Covid's Troubled Children

They have paid a high price for safety in the pandemic. As they return to school, how do we compensate for the two lost years of schooling and childhood?

- SONALI ACHARJEE

Four-year-old Devyani (name changed) could hardly contain her excitement when told she would be going to school on February 21. She had joined kindergarten last year in a South Delhi school, but could attend classes only online, where she would first greet her teacher and then every one of her classmates. However, when her father took her to first day of school and her class teacher came out to meet her, Devyani shrank back, and asked her father, “Where did she come from?” Having seen her teacher only on a computer screen, the young child had trouble dealing with her in person.

Covid wasn’t easy for eight-year-old Tara (name changed) either. While her architect parents were busy working from home, she would kill time watching cartoon shows and consuming packet after packet of chips, biscuits, Maggi noodles and other junk food. By the time her parents realised their daughter had a problem, she had piled on a whopping 10 kilos during the lockdown. “It affected her studies and she became reluctant to attend online classes,” recalls her mum. “When we took her to the doctor and had blood tests done, we were told she was low on several vitamins and essential minerals.” Putting Tara on a healthy diet proved a big challenge —junk food had become the lonely child’s comfort food.

In Mumbai, 12-year-old Aditya (