NewsWire: 12/15/2020
- Parents of infants and toddlers sometimes worry about the long-term effects of raising their kids without the presence of other children. The youngest children have now gone almost a year without playdates and birthday parties—but does it matter? (The New York Times)
- NH: Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen a lot of discussion about how lockdowns and increased social isolation are affecting school-age children. But what about the very youngest kids? These are the infants and toddlers whose entire lives so far may have been spent in quarantine.
- Those with housebound parents and siblings have seen more of their families than any other cohort of young kids in recent memory. But for many, that’s where the social interaction ends. They hardly ever see other children their own age--except through masks from six feet away.
- With an even more isolating winter looming, some parents worry that the lack of interaction with other kids will end up impairing their child’s social skills.
- Developmental psychologists point out, however, the most important people in a very young child’s life are his or her parents, and they’re seeing plenty of them. The increased time together with parents has proven to be a boon for older children (see “Lockdown Silver Lining: Closer Mother-Daughter Bonds” and "Another Lockdown Silver Lining: Dads Feeling Closer to Their Kids"). There’s no reason to believe the same won’t be true for the youngest kids.
- Also, keep this in mind: The need for peer-socialization at an early age is a uniquely American obsession. It has to do with the importance Americans place on shaping the next generation to be democratic and egalitarian. (The American philosopher and educator John Dewey went so far as to say that socialization was the most important purpose of public schooling.) Most societies don't share this American fixation. There are many in which young kids rarely see anyone outside their immediate families until they start attending school.
- To be sure, there are differences between the types of interactions young kids have with their parents and with their peers. Many Covid-era toddlers are growing up under the impression that non-family members are to be avoided, which is an instinct they’ll have to unlearn once life returns to normal. They might need additional coaxing or reassurance before they feel comfortable being close to other kids.
- But again, child development experts say that this will only become a real issue if these kids are isolated for years, not months. Kids are resilient. They’ve lived through wars, recessions, natural disasters, and earlier pandemics. And they’ll live through this, too.
