergency measure on March 16, 2020, becoming one of the
first countries in the world to do so. Following the closure of schools, virtual platforms have
been introduced in all grades to continue children's education. These nationwide closures
impacted roughly 1.5 billion students, or more than 90% of the world's student population, from
pre-primary to higher education in 200 countries at the height of the pandemic in April 2020.
(UNESCO et al., 2020).

Source: World Economic Forum

The closure of schools impacts children in multifaceted ways. An entire generation of children's
education has been disrupted. As learning inequities deepen, marginalised children pay the
highest price. For remote learning, 346 million young people do not have access to the internet.
Schools are centres of social interaction and activity. When schools close, many children and
teenagers lose out on important social interactions that are necessary for learning and growth,
leading to social isolation. For nourishment and healthy nutrition, many children and teens rely
on free or subsidised meals supplied by schools. When schools close, children's nutrition is
jeopardised. In addition to this, when schools close, scheduled assessments, particularly
high-stakes exams that decide entrance or promotion to new educational levels and institutions,
are thrown into disarray. Exams that are postponed, skipped, or administered remotely pose
severe questions about fairness, especially when access to learning is limited. Assessment
disruptions cause stress for kids and their families, and can lead to disengagement. When schools
reopen following closures, it is difficult to ensure that children and youth return and stay in
school. This is especially true when businesses close for an extended period of time or when
economic shocks force youngsters to work and provide revenue for financially troubled families.
We can also find that distance learning is not a wise option as it is largely carried out through
technology. According to preliminary research on India's experience, the country's
socioeconomic gaps are influencing virtual learning's efficacy (or lack of it). A shortage of
cellphones and laptops, an unreliable internet connection (if at all), a lack of digital skills, and a
lack of electricity affect large segments of the school-age population.

India had 30 million out-of-school children before COVID-19, with 40 percent of them being
adolescent girls. Close to 10 million secondary school females are expected to drop out after
COVID-19, with a high majority of these coming from India. There was still a long way to go to
establish gender equality in and around education prior to COVID-19. According to UNESCO,
the pandemic and its unprecedented disruption to education may prevent 11 million girls from
returning to school. In low and lower-income nations, girls are more likely than boys to drop out
of school, whereas boys are more likely in upper-middle and high-income countries. Girls,
particularly those from low-income families, those with disabilities, and those from rural
locations, have been found to have a higher percentage of dropouts. Prior to the pandemic,
millions of girls in India were already coping with poor education, unable to achieve even basic
reading and arithmetic skills, let alone secondary level abilities essential for a greater chance of
leading a productive adult life.
 Source: Who Is Going Back to School? A Four-Country Rapid Survey in Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan
(https://www.cgdev.org/blog/who-going-back-school-four-country-rapid-survey-ethiopia-india-nigeria-and-pakistan )

Education of girls is essential to address as it has been directly impacted by the pandemic. First,
schools provide important social safety nets, such as school feeding programmes, health
programmes, and disability care. As a result of school closures, children have been subjected to
increasing neglect, abuse, exploitation, and gender-based violence. Secondly, it is also seen that
distance learning tools (online platforms, television broadcasts, radio, and so on) have been used
to help youngsters learn during school closures. Due to enormous digital disparities across
wealth, region, and gender, it has not been able to reach all students. The poorest females in
India, as well as those living in rural regions, have far less access to technology than boys. In
India, there is a 50% gender divide in mobile internet users, with 21% of women and 42% of
males using the service. Thirdly, Because schools, anganwadis, and child care centres are closed,
girls are excessively burdened with household responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning, sibling
care, and water collecting. Fourthly, many girls may drop out of school because a girl's education
has a larger financial and opportunity cost than a boy's, especially for poor households.
Intra-household schooling spending allocation has a pro-male bias (Sonawane, 2020). Lastly,
Adolescence is a critical time in a girl's life because she must decide whether to continue her
schooling, enter the labour market, or marry. As a result, they are at risk of dropping out
Source: https://www.cgdev.org/blog/COVID-19-and-girls-education-what-we-know-so-far-and-what-we-expect-happen

This flowchart presents a very comprehensive understanding of how the pandemic has had a
negative impact on girl’s education causing them to drop out of school. The closure of schools
had a direct impact on learning which deteriorates over time. Engagement of girls in household
and domestic chores also impacts negatively on their learning outcomes. All these factors
ultimately culminate in making girls drop out of school.
ASER WAVE II Report 2020

The pandemic also gave a glimpse of the digital divide which exists in the
country. This divide is stark when we compare access to digital devices in the urban and
rural areas. The digital divide is also dependent on the gender of children. All these
elements have been highlighted in the ASER WAVE II Report 2020, and shows how this
impacts education especially in the times of COVID pandemic, making children
vulnerable. It explores the provision of, and access to, remote education mechanisms and
materials in rural parts of the country, and the ways in which children, families, and
educators are engaging with these from their homes.

The ASER 2020 data reveals that children who are already vulnerable will bear the brunt
of the pandemic's influence on educational achievements. It is commonly known that
children from economically disadvantaged families have poorer learning outcomes.
Statistically in general, households stated that roughly 75 percent of children receive
some learning support at home, and that close to 30 percent of children continued to
attend paid tuition classes despite the crisis. Next, a third of all households said their
children's school provided them with learning materials and activities. 67 percent of
families with children in public schools and 87 percent of families with children in
private schools said they received these materials over WhatsApp. Surprisingly, 32% of
government school children's families said that materials were delivered via visits. There
was also a rise in the number of internet users in rural areas as education shifted to the
online mode, but this increase is yet to reach a majority.
Impact of COVID 19 on Child Marriages

According to UNICEF estimates, 110 million child marriages occurred globally between 2011
and 2020, with an estimated 25 million prevented. However, this trend may now be reversing.
According to UNICEF, between 2021 and 2030, up to 10 million more girls will be at danger of
child marriage (UNICEF 2021). The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) believes that the
COVID-19 pandemic will result in an additional 13 million child marriages globally between
2020 and 2030. 7.4 million are due to a halt in programme execution, and the remaining 5.6
million are due to the global economic downturn's impact on household poverty (UNFPA 2020).

Source: UNICEF Report, COVID-19 A threat to progress against child marriage

Given that India is home to every third child marriage, these figures have serious consequences
for the country. India had made significant progress in eliminating child marriage during this
century. In India, nearly half (47%) of females aged 20–24 had married as children, that is,
before reaching the legal age of 18. Child marriage fell dramatically over the next decade,
reaching a low of 27% in 2015–16 (IIPS (International Institute for Population Sciences) and ICF
2017; IIPS and Macro International 2007). These advancements are expected to stall during the
next decade, according to projections.

According to a recent assessment, South Asia would bear the brunt of these child marriages:
191,200 in a single year and 956,000 in five years (Save the Children 2021). In a phone survey
of adolescents in four states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha), 8 percent said they
had heard of at least one case of child marriage in their neighbourhood after the lockdown was
imposed, and 2–3 percent said they had started making plans for their marriage, and that the
pandemic had exacerbated their chances of getting married early.

Childline, a nodal government institution for children in distress that receives and responds to
distress calls, including those connected to child marriage, also provides evidence. For example,
5,584 distress calls were made about child marriage between May and July 2020, reflecting a 33
percent rise in reports of child marriage to ChildLine between January and June 2019
(JEJEEBHOY, 2021).

During a pandemic, factors like poverty and education are more likely to play a greater role in
increasing child marriages. The economic strains many families go through in such times may
lead them to adopt negative coping mechanisms like child marriages. As a result, Child
marriages can have an impact on the health of a child, thus making them vulnerable in this
context.

Child Labour
Child labour refers to work that children are too young to do and/or employment that is likely to
affect children's health, safety, or morals due to its nature or circumstances. Child labour, in more
specific language, refers to work done by children in any type of job, with two important
exceptions: permitted light work for children within the age range specified for light work, and
work that is not classified as one of the worst forms of child labour, particularly hazardous work,
for children over the general minimum working age. Child labour is a barrier to individual
children's growth as well as the development of their community and economy. According to the
most recent global figures, 152 million children (64 million girls and 88 million boys) are
involved in child labour, almost one out of every ten children in the world. Child labour is more
common in India than in many other countries. According to the 2011 Census of India, 10.1
million children are either working or seeking for labor. Despite this, the National Crime Records
Bureau's annual publication Crime in India 2018 shows that in 2018, only 464 instances were
reported across the country under The Child Labour(Prohibition and Regulation) Amendments
Act 2016, (with 810 child victims).

According to a research released by the UNICEF and International Labour Organization (ILO),
the pandemic will force 9 million more children into child labour by the year 2022.

Child labour and COVID-19

Even as the globe struggles to deal with COVID-19, records from India suggest that children are
still being exploited for child labour, despite the fact that the outbreak was followed by
lockdown. While the coronavirus pandemic took India's children out of school (which was
officially closed), many children were secretly transported to farms and industries to work,
exacerbating the country's child labour situation. In India, school closures and the economic
crises experienced by vulernarable families as a result of the pandemic are likely drivers of
children falling into poverty, resulting in child labour and dangerous migration.
The COVID-19 crisis has dropped labour demand and may have decreased the demand for child
labour, while school closures and job losses among parents may have increased child labour
supply.
There has been some success in lowering child labour cases, but the pandemic has the potential
to disrupt this effort. According to the government, there are approximately 100 million migrant
labourers with roughly 20-25% of them being children. According to UNICEF, almost 10
million children in India are still enslaved in some way. With almost 1.5 million schools closed
as a result of the pandemic, opportunities for marginalised children to participate in meaningful
developmental activities have vanished or been drastically limited.
In India, the Childline helpline conducted 3653 operations for child labour across the states.Out
of these 3653 operations, 35% (1264) were for begging, 21% (763) were for activities
categorized as hazardous, 14% (513) were working in restaurants, 10% (371) as domestic
workers, 8% (286) in family units and 4% (156) as bonded labour.

Health of Children
It is essential to protect and improve the health of children. We have made significant progress in
improving health and reducing the mortality rate of young children during the last many decades.
Among other reassuring data, the number of children dying before reaching the age of five has
been cut in half between 2000 and 2017, and more mothers and children are alive today than ever
before.
The World Health Organisation (1948) states that as a basic principle, "health is a state of
complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity"
Children are not the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they run the risk of being one
of the most vulnerable victims. While they have been mostly spared from the direct health
implications of COVID-19 – at least to date— the pandemic situation is having a significant
impact on their well-being. All children, of all ages and from all nations, are impacted,
particularly by socioeconomic effects and, in some situations, mitigation attempts that may
accidentally cause more harm than good. This is a worldwide crisis with long-term consequences
for certain children.
Families' economic hardship as a result of the global economic slowdown could result in
hundreds of thousands of child deaths in the current situation, reversing the previous two to three
years of progress in reducing infant mortality in a single year. And this worrying statistic does
not account for services that have been disrupted as a result of the crisis – it just reflects the
current relationship between economy and mortality, implying that it is likely an underestimation
of the impact. As 368.5 million children in 143 countries who previously relied on school meals
for a stable source of daily nutrition are at a high risk as malnutrition is projected to rise.

Children affected by COVID in India

According to NDTV report,
In Maharashtra, 60,684 children tested positive between March 1 and April 4, 2021. Of these
children, 9,882 are under the age of five.
In Chhattisgarh, 5,940 children were infected by the disease, with 922 of them below five.
In Karnataka, the corresponding figures are slightly higher as 7,327 children have tested positive
for COVID-19. As many as 871 of them are less than five years old, the channel reported.
In Uttar Pradesh, 3,004 children have been infected and 471 among them are less than five years
of age.

Mental health of children during COVID-19

During childhood, sound mental health is every bit as important as physical health for achieving
developmental milestones. It helps children with their emotional wellbeing and social skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a complex set of issues for everyone, especially children and
adolescents, with mental health implications. Because the children are unable to comprehend the
fullness of a situation or completely articulate their thoughts to adults, they are more vulnerable
to mental health concerns. This vulnerability was exacerbated by the fact that the pandemic
disturbed their usual lives, depriving them of schooling and, as a result, socialisation and
physical activity. Children were made even more susceptible as the health crisis progressed and a
significant proportion of information circulated on social media, most of which was unconfirmed
or misleading. Anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and a loss of appetite plagued many of
them.
Grief, worry, uncertainty, social isolation, excessive screen time, and parental exhaustion have all
had a negative impact on children's mental health. Children's friendships and family support are
powerful stabilising influences, but the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown them off.

Only a few researchers looked at the effects of a pandemic on children's mental health.
From a study, it was found that children from all development phases had high rates of
depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic effects of the pandemic (Miranda, Athanasio, Oliveira,
Simoes-e-Silva, 2020).
Children today are concerned about the pandemic's detrimental impact on their lives and
communities, as well as uncertainty about the future.

Socialization

Socialization is the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and
ideologies, which provides an individual with the skills and habits required to participate in his
or her own society. Primary socialisation is critical for a child because it lays the groundwork for
all future socialisation. It happens when a child learns the attitudes, values, and behaviours that
are appropriate for individuals as members of a specific culture. Secondary socialisation is the
process of learning what behaviour is appropriate as a member of a smaller group within a larger
society.

Due to the continuous lockdown, children can no longer attend school, meet their friends or go
outside to play with others. Many of the restrictions are still in place, with schools opening only
a few days a week for selective students, most operating on online medium, restricted gathering
of people, parents preventing their children from playing outside with others. Although these
social distancing measures are important and necessary in this time, our bodies and minds still
require human connection. Many children are also developing different fears, insecurities and
changes such as, seeing people wearing face masks, physical/social isolation, observing their
parents struggle with issues of health and financial instability in these uncertain times (Van Der
Veen et al., 2020). In order to cope up with these rapid changes physical activities and staying
connected with friends and families can be of great help. The connection between physical
activity and mental well-being is undeniable.

The lockdown has also pushed children to rely on technology to supplement their education,
keep themselves entertained, and stay connected to the outside world. They use social media to
stay in touch with their peers, which distracts them when they should be doing schoolwork. The
popularity of mobile phones, computer games, television programs, and other technological
products has increased many folds. Now, it is not just the use of communication technologies,
e-games or social media but also the shift from physical classes to online learning that has led to
the increase in sedentary lifestyle (Frahsa et. al., 2020). Children become vulnerable to
cybercrime and may be exposed to inappropriate content as a result of their easy access to
technology but lack of knowledge about online safety. According to Gupta and Jawanda (2020),
many studies show that social media exposes children to a higher risk of cybercrime, which can
lead to stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, and even suicide attempts. Social media could also be a
major source of children becoming addicted to various harmful substances. A lack of
face-to-face contact with friends and partners may lead to increased risk-taking, such as sending
sexualized images, whereas increased and unstructured online time may expose children to
potentially harmful and violent content, as well as an increased risk of cyberbullying (UNICEF,
2020).

Another factor that is affecting socialization is the lack of physical activity. Physical activity
(PA) can be defined as any bodily movement caused by skeletal muscles that necessitates the
expenditure of energy. It is a critical component of managing mental health well-being. For
school going children, WHO (2020) recommends that children should engage in at least
60minutes of physical activity, less than 2 hours of sedentary screen time and should have a
good-quality of 9-11 hours of daily sleep. In normal situations, the necessary amount of
movement behaviour is met through travelling to school, engaging with peers, playing in the
evening or through other activities. But due to the pandemic restrictions, sedentary time has
increased, physical activity time has tremendously decreased and sleep cycle has been affected
due to disruption in daily routine. This in turn has given rise to vitamin D deficiency, eye sight
problems, mental health issues, weakening of immune system, along with the looming fear of
behavioural adaptations of less activity becoming the new normal. There is no physical activity
involved in using devices, it gives instant gratification and even the most shy children can get
away with their antisocial tendencies. It is also believed that, after spending so much time
indoors, when children start going outside they would no longer find the outdoor spaces
attractive or feel comfortable playing with their peers (Gray P., 2011).

According to a survey of parents of children aged 5 to 15 in New Delhi, 54 % said their children
spend an additional five hours per day on a screen. A staggering 84% of parents were concerned
about their child's increased screen time. Physical activity decreased as screen time increased.
Reduced physical activity (and, conversely, increased sedentary behaviour) has been linked to
negative physical and mental health outcomes such as loss of muscular and cardiorespiratory
fitness, weight gain, psychosocial problems, poor academic achievement, and ophthalmic issues,
according to research. Evidence points that the negative consequences may reverberate all the
way into adulthood (Bahl, 2021).

Children Orphaned due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic have centred on prevention, detection, and response.
Since the majority of COVID-19 deaths occur in adults rather than children, the focus has,
understandably, been on adults. However, as with the HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and 1918 influenza
epidemics, a tragic consequence of a high number of adult deaths is that a high number of
children may lose their parents and caregivers to COVID-19. Such children are frequently
subjected to negative consequences such as poverty, abuse, and institutionalisation.

UNICEF defines orphanhood as the death of one or both parents, as well as the death of
caregivers. Because COVID-19 can cause death within weeks, families have little time to
prepare their children for the trauma of losing a parent or caregiver. Evidence suggests that
institutionalisation, which is a common response even when a surviving parent is present, can
result in developmental delays and increased abuse. Children who lose their primary caregivers
are more likely to experience mental health issues, physical, emotional, and sexual violence, and
family poverty. These negative experiences increase the likelihood of suicide, adolescent
pregnancy, infectious and chronic diseases. Evidence from previous epidemics indicates that
ineffective responses to the death of a parent or caregiver, even when a surviving parent or
caregiver exists, can have negative psychosocial, neurocognitive, socioeconomic, and biomedical
outcomes for children. Children and adolescents who have lost their parents or caregivers face
increased risks of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and suicidal ideation.
Mitigation-related isolation, school closures, and inability to participate in bereavement practises
can exacerbate these consequences.

According to a Lancet study, between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021, an estimated 11,34,000
children experienced the death of primary caregivers, including at least one parent or custodial
grandparent. At least one primary or secondary caregiver died for 15,62,000 children. According
to the study, COVID-19 killed 25,500 children in India, while 90,751 lost their father and 12 lost
both parents.The study classified primary caregivers as parents and custodial grandparents, and
secondary caregivers as co-residing grandparents or older kin (aged 60–84 years).

Orphanhood and caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic caused by COVID-19 deaths.
Accelerating equitable vaccine delivery is critical to preventing disease. Psychosocial and
economic support can assist families in raising children in the absence of caregivers while also
preventing institutionalisation. These findings highlight the need for an additional pillar of our
response: preventing, detecting, responding to, and caring for children (Hillis et al., 2021).

As per a Times of India (30th July 2021) article, in a recent report to the Supreme Court, the
National Commission for the Protection of Children's Rights (NCPCR) stated that due to the
pandemic, 6,855 children were orphaned, 274 were found abandoned, and 68,218 lost a parent
between April 1, 2020 and July 23, 2021. These orphaned children face not only the emotional
trauma of losing both parents, but also physical dangers such as exposure to violence, child
labour, trafficking, child marriage, sexual exploitation, and so on. Orphaned children are more
vulnerable to neglect and exploitation.
Source : Sonali Verma / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Jul 30, 2021, 07:27 ..
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/are-we-doing-enough-for-children-orphaned-by-COVI
D/articleshow/84878779.cms

Vulnerability Framework
After going through the situational analysis of children’s vulnerabilities in the COVID-19
pandemic, it has been observed that it’s not just the Health, Education or socialization of children
that has been impacted due to the pandemic. There lies many underlying factors that have
increased children’s vulnerabilities in terms of emerging cases of online addiction along with
substance abuse, increasing number of Child Marriage and Child Labour cases, the very hidden
aspect of abuse on children and the newly emerged category of Children orphaned due to
COVID-19 pandemic are also on the rise. Though these aspects have been analyzed in an
isolated manner in this report, all are inter-connected, creating a vicious cycle of child
vulnerability and impacting the child protection system severely.
Protection System
All children deserve a happy childhood and the opportunity to lead a dignified life safe from
violence, exploitation, neglect, deprivation and discrimination. India being a signatory to the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has a strong legal framework to
protect children. One of the very important laws to safeguard vulnerable children is the Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015, which states that children in distress
deserve care and protection. The Act and its accompanying Rules mandate a safety net of service
delivery structures, as well as institutional and non-institutional care for these children. A
Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CPS) in collaboration with the State Governments/UT
Administrations is being implemented to provide institutional and non-institutional care as
required by the JJ Act. According to the scheme guidelines, a maintenance grant of Rs.2000/- per
child per month is available for non-institutional care of children in need of care and protection,
in addition to a maintenance grant of Rs.2160/- per child per month for children living in Child
Care Institutions.

The government of India has offered free online courses through SWAYAM, SWAYAM
PRABHA channels on the DTH platforms and also trying the option of All India Radio,
Doordarshan and 3G networks to transmit the curriculum to the students. Apart from that, the
government initiated a lot of faculty development programs to enrich their knowledge related to
the digital classroom and technological skills.
The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India announced the PM CARES for Children scheme on 29th
May 2021 to assist children who have lost both parents, a surviving parent, a legal guardian, or
adoptive parents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic starting from 11th March 2020. The
scheme supports education and health, and each child will receive a corpus of Rs 10 lakh when
he or she reaches the age of 18. This corpus will be used to provide a monthly financial support/
stipend starting at the age of 18 for the next 5 years to cover his or her personal needs during the
period of higher education, and when he or she reaches the age of 23, he or she will receive the
corpus amount in one lump sum for personal and professional use. The scheme can be accessed
via an online portal, pmcaresforchildren.in. On July 15, all states and UTs were given access to
the portal. Through the portal, any citizen can notify the administration about a child who is
eligible for assistance under this scheme (Children Orphaned Due to COVID-19, 2021)

Mental Health
In response to the increased vulnerability of children’s mental health, India's government
launched the 'Manodarpan' programme, which included the formation of a toll-free helpline
number and a website, as well as the distribution of a handbook on the life skills required to
survive a health crisis. Snehi, or psychosocial support centres, have been developed across India,
where counsellors assist children and adolescents in managing the emotional challenges posed by
the pandemic. As early as February, these centres began getting calls connected to COVID-19
(The Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Adolescents: Early Evidence in India,2021).

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006)

The Act's purpose is to prohibit the solemnization of child marriages, as well as other related and
ancillary topics. The Government of India adopted the Prevention of Child Marriage Act 2006,
which replaced the earlier Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, to ensure that child marriage is
abolished from society. This new Act includes measures that prohibit child marriage, protect and
offer relief to victims, and increase the penalties for those who aid, promote, or solemnise such
marriages. The State government is also required to designate a Child Marriage Prohibition
Officer for the entire or a portion of a State under this Act.
According to the law, a child or minor is a person up to 18 years in the case of girls and 21 years
in the case of boys. The law looks at three broad categories- Prevention, Protection and
Punishment. The Child Marriage Prohibition Officer (CMPO) is the most important individual in
any district for ensuring that child marriages are prohibited. On behalf of the child who is the
victim, the CMPO has the authority to intervene and file a petition both before and after a child
marriage occurs.

Child Labour ( Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

The main object of the Child Labour ( Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is to address the
social concern and prohibit the engagement of children who have not completed 14 years of age
in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children has been prohibited in
occupations.
According to the Act,
1. No child shall be permitted to work between the hours of 7 p.m. and 8 a.m., nor shall they
be permitted to work beyond time.
2. No child may work for more than three hours without taking a one-hour break. The time
span has been set at six hours.
3. It is permissible to take a week off. The Act also includes provisions for children's health
and safety.
4. In the event that a child's hired, the employer is required to notify the Factory Inspectors.
The regulations of the Act also necessitate the production of a certificate of age.
Section 13 of the Act outlines how the employer should provide drinking water, latrines and
urinals, cleanliness, waste and effluent disposal, ventilation and temperature, among other things,
to child workers. The employer must also offer measures for dust and fume control, artificial
humidification, and mechanical fencing, among other things.
Penalties under the child labour acts are-
● Penalties of employing child- 6 months to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of
₹20,000-₹50,000 or both
● Penalties of employing an adolescent- 6 months to 2 years imprisonment or a fine of
₹20,000-₹50,000 or both.
● The government may confer powers on a District Magistrate to ensure that the provisions
of the law are properly carried out
Gaps in Protection of Children during COVID-19
To start with, the pandemic has caused children to use the internet at an earlier age. Children's
data is routinely collected by social media and search engines based on their registration and
login information, online activities (browsing history, communication, content interaction),
content creation (emails, photos, videos), and device data (IP address, device IDs, unique
identifiers). Children are not adequately protected from these practises, which can expose them
to commercial exploitation and online predators.

Next we find that child helplines are an essential component of national child protection systems.
Calls are typically tracked, and children's personal information is stored in a database. There is
currently insufficient data to provide an accurate picture of the impact of COVID-19 on child
helplines.

Another gap in terms of child protection is the poor implementation of the existing laws and
schemes including poor infrastructure for safeguarding children. For example, the situational
analysis showed that there is already an increasing number of child marriages that are taking
place in the country. Even though The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was enacted in 2006, it
is clear that it is not a new legislation. The very fact that child marriages are still happening, that
in an increasing manner during the pandemic hints at the gaps in its implementation and
inefficient working of the Child Marriage Prohibition officer.

It must be understood that to ensure protection of children from the different vulnerabilities,
ground research is required in diverse interconnected fields, to provide us with a holistic
understanding of the status of vulnerability in children. COVID-19 has definitely impacted
children in multifaceted manner, but there is a lack of research and study undertaken in areas like
impact of COVID-19 on physical health, process of socialisation, abuse etc. This acts as a gap to
frame effective child protection mechanisms.
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner was a twentieth-century Russian ecological theorist. He began working on
a new field of study, The Ecology of Human Development, in 1948. He studied children in their
natural environment and published his findings in the 1979 book titled 'The Ecology of Human
Development.' According to the Ecological Systems Theory, the place and the influence of
environmental effects on the child are given prominence. The model investigates the system of
interdependent relationships that exist between an individual and his or her social/physical
environment and divides an individual's environment into interconnected systems known as the
Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, and Macrosystem.
● The microsystem refers to the child's most immediate and small environment in and
around which he or she lives. These factors have the greatest impact on the child because
the child is directly affected by them. For example, family, school, and so on.
● The Mesosystem describes how various microsystems interact with one another.
● The larger social system in which the child lives is referred to as the exosystem. This
system denotes a setting that influences the child's experience but in which the child has
no active role.
● The largest layer of the child's environment is the macrosystem. It refers to a larger
societal factor such as the overall economic situation, cultural value, political scenario,
and so on (Guy-Evans, 2020).
Using this theory, we can see how different categories of children have become vulnerable due to
the COVID-19 pandemic in regards to health, education, and socialization. But, despite these
vulnerabilities, there are protective systems at place which try to safeguard them. Like, at the
meso and exo level the family, school, community ensures that children are monitored and
looked after. At the Macro level government and international schemes and programmes try to
ensure the wellbeing of children.
Conclusion
Children are not the face of this pandemic. But they risk being among its biggest victims, as
children’s lives are nonetheless being changed in profound ways. All children, of all ages, and in
all countries, are being affected, in particular by the socio-economic impacts. These impacts can
largely be seen in three areas- education, health and socialization.The mitigation measures in
some cases may inadvertently do more harm than good.

Children who are forced to drop out of school due to the pandemic will suffer the largest losses.
The longer schools are closed and the more severe the economic downturn caused by the
pandemic, the greater the chance of this happening.

Only by working together can we keep millions of girls and boys – including those facing
poverty, exclusion or violence, and those upended by humanitarian crises – healthy, safe and
learning.” (UNICEF, An agenda for Action, 2020)

Team Members Contribution

Aatreyee Tamuly (M2020CF002) Impact of Covid on Education, ASER WAVE

II Report 2020, Impact of covid on Child
Marriage, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,
2006, Gaps in protection of children during
COVID-19, Vulnerability framework, making
of PPT.

Purwi Saxena (M2020CF015) Worked on Socialization, Children Orphaned

due to COVID-19, Protection Systems in
place, Vulnerability Framework, Theoretical
understanding and the PPT
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