By Julie B. Kaplow and Mark W. Kline
No infectious disease since HIV/AIDS in the 1980s has captured the world’s attention in the way COVID-19 has. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is still with us nearly 40 years later. Effective treatment has made HIV/AIDS a manageable medical condition rather than the almost certain death sentence it was in the beginning, but a vaccine still eludes us. More than 32 million people have died of HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic, including about 700,000 Americans. Children were almost an afterthought in the early days of HIV/AIDS. Many children died, and even more suffered emotionally in response to the deaths of caregivers and relatives.
So far, it appears that children are being spared the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic from a physical health perspective, but there is no doubt that there will be lifelong mental health consequences. Proactive measures implemented now, including raising awareness regarding children’s trauma and grief-related responses to the pandemic, can mitigate these potentially debilitating outcomes.
Research tells us that youth who have experienced prior traumas and losses — nearly half of U.S. children — are at significantly higher risk of developing mental health problems in the face of current adversity.
Share This Post!
Coronavirus is giving rise to another tragic issue. Child abuse.
By Chester Street Foundation Coronavirus is giving rise to another tragic issue. Child abuse. Hospitals in Texas have reported seeing an increase in child abuse cases, which they believe is driven by [...]
Breaking the Cycle of Child Abuse
By Elizabeth Hartney, PhD Child abuse is known to repeat itself from generation to generation. Although not universal, the children of people with addictions are at higher risk of all types of abuse, [...]
Four Ways Teachers Can Show They Care
By VICKI ZAKRZEWSKI If I asked you to tell me what you remembered most about your favorite teacher growing up, I bet you wouldn’t say much about the subject matter. Instead, I’d expect [...]
CDC: Childhood Trauma Tied to Poor Health
By Gaby Galvin PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED trauma as children are more likely to suffer severe health consequences later in life, a new federal analysis shows. Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, refer to potentially [...]
School exclusions are on the up – but training teachers in trauma could help
By The Conversation After years of decline, school exclusions are on the rise again, according to official figures for the Department for Education. The Timpson review, carried out by former children’s minister [...]
How Trauma Affects Kids in School
By Caroline Miller We tend to think of trauma as the result of a frightening and upsetting event. But many children experience trauma through ongoing exposure, throughout their early development, to [...]