Back to school: Transitioning back to in-person interactions

For many kids, returning to school in the fall can be a challenge. This year, our reliance on technology for interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic might be complicating things further when it comes to a return to in-person learning, according to UCLA Health psychologists.“It’s been quite an interesting couple of years, and there are plenty of new challenges for parents to help their kids with,” said Robert Bilder, chief of psychology at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.Like everyone else, students increasingly used electronics to interact with others during the pandemic, and some of those habits have become almost hard-wired into their daily lifestyles.Bilder said  he encourages parents to get their children involved in as many activities as possible with other kids their age, at school or away from school, to help build in-person social skills. Making sure that kids have things to do with other people during the summer can help make the transition back to t he classroom easier, he said. “You just really want to make sure that kids have other things to do when they are not in front of a computer, to get them actually interacting with other human beings, and preferably with kids their own age, so they can build those skills,” Bilder said.Signs of anxietyFor some kids, it can be very stressful to get back to classrooms full of people when  they have spent a lot of time at home. For kids of any age, there can be an i...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news