The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization, proudly presents the below research by Thanudi Kumaradasa, Whyteleafe Junior Researcher (Sri Lanka), in support of the 2022 #WorldScienceDay theme’s #BasicSciencesForSustainableDevelopment, along with encouraging students toward further research-based projects.

The theme of World Science Day on 10 November 2022 is Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development. It is being celebrated within the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, which kicked off on 8 July 2022. Scientists, science communicators, and science enthusiasts are encouraged to prepare their events to celebrate #WorldScienceDay.
“The annual observance of theInternational Week ofScience and Peace, 9-15 November (A/RES/43/61), is making an important contribution to the promotion of peace. The Week encourages greater academic exchanges on a subject of universal importance while also generating greater awareness of the relationship of science and peace among the general public. Based on observances of Science and Peace Week to date, it may be expected that participation each year will increase, contributing to greater international understanding and opportunities for co-operation in the applications of science for the promotion of peace throughout the year.” #ScienceForDevelopmentAndPeace 
Source: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-science-day/week

Whyteleafe Junior Researchers Series

The Impact of the Covid-19 Lockdown on Children
by Thanudi Kumaradasa, Whyteleafe Junior Researcher

Introduction

The Covid-19 virus spread rapidly throughout the world in the year 2020, leading to temporary lockdowns in most countries. The 2020 lockdown in Sri Lanka affected many people and had a major impact on the lives of school-going children. The children of this category were impacted mainly in Education, food habits, leisure time, and health during the lockdown.

Throughout this research, we will examine how the day-to-day activities of children aged 8-17 were impacted and changed during the 2020 lockdown. There is very little information about how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted children in Sri Lanka and this will help improve how to change the response to possible lockdowns in the future and face it well-prepared and fearlessly. 

Etienne (2021), states that “The virus indirectly has consequences and is hindering their growth and development, and jeopardizing their chances at a bright future,” While Covid-19 continues to spread, schools are closed and children are stuck at home which could lead children to fear what will come next and about what they would or want to do in the future and what it holds for them. 

Materials & Methods 

A total of 50 responses to my research questionnaire have been received from Colombo, Gampaha, Matale, Hambanthota & Kurunegala districts from January to March 2021. Therefore, the Northern, North Central, Eastern, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa provinces have not been covered in my research. Most of the children who responded to my survey are attending government and private schools as shown.

Figure 1- Current attending school type of the children who responded to the research survey

Results 

Education

These are the views regarding the lockdown in 2020. Therefore, an improvement has occurred at the point of 2022.  

According to the data in figure 2, the children’s responses to distance learning methods were varied.

The majority of students have said that Live online lessons have been moderately successful; although 22% found it to be very unsuccessful and another 22% said it was successful. The Recorded online lessons and Sending assignments (via WhatsApp and Viber) have had moderate success, while the recorded lessons have been very successful for only 4%. 10% of those surveyed said Assignments were very successful but it has also been unsuccessful for 20% of students. Watching educational programs on TV has had medium responses from 26%of those surveyed, but also has been successful for 16% and unsuccessful for 16%. Study packs picked up from school have been very unsuccessful for 16% but very successful for 8%. Other learning methods done individually by children were mentioned as watching educational videos on YouTube and reading books. The most used electronic devices for online learning were computers and mobile phones and the most used online platforms were MS Teams and Zoom.  

How children adapted to the new study methods

Only 36% of students have found online learning easily from the beginning whereas 60% have adjusted to the new learning system after a while and 4% have found it hard the whole time, as shown in figure 3.

Eating Habits: Changes to their regular eating habits. 

During the lockdown, 84% of the children surveyed had witnessed changes in their usual eating habits and only 16% had not. This was a very positive outcome because the changes that occurred in their regular eating habits were those that would have a good impact on them after the pandemic. 

The type of changes that occurred to their eating habits during the lockdown.

Figure 4 shows the different changes that occurred in children’s eating habits during the Covid-19 lockdown. The change that occurred the most in households was the preference of eating foods that are only cooked at home and eating more healthy foods.

36% of the respondents have stated that they kept all the changes that occurred to their eating habits even after the lockdown ended, 54% have continued some habits only and 10% haven’t continued them after the lockdown ended as shown in figure 5.

52% of the responses stated that eating from restaurants/buying takeaway food decreased and 4% of the responses stated that it increased and 44% of the responses stated that there was no change.

Leisure time     

Shown in figure 6 are the hobbies and spare-time activities children have done during the lockdown and reading and watching TV are doing the most. Other activities mentioned by the students surveyed were sewing, playing instruments, participating in online competitions, and writing stories. 84% of children who responded to the survey have developed new skills and have gained new experiences. Overall, it is very noticeable that after the pandemic the main things that have improved among children are different talents and technology and computer-related skills.

How children felt at home during the Covid-19 lockdown.

As shown in figure 7, the children surveyed have mostly felt somewhere in the middle of happiness and unhappy during this lockdown; although there is a satisfying number of children who felt very happy as well. A few children have felt very unhappy during this time.

Conclusion

Since not much time has passed since the Covid-19 2020 lockdown, there is not enough information about how the Covid-19 pandemic affected children in Sri Lanka. As such, this research is done in the hope that gathering more information about this, will help everyone have a better and more confident response to lockdowns or other situations that might occur in the future.

Through this research, I concluded that online education could have been clearer and more understandable if the students and teachers were more interactive during online lessons and if the teachers make the lessons more interesting for students by taking advantage of the technology. Also, I understood that the pandemic positively impacted children’s eating habits, which has led to them eating more healthy food and more home-cooked meals. Children have gained many new experiences and developed new skills during this time spent at home, and this period was a very good time for that. Overall, during the pandemic children were generally feeling somewhere in the middle of happiness and sadness, and only some children managed to continue all the changes that occurred to them during the lockdown when it came to an end… 

Some children have had positive impacts during this time, whereas others have had negative impacts and some have had both. The most important thing is that children should try their best to continue the positive changes that occurred to them and we must work out solutions to the negative impacts that have affected them due to the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.

– . –

Declaration

“I certify that the content of this research is my study findings. The information and data given in the report are authentic to the best of my knowledge.”

(Thanudi Kumaradasa)

(29/09/2022) 

Whyteleafe Academy

Dedicated to the 2022 World Science Day & International Week of Science and Peace byThe Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization (LMGlobal.Org; 2001, New York); associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (formerly, UN.DPI) since 2005. www.lmglobal.org

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