Community News
Developmental Disturbance – Kids’ brains were truly affected by the pandemic, but there is still time to steer them back on course
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“We’re in a crisis, I don’t know what to do, because we not only have an effect of a pandemic, but it’s a significant one.” Morgan Firestein, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Columbia University
The start of a new school year. It’s a time filled with excitement, hope, and the promise of new beginnings. You watch your child, with their backpack slung over their shoulder, shoes laced up, ready to take on the world. For them, it’s just the start of a big adventure—their first day of kindergarten.
As you stand there, beaming with pride, there’s something lingering in the back of your mind, something you can’t shake. You see, your child was born during the pandemic—when the world was quieter, slower, and uncertain, and now, as they step into this new world of school, you can’t help but notice… something’s not quite right
They are bright. They are curious. They are more resilient than you could ever have imagined, but there are moments—small things—that you see. The way they struggle with words that seem to come easily to others. The way certain sounds, or textures upset them in ways you can’t understand. You don’t know what it is, but you can tell that things aren’t unfolding the way you expected, and that’s hard. It’s hard because you don’t have answers. It’s hard because no one seems to have answers.
Babies born in 2020 started life in the strange world of lockdowns amongst people with faces hidden behind masks. Social experiences, such as seeing extended family, trips to the playground, or mother and baby groups, could not happen. Although children have generally fared well with the pandemic, there is preliminary research suggesting that pandemic-related stress during pregnancy could be negatively affecting fetal brain development in some children.
Unfortunately, parents and carers were interacting differently, or less with their young children in ways that have affected their child’s physical and mental abilities. Lockdowns isolated many young families, robbing them of playtime and social interactions, and there are hints of a more subtle and insidious trend followed close behind.
Dani Dumitriu and her team at the New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City had over two years of data on infant development starting in late 2017. They had been analyzing the communication and motor skills of babies up to six months old. Dumitriu thought it would be interesting to compare the results from babies born before and during the pandemic. She asked her colleague Morgan Firestein, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University in New York City, to assess whether there were neurodevelopmental differences between the two groups.
A few days later, Morgan called Dani in a panic and with some very disturbing news. “We’re in a crisis, I don’t know what to do, because we not only have an effect of a pandemic, but it’s a significant one,” She had been up most of that night, pouring over the data. The infants born during the pandemic scored lower, on average, on tests of gross motor, fine motor and communication skills compared with those born before it (both groups were assessed by their parents using an established questionnaire). There seemed to be something about the environment of the pandemic itself.
Until now, research assessing the impact of COVID-19 school closures on young children’s development has been limited by the lack of detailed, individual-level data. The prenatal and postnatal growth epochs are critical periods for infant and child development to the extent that: adverse, traumatic, and stressful experiences during these periods produce programming effects on brain, development, and psychopathological risk.
Studies tracking individuals conceived, in utero, infancy and early childhood during pandemics, natural disasters, and famines (e.g., the 1918/19 influenza pandemic, the 1959-61 Chinese famine) demonstrate that those exposed can suffer life-long negative consequences. In the early years, when children’s developing brains are more sensitive to a lack of responsive environments the immediate negative impacts of closing programs that provide some early simulations (such as childcare) were further amplified by diminished future learning which also leads to more pronounced inequalities later on.
Research teams looking into these issues around the world are starting to publish their findings. Firm answers are hard to come by, not least because many child-development research laboratories shut down during the pandemic.
There is recent research that supports the idea that lack of peer interactions could possibly be holding some kids back. In a study published earlier this year, researchers in the United Kingdom surveyed 189 parents of children between the ages of eight months and three years, asking whether their children received daycare, or attended preschool during the pandemic, and assessing language and executive functioning skills. The authors found that the children’s skills were stronger if they had received group care during the pandemic, and that these benefits were more pronounced among children from lower-income backgrounds.
Those most at risk seem to be children of colour, or those from low-income families. For instance, a growing body of research suggests that among school-aged children, remote learning might be widening the already-large learning and development gaps between children from affluent and low-income backgrounds and between White kids and children of colour.
In parts of sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda research suggests that some children have lost as much as a full year of learning. In the United States, after the first lockdown, a report by the consultancy firm McKinsey suggested that students of colour began school in autumn three to five months behind in learning, whereas White students were only one to three months behind.
I want to note at this point in the article that research to date has been mixed regarding the effects of the pandemic on early language development. Indeed, one can imagine various plausible mechanisms by which the pandemic may have facilitated, or limited language development.
Research findings provide initial estimates of the short-term effects. More specifically, they report developmental losses in children assessed at the end of 2020 relative to children assessed with the same instruments and identical procedures in 2017. The areas of child development evaluated included: general development, language, social-emotional behavior, and executive function. The results indicate that the boys and girls assessed in 2020 earned lower average scores than their 2017 counterparts in three of these areas. Social isolation, mask wearing, job loss, and other ecological shifts that occurred during the pandemic may have changed the home language environment in important ways with potential implications for infant language development.
Mask‐wearing and social isolation may have hampered the extent to which children could pick up on language inputs in their environment, and pandemic‐related stress may have reduced the quantity, and quality of parent‐child interactions. As a parent, you know how stressful that time was, and increased perceived stress has been linked with the provision of less sensitive parent‐child interaction. Greater parenting stress, perceived stress, and psychological appraisals of stress have each been associated with lower scores on measures of early language development. Some other studies, however, have found no relation between perceived stress and language development.
Some empirical work has found support for the cumulative exposure theory. One cross‐sectional survey suggested that experiencing a single stressful life event due to the pandemic was a risk factor for poorer mental health. Another study of low‐income families found that caregivers who experienced both pandemic‐related job and income loss reported significantly higher depressive symptoms and life stress. This aligns with pre‐pandemic research reporting that negative life events predict higher levels of maternal depression and anxiety.
While declines in maternal mental health are concerning in their own right, an abundance of research has also linked maternal mental health with infant language and behavior. Specifically: maternal depression, anxiety, and perceived stress have each been associated with poorer socioemotional and language outcomes in the first years of life.
Maternal mental health and perceived stress symptoms may shape infant development through impacts on the home language environment and parent‐child interaction, critical factors for scaffolding infant language, and socioemotional development. For example, depressed mothers tend to use less infant‐directed speech and engage in fewer conversational turns with infants, which in turn are associated with a smaller vocabulary size at 18 months. Depressed mothers also tend to demonstrate more withdrawn and intrusive parenting behaviors, which are associated with: greater behavior problems, lower social competence, and lower language skills in offspring.
“Even if kids’ brains are truly being affected by the pandemic, there is still time to steer them back on course,” Dani Dumitriu notes. “We can totally get ahead of this becoming a public-health emergency,” she says. “The brains of six-month-olds are very plastic, and we can get in there, and we can change their trajectory.”
Parents can make headway by playing and talking with their young children regularly and giving them opportunities to play with others in safe settings. Policy changes aimed at supporting families and children could make a difference, too. Overall, researchers maintain that most children will probably be OK — but more than usual might currently be struggling.
If we want to support those who are falling behind, we should ideally intervene soon. Children are certainly very resilient, but at the same time, we also recognize the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child’s life as being the crucial early foundations. The more that we can stimulate them and play with them and read to them and love them — that’s what it’s going to take.
REFERENCES:
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/263395/1/dp15179.pdf
https://www.mondino.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/20220113_NATURE_p180-183-1-1.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9874599/
Community News
Urban Alliance on Race Relations celebrates and highlights Racial Justice Award recipients
BY PAUL JUNOR
It has been almost 40 years since the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) has been at the forefront of: promoting tolerance, social justice, racial equity and fairness. Since it was formed in 1975, they have celebrated and recognized changemakers in the fight for racial justice in diverse sectors such as: health, labour, government, education, arts, media, environment, and justice.
On Saturday, December 7th, 2024, there was a great turnout at the 2024 Racial Justice Awards Night held at The Estate Banquet & Event Centre in Scarborough. In attendance were many community supporters, civic officials, long-time racial justice warriors, and individuals from diverse ethnic groups.
UARR is grateful for all the sponsors of the Racial Justice Awards Night Celebration. It notes in its email to its supporters on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024, the importance of its sponsors including:
- United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) of Canada, UFCW, Local 175
- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 353
- Unite Here! Local 75
- Toronto & York Region Labour Council
- Canadian Labour Congress
- The Coalitions of Black Trade Union (CBTUL)
“Your sponsorship plays a vital role in shining a light on individuals and organizations driving equity, justice, and change in our communities. This celebration is more than an event, it’s a movement. Thanks to your support, we’re: honoring changemakers, amplifying unheard voices, and funding initiatives that break down systemic barriers.”
The categories and names of the awards and recipients were:
Racial Justice in Arts: Hannia Cheng
She is an artist and cultural worker who co-founded Unit 270, a DIY gallery and multi-purpose grassroots community hub in Chinatown Centre.
Racial Justice in Labour: Vanessa Story
She is the founder of the Black Youth York Region and co-founder of the York Communities for Public Education coalition.
Racial Justice in Education: Shannon Simpson
She is Senior Director of Indigenous Initiatives at the University of Toronto.
Racial Justice in Environment: Dr. Ingrid Waldron
She is a Professor and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global and Peace and Social Justice Program in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University.
Urban Alliance of Race Relations Agent of Change Award: Kirk Mark
He is the Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Consultant at KIRK Mark & Associates.
Racial Justice in Media: Amanda Parris
She is an award-winning writer, tv host and producer, and former host of CBC Arts Exhibitionist.
Racial Justice in Health: Camille Orridge
She is former CEO of the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (TCLHIN).
Racial Justice in Government: Amira Elghawaby
She is a journalist and human rights advocate who was appointed in January 2023 as Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia.
Racial Justice in Justice: South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALC0)
This legal clinic supports low-income South Asian people in Canada.
The funds raised from the Awards night will be going toward the work of the Diversity Youth Fellowship Program. This innovative and creative program is directly involved in enabling racialized youth to get paid experience working in municipal governments and at various public policy making organizations across Canada.
The performers at the event included: Katheen Zaragosa (a Filipino music performer), Rithika Jeristus & Maya Jeristus (Bharatanatyam dancers) and Yasmin Said (spoken word artist)
UARR is looking forward to its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2025 and shared five of its strategic priorities for the next 10 years including:
- Employment and economic opportunity: The goal is to foster inclusive workspaces and economic opportunities.
- Education: The goal is to promote racial equity in education and research.
- Communication: The goal is to expand public awareness and reach to amplify our stories.
- Community engagement and outreach: The goal is building community capacity and convening towards change.
- Truth and reconciliation-relationship building and supporting calls to action. The goal is to strengthen our solidarity and action towards truth and reconciliation.
Community News
What is it about those short videos that keep us captivated? Oh! Yes! Our short attention span
BY KAHA GEDI
As our attention spans decrease, short form videos are becoming more popular. From TikTok, to YouTube Shorts, to Instagram Reels, these “snack sized” videos have positive qualities alongside the bad. Mainly we want to know what makes them so effective, and why are they becoming the go-to choice for both viewers and marketers? In this article, I will be discussing how these videos have received such popularity worldwide.
First, we need to understand what counts as and what is short-form content. According to blog.hubspot.com, “Short-form videos are videos that are less than 60 seconds long.” However, some marketers and content creators agree that short-form videos can be up to 3 minutes. “They are videos that deliver information in a ‘digestible’ format so that viewers can quickly watch and save content if they’re in a hurry or enjoy it.” Now, I’ll talk about the main reasons why these videos are so popular.
First, our attention spans have gone down exponentially. Dr Gloria Mark has written a book called “Attention Span,” and she says her research indicates people’s attention spans have been shrinking over the last 20 years. According to the same article Dr. Mark said that “Back in 2004, we found the average attention span on any screen to be two and a half minutes on average. Throughout the years, it became shorter. So, around 2012, we found it to be 75 seconds. Then in the last five, six years, we found it to average about 47 seconds.” So, it’s notable that our attention spans started out longer but then decreased over time.
Secondly, these videos have become cheaper and easier to make. Unlike long-form videos, which require extensive: planning, editing, and storytelling, short-form videos are simpler. To the point where they can even be shot on a smartphone. For example, DuoLingo, the app that helps learn new languages, went viral on TikTok a long time ago by posting funny, low-budget videos that resonate with millions. Like a video of a DuoLingo plus being: tossed down the stairs, sitting outside on a rainy day, or being soaked by the shower with the title “When you ignore my notifications.”
Lastly, they provide valuable information in a short amount of time, and they are easily accessible. According to a recent Adobe Survey, two in five Americans use TikTok as a search engine, and nearly one in 10 Gen Zeers are more likely to rely on TikTok than Google as a search engine. This isn’t always reliable for real news because anyone can claim to be an expert, and you wouldn’t know if they’re telling the truth. So, even though they give valuable information in a short time, they can also give misinformation or mislead you.
Short-form videos have changed how we watch and learn things. They fit our short attention spans, are easy to make, and share information quickly. Even though they’re fun and helpful, they can also spread false information or leave out important details. Even with these problems, short-form videos are here to stay, so we should use them in proportion, but also enjoy the benefits.
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