The impact of the pandemic on adolescent health

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every aspect of life, including people's daily activities,
especially groups of children and adolescents. How not, the implementation of physical distancing
and school closures make them unable to carry out their normal activities.If normally they spend more
time with friends and activities at school, now they are forced to stay at home indefinitely.At first
maybe some teenagers feel this is their chance for a vacation. Over time the impact of the pandemic
turned out to have an effect on the mentality of teenagers.
Assalamu'alaikum.. ladies and gentlemen introduce my name is Silvia Jultikasari Febrian, from the
Islamic University of Indonesia. And I will deliver a speech entitled
"The impact of the pandemic on adolescent health"
Ladies and gentlemen
Reporting from NYU Langone Health, most teens look gloomy, sad, or disappointed when they are
quarantined at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.The reason is, some of these teenagers may
miss the moments they have been waiting for, such as watching a school art performance or just
meeting up with friends.
In fact, not a few of them feel anxious and wonder when this pandemic will end and everything will
return to normal. Although some teenagers fill their emptiness and anxiety by playing with cellphones
or social media, it turns out that this is not enough.
According to dr. Aleta G. assistant professor of the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at
NYU Langone Health, there are several factors that underlie this.The feelings of sadness and
disappointment experienced by teenagers during this pandemic are natural and normal. Social media
and games on their cellphones cannot replace social interactions at school ranging from chatting in
class, laughing at something funny during class, to hearing all the conversations that are happening
around them.
Meanwhile, the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of adolescents who belong to the
category of underprivileged families and are in ethnic minorities is quite large. They may lack the
resources to continue schooling from home, such as internet access.In addition, teenagers in this group
may have to think about the fate of their families because this pandemic has made them lose their
source of income. Therefore, parents and the surrounding community need to pay special attention to
this issue.
The impact of the pandemic is quite influential on the mentality of teenagers to make them stressed.
Not a few of them may 'act up' because they are bored and want to get your attention. However, there
are some symptoms related to adolescent mental health during the pandemic that you may need to
watch out for, such as:
Physical complaints, isolating themselves from parents, peers, to changing friendship groups,
dropping interest in learning which causes academic achievement to drop, often criticizing
themselves.
Some of the behaviors you may occasionally see in your teens. However, parents should be more
concerned when changes occur in a short time and all at once.
That way, mental health problems during the pandemic in teenagers can be avoided and they can
undergo quarantine at home healthily.
Actually, the mental impact of teenagers during this pandemic can be minimized with various efforts
that are also made by parents. Fortunately, there are many things you can do as a parent to support the
mental health of your teen.
Here are some tips that might help you in maintaining the mental health of teenagers according to
WHO.
maintain daily routines or create new activities ,discuss COVID-19 with children in an honest and
understandable language ,support youth learning at home and provide time for play, help children find
positive ways to express feelings, such as drawing, help teens stay social with friends and family
members online, make sure children don't spend too much time playing gadgets, invites teenagers to
find creative hobbies, such as singing, cooking, or writing so that we can be creative and avoid the
bad effects of this pandemic.
Ladies and gentlemen maybe that's all I can say. Hopefully what I have said can be useful for all of
us, thank you for your attention, don't forget to continue to maintain health and comply with all health
protocols. May we all continue to be given health..
wassalamu'alaikum..