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The target population of this group are students who spent most of the time during COVID at home. They were not able to interact with their peers in person during school and have possibly never interacted with others in social settings outside of their families. These students have little to no social skills currently.

We want to focus on students who are in Kindergarten and 1st grade who have never attended in person school during “normal” settings.

Students will be recruited/referred by communicating with the Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers to get their recommendations about which students could benefit the most. These would be students who are struggling to make friends or having negative interactions with their peers. After communicating with the teachers, we plan on having the identified students fill out a developmentally appropriate survey, and lastly we will send out surveys to the parents of the identified students to gain their perspectives.

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The Group will be meeting in the school counseling office during lunch time: (12-12:30/12:45 pm) 30-45 minute sessions.

The days and times of meeting will be communicated with parents via a newsletter sent home, along with an email letting the parents know what the goal for each group session is. The parents have already completed surveys letting us know information about their student and have filled out consent forms allowing their student to participate in the group. By having a monthly newsletter to the parents, it will allow them to become an active participant in what activity took place during the group.

Administration will be made aware of the dates and times of the meetings by having it put on the school calendar. Administration will also be able to offer any input into the selection of students into the group and possibly offer suggestions for ways the group could be made stronger.

Our group meetings will be held at lunch in order to keep the students in their classes daily. This is so we do not disturb the learning of the students.

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The families in this school community were considered high-risk during the Covid epidemic for multiple reasons: (1)Much of the school population is Black/African American, which were considered higher risk; (2)Parents needed their jobs to support their families, and didn’t get paid if they didn’t work, so they couldn’t afford to contract the Coronavirus and isolate for 10 days; (3)Because of the multi-generation and extended family households, they were living in close quarters which increased their vulnerability to being infected. Due to these situations, and others, the community was generally very cautious during Covid and kept their kids at home. Many kids didn’t go back to school in spring of 2021 when schools opened on a hybrid basis. Several students did not interact with anyone other than those in their household for a very extended period of time, other than during virtual classes. Those in the youngest grades (Kindergarten and 1st), are likely to have NEVER experienced in-person social interaction outside of their household. This group is the group we are targeting.

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We are working for a school that is in a low-income area of a generally affluent county. The majority of students are considered minority, with the largest population identifying as Black/African American, as well as a significant number of Mexican/Latino students. The smallest population is Caucasian-American students. Approximately 75% of the students walk to school, living in apartment complexes or townhome communities immediately surrounding the school. Many of the students live in multi-generational and extended family households, with a relatively large number of people sharing a small space. More than half of the students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunches (FARM). The school climate is very inclusive and accepting. The staff are engaged, committed to ALL of the students, and truly collaborative and supportive of both students and the other staff.

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The need for this group was initially identified by teachers who noticed many students struggling to get along with peers and build friendships. The topic regularly came up at team meetings and in informal conversations among staff members. The most pressing concerns were overwhelmingly regarding the kindergarten and first grade students. Sink, et al. (2012) define a needs assessment as identifying the most pressing concerns for that particular school on a year-to-year basis. It was becoming clear to administration that the teachers had identified social skills as a significant need within the school, especially among the youngest students, so administration involved the school counselor. To further pinpoint which students were most in need of social skills interventions, a multi-phase approach will be instituted:

1. Informally request feedback from K and 1st teachers, asking about students that seem to be struggling to make friends, are alone a lot, or frequently have negative interactions with their peers

2. Provide a developmentally appropriate survey to identified students to determine their assessment of their friends and peer interactions.

3. Send a survey to the parents of identified students inquiring about their child’s social interactions over the past 2 years, who they have been around, and their perceptions of who their child’s friends are, if any

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If during our initial recruitment/referral process we do not get a large enough number of students to participate we will begin to open our group to other students in K and 1st that have minimal social skills and can benefit from learning more skills on how to interact with others. We will go back to the teachers to get additional referrals and possibly send out an email to the parents of the students in Kindergarten and 1st grade to see if there are any parent referrals for their child.

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Students who meet the participation criteria need to:

1. Have little to no social skills.

2. Struggle to build connections with peers or people outside of their immediate family.

3. May have had no contact with people outside of their families during the past year of COVID due to family living situations.

4. Possibly have been alone during the day due to parents being at work.

5. Have little to no interest in going to school.

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This is the needs assessment that will be given to the group of kindergarten and first grade students identified by their teachers as having delayed social-emotional skills in comparison to their peers.

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Efficacy of the group will be measured by observation. The observation will be by the group facilitators along with asking the students teachers to observe the students in class to see if there are changes in interaction with their peers. We as group facilitators will be observing the students interactions within our group setting along with observations made during lunch, recess and other times throughout the school day in which the students have the opportunity to interact with their peers. We will also have the students fill out the same self assessment that they filled out in the beginning  as a “post test” to see if they rate their social world more positively.

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The parents of the identified students will be sent an email explaining that their child was selected as possibly being a good fit for a social group to be led by the school counselor, and that the school needs more information about the child's social history in order to determine if the child will benefit from the group. This survey will be sent as a Google Form.

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The parent and child assessments identified a group of 8 students who had not been around children outside of their household for the past 2 years due to the pandemic, and who had demonstrated on the student social skills assessment that social situations were difficult for them, but who considered it important to them to have friends. This last part about the perceived importance of friendship was essential for the counselor to believe that they would actually want to benefit from the social skills group.

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There is significant evidence that children’s social-emotional competence is linked to overall success in school. Denham (2006) notes that kids who enter kindergarten with higher social-emotional competence are more likely to have more positive attitudes about school, better adjustment to the school setting, and also have higher grades and overall achievement in school. Conversely, when milestones in social-emotional competence are not achieved, students are much more likely to be at risk for academic failure and psychological distress; this is partially because these students participate less in class, are less accepted by peers and teachers, and teachers even (subconsciously) provide them with less instruction and positive feedback (Denham, 2006).

Since returning to in person learning, teachers in schools all over are seeing increased instances of self-centered behaviors, such as wanting all of the teachers attention, students engaging in antisocial behaviors with peers for attention, throwing tantrums when they don’t get their way, and taking toys or other objects that they want from peers. Additionally, with the lack of practice students have had in interaction with different personalities of kids and problem solving with peers, minor conflicts are escalating more quickly than they used to prior to the pandemic (Campbell, 2021).Developmentally this makes sense, as friendship skills are not just behavioral, but are heavily dependent on cognitive development, particularly in the area of perspective taking, and that growth in perspective-taking skills is critically dependent on interaction with peers (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020).

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Broderick, P.C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping
professionals (5th ed.) Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education

Campbell, L. (2021, October 31). Impact of Covid-19 on children’s social skills. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahcampbell/2021/10/31/impact-of-covid-19-on-childrens-social-skills/?sh=7c62e12a2a54.

Denham, S.A. (2006). Social-emotional competence as support for school readiness: What is it and how do we assess it? Early Education and Development, 17(1), 57-89.

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Sink, C. A., Edwards, C., & Eppler, C. (2012). School based group counseling. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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Article: Impact of Covid-19 on Children's Social Skills

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Article: Impact of Covid-19 on Children's Social Skills

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School child wearing face mask during corona virus and flu outbreak.
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When news of Covid-19 first started circulating, no one believed it would still be impacting our lives today. But as we draw nearer to the 2-year mark of when schools were first officially shut down and terms like "masking" and "social distancing" first entered our lexicon, it's clear our new reality has been anything but fleeting.

With Covid-19 claiming over 750,000 lives in the United States thus far, there is no denying the public health impact this disease has had. But the loss of that many lives, combined with the economic stressors of Covid-19 and the isolation remaining safe has required, means a mental health epidemic has also quickly spread throughout the country.

And then there are the kids, many of whom have been deprived of regular social interactions and the opportunity to grow the skills typically acquired in the younger years.
Fears vs. Reality
When schools first began closing, many experts agreed doing so was necessary for public health and safety. But concerns about the impact on children's social skills were still raised.

Now, enough time has passed that we've been able to see whether or not those concerns were warranted.

"I am seeing the impacts of the past 18 months of challenging schooling situations," Kelly Smith, RN, an integrative behavioral health nurse and founder of Movement Matters said recently. "Many of the educators and parents I work with are looking for support with social skills for children."

Still, she said it's hard to know whether that is because of school closures, disruptions to schedules, or just the collective trauma we've all been experiencing.

"The routines of families were disrupted, there was added stress in many homes, teachers and students were impacted by limited resources and long days in front of screens, not to mention the abundance of fear," she explained. "All these things can and have likely contributed to the regulation and communication challenges that many children appear to be struggling with at this time."

One way that has played out is in how children have adjusted to being back in the classroom now that schools have opened again. Child and adolescent psychologist Sophie Pierce said that while some kids have been eager to return, others have struggled with a significant amount of anxiety when it comes to going back to regular school settings.

"Some kids experienced increased separation anxiety as they had grown accustomed to being around their family more frequently," she explained. "Other children felt overstimulated and socially anxious upon re-entering their school setting."

It's primarily the teachers who are having to help kids work through those anxieties and find their footing again. Thankfully, K-5 music specialist Zach VanderGraaff, owner of Dynamic Music Room, said the impacts haven't been as severe as initially feared. At least, not for the majority of students.

"We see the most impact in the skills of students who experience trauma at home and the kindergarten/first grade students," he explained.

For kids with trauma experiences, he said the biggest problem is that they've been cut off from resources they previously relied on for helping to cope and seeking protection over the last year and a half.

"Trauma rewires their brains and constantly puts them in fight-or-flight modes," he said. "While these students are thrilled to be back and talking with friends, it takes very little to send them spiraling and displaying disruptive behaviors."

With younger students, those primarily in kindergarten and first grade, he said, "The amount of formative social experiences that normally occur in pre-school or Kindergarten weren't there, so we're seeing a lot of the same unaware and self-centered behaviors we see with brand-new students."

While this is always present to some degree, especially in kindergarten, he said it is apparent on a much larger scale now, with teachers seeing a lot more of:

Students wanting all of the teacher's attention

Students picking on their peers to get adult attention

Tantrums when students don't get what they want

Students taking toys or other objects from other students

In other words: many of these younger kids have missed out on the social experiences that previously might have better prepared them for the school setting.

Kids Are Resilient

One of the other concerns some parents have had is how things like masking and social distancing, even in school settings, might be impacting kids. But the experts say the kids are doing just fine when it comes to masking, at least.

"For the most part, children are resilient and have adapted to their 'new normal' of wearing masks daily," Pierce said.

VanderGraaff agreed, even explaining how masks may be helping kids improve their social skills, rather than being a detriment to them.

"With masks, I don't see students treating each other any differently, and I'm even seeing students get more expressive with their eyes and body language to show how they feel through non-verbal communication," he said. "One thing students are doing is talking out more because the non-verbal expressions aren't as effective as before."

Unfortunately, he said he's noticed the opposite when it comes to social distancing and cohorting (separating kids into groups and keeping them with those groups at all times).

"When you have the same kids in the same small group all the time, students don't see the different personalities they would normally experience when they get to circulate and work with many different types of people in their classroom," he explained. "I notice the students feel more at a loss of how to handle a wider variety of personalities and are forming stronger cliques with the others in their group."

For a lot of kids, he said the lack of practice they've had in interacting with these different personalities and problem solving together means that minor disagreements tend to escalate a lot quicker now. Most kids, he explained, know the right responses for any given situation, but haven't had the opportunity to practice those responses in a while.
How Parents Can Help
If you're a parent, it's possible you've noticed some of these impacts yourself. And you may be worried about how you can help your child(ren) practice or develop the skills they haven't had as much opportunity to use over the last year and a half.

Pierce said the best thing you can do is continue to help your kids foster and grow those skills at home.

"[Parents] can model social skills in their daily interactions with their child, perhaps by engaging in regular quality time with their child and discussing their days," she suggested. "Parents can also encourage the development of social skills by praising their children when they exhibit positive social skills, such as initiating conversations or showing interest in others."

Smith agreed, saying that she encourages parents to engage in a lot of interaction and play with their kids to help them develop their social skills.

"When you read together, ask questions about what characters might be thinking or feeling," she suggested. "Discuss your predictions about what may happen, or what your child might do in a similar situation. Play games together that encourage critical thinking, planning, or cooperation. Put a new spin on old favorites such as playing Connect 4, but in order to 'win' you must win two games and lose two games. This can help children develop some adaptive capacity skills and learn that failure isn't always a bad thing."

She further suggested finding ways to engage in mindfulness and relaxation together as a family. This can be especially important, she said, because a lot of kids are probably dealing with anxiety right now and could use some help processing that.

"Being aware that anxiety can often show up as anger, avoidance, or even physical symptoms (such as a stomachache or need to use the bathroom) is the first step to supporting your child," Smith explained. "Identifying the emotions they feel, then relating that emotion to a physical sensation can help your child be more comfortable with emotions and improve regulation."

It's important to remember we have all been through a lot over the last year. But children really are resilient, and Pierce said that with patience, modeling, and support, most will get back to where they would have been just fine.
Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus

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Impact Of Covid-19 On Children's Social Skills

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When news of Covid-19 first started circulating, no one believed it would still be impacting our lives today. But as we draw nearer to the 2-year mark of when schools were first officially shut down and terms like "masking" and "social distancing" first entered our lexicon, it's clear our new reality has been anything but fleeting.

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Focus on 5 Social-Emotional Competency Clusters:

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Focus on 5 Social-Emotional Competency Clusters:

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1. Self-Awareness

Recognize emotions, thoughts, values, and how they influence behavior.

2. Self-Management

Ability to navigate and shift in a healthy way one's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in order to make decisions and goals thats benefit self and others.

3. Social Skills

Sharing

Listening to others

Engaging

Empathy

Respecting boundaries

Patience

Following Directions

Working together

4. Relationship Skills

Friendships

Teamwork & problem solving

Communicating effectively

Resolving conflicts

Compromising among the group

5. Responsible Decision Making

Stay clam

Observe

Identify the problem

Make a plan

Make constructive and respectful choices

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Li, L., Flynn, K. S., DeRosier, M. E., Weiser, G., & Austin-King, K. (1AD, January 1). Social-emotional learning amidst COVID-19 school closures: Positive findings from an efficacy study of adventures aboard the S.S. grin program. Frontiers. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.683142/full

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Mindsets:

M 1. Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being.

M 2. Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment.

M 3. Positive attitude towards work and learning

M 4. Self-confidence in ability to succeed.

M 5. Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes.

M 6. Understanding the postsecondary education and life-long learning are necessary for long-term success.

Behaviors:

Learning strategies:

B-LS 2. Creative approach to learning, tasks and problem solving

B-LS 3. Time-management, organizational and study skills

B-LS 4. Self-motivation and self- direction for learning

B-LS 7. Long- and short-term academic, career and social/emotional goals

B-LS 10. ​​Participation in enrichment and extracurricular activities

Self Management Skills:

B-SMS 1. Responsibility for self and actions

B-SMS 5. Perseverance to achieve long- and short-term goals

B-SMS 6. Ability to identify and overcome barriers

B-SMS 7. Effective Coping Skills

B-SMS 8.  Balance of school, home, and community activities.

B-SMS 10. Ability to manage transitions and adapt to change

Social skills:

B-SS 1. Effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills

B-SS 2. Positive, respectful and supportive relationships with students who are similar to and different from them.

B-SS 3. Positive relationships with adults to support success

B-SS 4. Empathy

B-SS 5. Ethical decision-making and social responsibility

B-SS 6. Effective collaboration and cooperation skills

B-SS 7. Leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse groups

B-SS 8. Advocacy skills for self and others and ability to assert self, when necessary

B-SS 9. Social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment

B-SS 10. Cultural awareness, sensitivity and responsiveness

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https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0193397321001386

Sun, J., Singletary, B., Jiang, H., Justice, L.M., Lin, T.J., & Purtell, K.M. (2022). Child behavior problems during COVID-19: Associations with parent distress and child social-emotional skills. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, (78). https://doi.org/10/1016/j.appdev.2021.10137.

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Group size: Around 6-12 students

Group Age/Grade Level: K-1st Grade, Age: 5-6 years old

Type of group: Social Skills Group

Open or Closed group: Closed group
Time of Day Group Meets: Lunch time
Number of weeks: Span of 6 weeks

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This is the feedback questionnaire that we would use to determine if our students were able to improve their social skills.  Most questions can be simply answered with yes or no, however there are a couple asking for small details.
Since there are some short answer questions we would ask the questions and write down the student's responses.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVvGvoMRUhk

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Chupp, A. I., & Boes, S. R. (2012). Effectiveness of Small Group Social Skills Lessons with Elementary Students. Georgia School Counselors Association Journal, 19(1), 92–111.

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Podcast: Growing up in a Pandemic: How Covid is Affecting Children's Development 

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Podcast: Growing up in a Pandemic: How Covid is Affecting Children's Development 

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Pediatricians are noting developmental delays as well as potential for long-term health consequences, particularly for children from low-income households.

While Covid-19 is typically benign in children, the pandemic could have long-lasting impacts on society's youngest members. With childcare programs closed and social distancing measures in place, many children are missing out on opportunities for development.

"Children are not getting the cognitive and social stimulation that they would normally get outside their home," said Dr. Michelle Aguilar, the head of pediatrics at Venice Family Clinic in Los Angeles, California. Providers have noted delays in speech and language as well as trouble sharing and being in groups.

But for children, a delay in social skills may not be the only consequence of the pandemic. With many parents undergoing financial stress, children face higher rates of housing and food insecurity. And others are subject to rising rates of neglect and household dysfunction - all of which can affect a child's trajectory into adulthood.

"Numerous studies have shown that early life experience and adverse life events have had a negative impact on the health and development of children," said Aguilar.
Since 2008, Direct Relief has supported Venice Family Clinic with financial assistance and medical aid, including prescription medications for chronic disease care, disaster response supplies, and most recently, PPE, such as N-95 masks, protective gowns, and face shields. Transcript:
In this episode of the podcast, we explore the full scope of consequences for children growing up in the Covid-19 pandemic, from the short term effects to long-term implications. We speak with experts in the field and health providers, including Venice Family Clinic's Dr. Michelle Aguilar and early head start director, Stacey Scarborough.

COVID-19 is typically benign in children, usually presenting as a mild flu or nothing at all. But for society's youngest members, the effects of the pandemic go beyond the disease itself.

From the moment a child is born socializing plays an important role in their development, from learning to share to honing their language skills. But with social distancing measures in place, many kids are missing out on opportunities to play. So how is that affecting their development?

I spoke with Stacey Scarborough, the head of Venice Family Clinic's early head start program in Los Angeles, California.

RAFANELLI: "Tell me a little bit about the clinic's head start program."

SCARBOROUGH: "Sure. So we are an early head start program, so we provide services to families with young children, birth to age three and pregnant women. And we do home visits with families and we offer them play groups. And we have a center-based program where children come to the center each day for their educational component and nutritional component."

Teachers lead children through group lesson plan designed to promote basic developmental growth from speech to fine motor skills. A typical day might include counting cheerios, scribbling with crayons and crawling through obstacle courses. While Scarborough says most children are hitting their developmental milestones, they have exhibited abnormal behavior.

SCARBOROUGH: "We do see such a heightened awareness of everything. Like they're constantly telling on their peers: 'They touched this and didn't wash their hands,' 'My mom didn't brush my teeth.' So they are telling everything because they have such a heightened awareness and they're really into wrong and right at this age. So our providers have been very cautious, like, 'What's happening with this generation?' They're constantly telling on each other. So there's a lot of mental health to help kids relax and play and not be so concerned about everything, which they are."

RAFANELLI: "Do you think the lack of social interaction has affected kids in any way?"

SCARBOROUGH: "Yeah. I don't know if I can come up with a very specific story, but they're very aware that they need to stand apart, they're very aware that they shouldn't touch another item that somebody has. And that's hard for sharing. This is an age where you learn how to share and we're kind of encouraging no sharing. And that's a big skill that you need as an adult to bring into the workplace. This is the age where you work on developing those skills and we're kind of saying, 'You can't do that.' So, this is the window of opportunity. You know, they'll learn it later, but it's a harder thing to learn when you've learned not to share under trauma and then we're going to say later in life, "You have to share. You're not a good human being if you don't know how to share.' So those soft skills are tough right now to be learning when they're supposed to be learning them."

But interpersonal skills like sharing or learning how to work in a group are not the only areas of concern. Stacey and other providers at the clinic have noted delays in speech and language

AGUILAR: "They're lacking from those social interactions that they would have normally gotten from people outside their homes. They're lacking that play time with other children."

Dr. Michelle Aguilar is the head of pediatrics at Venice Family Clinic. She sees patients from birth up to 18 years of age. She says during the pandemic, many kids are receiving less attention.

AGUILAR: "Many of our caregivers are now under a lot of stress and having to divide their attention to other children who are older and would have normally been at school. So the parent used to have time and attention to give to the younger child."

For many parents, money has become a major source of stress. With millions of Americans out of work, the pandemic's financial fallout has been significant. And for those struggling to pay rent or put food on the table, providing for their children's basic needs can be difficult. During the pandemic, housing and food insecurity have skyrocketed, at the same time as rates of domestic abuse and neglect have increased. These kinds of stressful events, referred to as adverse childhood experiences, can have long-term consequences.

AGUILAR: "So studies have demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences have detrimental effects on brain development and overall health. So we see long-term effects: learning disabilities, depression, obesity, heart conditions. So, it does have a huge impact."

RAFANELLI: "Have you had any patients that have experienced what you would consider an adverse childhood experience because of the pandemic?"

AGUILAR: "I would say yes. Families have had to separate when a caregiver or a family member becomes ill. They've had to separate for some time to stay with other family members, so they do not get exposed. Housing insecurity: having to move into multi-generational homes that are now crowded. So, yes there have been ongoing adverse childhood experience due to the pandemic leading to toxic stress."

The pandemic's effects on children are not only catching the attention of parents and pediatricians. A handful of researchers are looking closely at the issue, including Dr. Rashmita Mistry.

MISTRY: "My name is Rashmita Mistry. I am a professor in the department of education at the University of California at Los Angeles."

Dr. Mistry is interested in how major historical events affect the children who live through them. She's the author of a recent study on how the pandemic is likely to affect children's health and wellbeing.

RAFANELLI: "So what are the long-term implications of experiencing a pandemic at a young age?"

MISTRY: "So let's take the example of children's cognitive development and academic achievement. So there's really strong, compelling evidence that, especially for children from lower income households and backgrounds, that access to high quality early childcare programming really helps lessen some of the achievement gaps that have been documented for children from wealthier families and households as compared to lower income households. So if the pandemic hits, and a parent loses their job and their child care provider is shut down because of concerns around the spread of the virus or their provider shut down because they can no longer afford to stay open or because the parent can't afford to send their child to that program because they can't afford it, then the child has lost access to critical resources that are likely to help support not only their cognitive development, but also their mastery of basic foundational academic skills, as well as key social emotional learning that we know happens in early childcare programs and spaces. And that's not to say that parents can't and don't do a lot of that support at home, but for lower income children, we know access to high quality early childcare programs are also really, really important and instrumental."

These kinds of disruptions, don't just cause temporary setbacks. Dr. Mistry says they can have consequences that continue throughout the long-term.

MISTRY: "So we're now moving beyond the pandemic, the child is a four or five-year-old enrolled in school and they're going to maybe start a little bit further behind in terms of that key foundational academic knowledge or those kind of social, emotional skills. So they're going to have more catch up to do. But the child, let's say for example, is attending a neighborhood school in a lower-income community that maybe doesn't have the same level of resources or the same level of teacher qualifications or is just under-resourced in ways that better funded public schools might not be. So that child's educational experience is further compromised in that circumstance. Had that child been able to attend a higher quality school maybe that catch-up would have happened and would have been sufficient, but if that child then continues to attend an under-resourced school that is struggling in its own ways due to a lack of public funding and support, then that child's cognitive and academic and social, emotional development is going to continue to be compromised in ways that are important. And we know that the third grade is this critical transition point. It's not super fatalistic. But we know that if you haven't really mastered those foundational skills by then, then those disparities just continue to widen, so kids continue to fall back or move forward based on these early educational opportunities and skills. So it's really this like cascading effect. And again, if there aren't points in the system to catch it and correct it, then what's likely to happen is that there's just going to be this accumulation of shocks and disruptions and disadvantages that are going to continue to play out."

RAFANELLI: "So it seems like you're saying that economic resources-child's socioeconomic status-plays a major role in their healthy development. But can you talk more about how the pandemic, specifically, plays into this?"
This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
MISTRY: "The pandemic in some ways is making a lot of this a lot more visible. It's been there for a while, at least speaking within a U.S. context. Issues around childhood poverty have existed. We have almost one in four children pre-pandemic that were living in families that were officially designated as poor. And so poverty is not new in the pandemic. It's been elevated.
There are more families that are struggling and more children that are being placed at greater risk for experiencing poverty and then experiencing all of the net negative repercussions of that. And again, like I said, we already know that young children are particularly vulnerable to the long-term adverse consequences of experiencing poverty compared to older children, so it's not that any of this is new to us. In fact, it raises the alarm for being even more concerned about how the pandemic is likely to affect children's short-term and long-term developmental outcomes, especially for kids who were already vulnerable prior to the pandemic."

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Growing Up in a Pandemic: How Covid is Affecting Children's Development

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While Covid-19 is typically benign in children, the pandemic could have long-lasting impacts on society's youngest members. With childcare programs closed and social distancing measures in place, many children are missing out on opportunities for development.

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Sink, C. A., Edwards, C., & Eppler, C. (2012). School based group counseling. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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Sink, C. A., Edwards, C., & Eppler, C. (2012). School based group counseling. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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Tyson, L.E., Pérusse, R., Whitledge, J., Coy, D.R., Akos, P., & Moore, I.L. (2004). Screening of Members: “Everyone is Welcome”. In Tyson, L.E., Pérusse, R., Whitledge, J., Coy, D.R., Akos, P., & Moore, I.L. Editors (Ed.), Critical Incidents in Group Counseling (pp. 9-14). American Counseling Association.

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Benton, A., Meade, E., Vandenberg, A. (2021, September 20). Covid-19 impact on low-income families [infographic). Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/low-income-covid-19-impacts.pdf

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An appropriate theoretical orientation for an early elementary social skills group is the Adlerian Theory. Sink (2012) describes the Adlerian theory as assisting students with working towards positive goals at the same time as improving interpersonal skills. It is also very much a strength-based theory, and focusing on the students’ strengths to help them improve their friendships and social competence is exactly the type of group we are aiming to create. Role-playing is a commonly used tool in Adlerian therapy, which is beneficial for young children in elementary school because it can be considered by them as a form of play. Utilizing this theory, the counselor’s role will be to provide strengths-based activities and techniques, which allows for some structure, while allowing the children unstructured opportunities to explore these techniques within the provided activities (Sink, 2012).

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Sink, C. A., Edwards, C., & Eppler, C. (2012). School based group counseling. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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The ethical considerations to be mindful of are that in a school setting confidentiality is hard to say that it will be 100%, but that we are asking all students to be aware that their peers may tell them something that they don’t want others to know. Since this is a Kindergarten and 1st grade group it is important to stress that we want to make sure to treat others how we would like to be treated, especially if we are wanting what we tell others to stay in the group then we need to make sure that we don’t share information.

Our group population will be mixed in diversity so all students participating, and counselors involved need to be aware of cultural differences, especially concerning the reasons on why the students were kept at home during COVID. Additionally, different cultures emphasize different aspects of social-emotional development (Chung, et al., 2020) so it will be important to pay attention to the different ways that the group members are communicating what is important to them in their social interactions with their peers, and how they define friendship.

We will also have a responsibility to the students’ parents to keep them informed of what is going on with their child. These are parents who had strong feelings about having their students return to school so this time could still be a stressful time in their lives.

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American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf