Sydney Kate Watson, asst. arts & living editor 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the majority of young children’s lives. Especially the time of their life that they remember. While there is still no longitudinal data to determine exactly how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the lives of young children, teachers and psychologists agree that children are resilient. 

The age range from zero to five is a critical time for development: language, social, emotional, cognitive and physical. There have been concerns that young children developing language may be at a disadvantage if their teachers are wearing a mask. For Berry College Elementary and Middle School kindergarten teacher, Lewis Byrne, being able to correctly model speech has been a challenge. 

“That’s been the biggest struggle,” Byrne said. “I’ve figured out a way where I can distance myself enough from a child so that they can see my mouth and still see the sounds because that’s really important.”

Byrne attempted to use a face shield to help with proper modeling, but the echo the shield created was not ideal. Currently, he distances himself from his students to properly model without a mask, but otherwise consistently wears a mask. 

Another challenge of wearing face masks is the ability for children to understand complex emotions. Around kindergarten age, children begin to transition from only understanding simple emotions such as happiness and sadness to embarrassment and shame. According to Associate Professor of Psychology Casey Dexter, research shows that only being able to see the upper half of the face presents challenges for emotion detection. 

“There’s been some experimental research showing that wearing masks does inhibit the speed and the accuracy, with which we can understand and detect different types of emotions,” Dexter said.

Dexter emphasized that parents could create opportunities for children to learn and develop at home. Byrne also agreed that parents can provide beneficial developmental support for their children, as long as they take the time to commit. 

“You really need to commit to actually having a time to sit down with them and work with them,” Byrne said. 

Chair of the Psychology Department Michelle Haney emphasized that children with developmental disabilities will be the individuals who are likely to struggle the most when learning about facial expressions, due to the use of masks. 

“Some of our children with developmental disabilities have a lot of trouble reading facial emotions,” Haney said. 

This is of great concern considering children with disabilities often experience the “Matthew effect,” where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. In a classroom environment, this translates to children’s rate of learning being slower than their peers’ and the learning gap growing larger, according to Haney.

“When you already have deficits and challenges and you don’t have access to information, then you’re going to even have a slower route of emotional development,” Haney said. 

Although the mask itself is similar to that of an article of clothing, young children do not necessarily know or realize that there was a time when wearing masks was not essential to stay safe. According to Haney, to young children who have spent a majority of their life growing up during the cultural environment of the pandemic, wearing a mask might seem more “normal” and normal is relative. 

“Just the mask-wearing itself is their normal,” Haney said. “It’s sort of a cultural difference.”

For many children, wearing masks is not a problem. Since this is all they have known, it does not bother them, according to Byrne. 

“It’s not something that bothers them,” Byrne said. “I think, in all honesty, that children are handling it better than adults are.” 

According to Byrne, children are told what to do and not to do at all times during this age, and masks are just another example of a rule they need to follow. 

“They’re very used to being told, at this age, what to do, so if you tell a child to put a mask on, they’re not going to put up a fight,” Byrne said. 

Dexter also affirmed children’s adherence to the rules through his two young children. He acknowledged that his children’s mask obedience was in part because they are surrounded by people who obey mask policies. Wearing masks has simply become a part of his children’s life that they accept.

“It’s part of their daily life,” Dexter said. “They pop their mask on when we go anywhere in public, when they go to school, and they keep it on all day and they’ve been really good with it.”

Besides just adhering to policies, for Dexter, teaching his children to obey mask rules was an opportunity to teach morals. Dexter explained to his children that wearing masks was a way to not only protect yourself, but to also take care of others. 

“This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to a community and really talk about compassion and being selfless and caring for others,” Dexter said. 

Besides the additional clothing article of a mask, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way children interact with one another. Haney associated the activity of play as the work of children, but play has most certainly changed with children now more isolated from peers. 

“We may be redefining what social interaction looks like,” Haney said

According to Haney, playing with others is a fundamental experience for children, and parents and teachers are having to think outside the box as to how play takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We are becoming more creative though with how to set up opportunities for children of all ages to interact in schools, in structured activities and spontaneously,” Haney said. 

While reproducing what happens during children’s one on one play with their peers may not be possible, Haney said that parents can also provide their children with important social interaction time as long as they are doing it deliberately. 

“Families can provide lots of social opportunities for young children, taking time to intentionally, play together,” Haney said.

Byrne, Dexter and Haney all emphasized that children are resilient and adaptable. According to Byrne, children’s focus on the present allows them to bounce back and cope with situations better than adults do. 

“We often look ahead and we’re trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel, but children are much better at just dealing with the now,” Byrne said. “Children are very resilient, they are going to bounce back a lot faster than adults do.”

While this sentiment brings hopefulness to the situation, Dexter reminded parents that there is a peace of mind that comes from knowing children are more protected from the COVID-19 virus with a vaccination. He understands that everyone’s main goal is to do what is best for their children, and he said that vaccination seems to be a safe option for parents and children. 

“I would urge people to consider if you’re eligible for vaccinating that that’s a really good way to, have that conversation about protecting yourself and protecting others,” Dexter said.