No joy for kids as school year ends at home
Rituals provide societies honoured methods of coming together to celebrate accomplishments, to mark commitments, and to say goodbye. We know to throw our caps in the air at graduation, to walk down an aisle at a wedding, and to shed tears and bow heads at a funeral.
Today, graduations from high school, college, and graduate school are taking on a virtual patina. But even the time-honored transitions from one grade to the next — with the ritual cleaning out of a cubby, the thank you note to the teacher, the hallway hug of friends, and the end-of-the-year picnic — are cancelled.
Receiving one’s degree will not feel the same. We will all — students, teachers, staff, and parents — be left feeling unfinished and separated, deprived of our rituals.
How can families support their children in responding to the ambiguity of these endings? Here are a few suggestions:
Discuss the ambiguity. Families can talk about it with their children and acknowledge a range of emotions that may ensue, including a sense of loss, even as we build relationships and traditions in new ways.
Explore opportunities for gratitude. Researchers have repeatedly found that expressing gratitude is associated with improved mental health, well-being, and stronger relationships. Parents can model for children opportunities to identify things they are grateful for, even in the context of unpredictable change and loss. A small moment, like connecting with a school friend virtually can be something for which to be thankful.
Engage your child in decision-making. While there are many issues that children and teens don’t have control over right now, there are also things that they can control — such as the order in which they do their schoolwork, which friends they talk to in the evening, and how they want to spend free time. Work with your child to identify decisions that they can make, so in moments when they feel vulnerable, they can focus on what they can do.
There is no blueprint for how to manage this time. A nonjudgmental lens of love may be the best way to build feelings of value and worth.
Approach yourself and your children with love. There is no blueprint for how to manage this time. A nonjudgmental lens of love and support may be the best way to enhance your connections and build feelings of value and worth. With this shared experience, we can look to ourselves and to others for ways to build communities inside and outside of our homes.