It’s 2020, and a lot has happened this year.

Right from the Australian Bush Fires in February to Covid-19 haunting our world up until now, each one of us all across the world is going through a lot.

Social and Emotional Learning

The pandemic has presented our communities with unprecedented socioeconomic, health, and human rights challenges.

All of us are in this together.

Some have adapted well to this new life. At the same time, some haven’t been able to.

And the sour truth is that the Covid-19 pandemic has been harsh on the physical and mental health of kids.

Let’s take a look at few of the stats:

• 1.5 billion children are out of school
• 99% of the children globally are living with tons of restrictions on movement

Currently, younger children are at a higher risk, as a tremendously high level of stress and isolation can negatively impact brain development.

To cope up with all of this, it has turned out to be way more important now for the youth to be involved in Social-Emotional Learning programs.

In this blog post, we will be taking a brief look at what Social-Emotional Learning is all about and why youth should be involved in such programs.

Well, then! Let’s begin.

What’s Social-Emotional Learning?

Commonly referred to as SEL, Social-Emotional Learning is the process of developing self-control, self-awareness, as well as interpersonal skills that help the youth deal with their everyday life challenges and are vital for work, school, and life success.

A stronger social-emotional skill set helps one benefit socially, academically, and professionally.

Right from self-discipline to effective problem solving, from emotions management to impulse control, SEL provides a strong foundation for a long-term and positive effect on kids, communities as well as adults.

Listed below are the five core areas, according to Collaborative for Academic, Social & Emotional Learning leader, that build the SEL:

• Self-Awareness: Identifying emotions, developing a growth mindset, and recognizing the needs and strengths.
• Social Awareness: Showing empathy, appreciating diversity, seeing from others’ perspectives.
• Relationship Skills: Cooperation, conflict resolution, and communication.
• Self-Management: Controlling impulses, managing emotions, setting goals.
• Responsible Decision Making: Thinking about the different consequences of your personal behavior.

Let’s take a look at how important social-emotional learning programs are for youth, especially during this pandemic.

Why Should Youth Be Involved with Social-Emotional Learning Programs During Covid-19?

Before we take a look at the importance of social-emotional learning, let’s take a look at some mind-blowing stats:

• Students with strong social-emotional skills are about 42% less likely involved in physical fights.
• Students with strong social-emotional skills are subject to academic achievements.
• As a result of SEL, about 5-12% fall in the school, dropout rates have been witnessed.
• For each dollar invested in SEL, a return of $11 has been expected.

Listed below are the points why youth should be involved with social-emotional learning programs during Covid-19:

• Fewer Behavioural Problems
• Less Emotional Distress
• Positive Social Behaviour
• Academic Success

Fewer Behavioural Problems

Most of us haven’t gone out and caught our breaths for months.

As a result, it might even result in the youth being aggressive and feeling depressed at times.
And that’s exactly what SEL will help them tackle.

According to studies, students who involve themselves with SEL courses have about 10% lesser behavioral, psychological, as well as substance abuse problems by the time they are 25.

If children are able to find their voice and express their anger appropriately, it could result in them being angry at all times and prevent them from damaging their relations.

Less Emotional Distress

During this pandemic, youth has been dealing with a lot.

Some are able to cope up with it. While some are not.

This pandemic has caused a lot of emotional distress.

SEL students have fewer occurrences of anxiety, depression, stress as well as social withdraw. And that’s something heavily important during this pandemic.

According to research, SEL programs affect the central executive cognitive functions, ultimately improving students’ ability to switch their attention from a specific task to another, inhibitory control, and planning.

In addition, they start developing self-regulation skills as they progress with their learning program.

Positive Social Behaviour

Each one of us needs to stay connected with each other. That’s the only way we will be able to keep ourselves sane.

Most of us haven’t been able to meet our family members and friends for months.
SEL students get along with others better.

A strong social-emotional skill set helps youth develop and maintain a productive and positive relationship with peers, teachers, and friends.

With all the negativity surrounding us these days, your social behaviour needs to be positive. The same’s the case with children.

Academic Success

Since the pandemic began and the government put the lockdowns in place, schools have been closed.
As a result, children haven’t been able to meet their friends.

Educational institutions have taken it upon themselves to ensure that the students’ academic studies aren’t impacted.

However, it’s not as effective as it used to be.

This might result in children not performing well academically.

Developing social-emotional skills has proven helpful in improving students’ academic performance.

According to a 2014 meta-analysis, Social-Emotional Learning programs have helped raise students’ achievement scores by an average rate of 11 percentile points.

That’s because SEL helps develop soft skills in children, leading to an improvement in their attitude.

Conclusion

This is exactly what we are here to help you out with.

At Bloom, we are focused on delivering top-notch community programs designed exclusively for children to help them cope with their everyday lives and build a strong foundation for themselves.

We’ll eventually defeat Covid-19.

But, by the time we do, we need to keep ourselves and our children safe, not just physically but mentally as well.

And that’s where we’d like to contribute.

To know more, get in touch with us. We’d love to speak with you.