70% of Daycare Teachers Report Delays in Children's Language and Physical Development Due to COVID-19

Survey Results on the Impact of COVID-19 on Child Development
75% of Teachers: "Mask Use Reduced Language Exposure and Development Opportunities"
84% of Parents: "Increased Media Exposure Time Due to Home Care"

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] "There are more children who seem to feel a year younger than their actual age than before."

Seven out of ten daycare teachers responded that opportunities for children's language and physical-muscle development have decreased due to COVID-19.

On the 24th, Jeong Chunsuk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the organization Education Concern-Free Society (hereinafter referred to as Sagokse) announced the results of a survey titled 'The Impact of COVID-19 on Child Development,' conducted on 1,451 directors, teachers, and parents of public daycare centers in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. According to the survey, 71.6% of daycare directors and teachers answered that COVID-19 has had an impact on child development.

74.9% of daycare directors and teachers said that mask-wearing reduced opportunities for language exposure and development. 77% responded that outdoor play was restricted, leading to decreased physical exercise time and opportunities for gross and fine motor skill development. 63.7% reported an increase in stress, irritability, and aggressive behaviors due to excessive indoor living. The proportion who said that shyness, difficulty adapting to daycare, and peer relationship problems increased reached 55.5%.

83.5% of parents said that during the past year, when daycare centers were closed due to COVID-19, home care time increased, leading to increased media exposure time. Additionally, 76.0% of parents responded that physical exercise time and opportunities for gross and fine motor skill development decreased, and 52.7% said that opportunities for language development declined.

Changes were also detected in children's private education. The proportion of parents who said that 'Mom-led private education,' where caregivers help with learning at home, increased reached 72.9%. Along with this, 60.0% of parents answered that online platform private education, such as non-face-to-face video classes using smart devices, increased.

Parents considered support measures to increase children's outdoor activities necessary, while daycare directors and teachers felt that support for psychological and emotional stability was needed. 67.4% of parents said that support measures to secure free outdoor playtime are necessary, and 46.4% said that measures should be prepared to prevent care gaps from leading to increased private education. Daycare directors and teachers responded that ▲support measures for the psychological and emotional health of staff (69.3%) and ▲stable institution operation support measures regardless of social distancing levels (64.3%) are necessary.

Sagokse pointed out that counseling and treatment support expansion to solve children's developmental delay problems, as well as expansion of spaces and personnel to enable safe outdoor play for children, should be sought.

Sagokse explained, "To solve problems such as regression in functional age, language development delay, and communication development delay, the government and local governments should establish active communication networks with kindergartens and daycare centers to detect children struggling with developmental issues early and ensure timely treatment."

They added, "In preparation for the cumulative situation of developmental delays in infants and young children, policies linking elementary education curricula should be prepared," and emphasized, "Acknowledging that the risk of COVID-19 spread is more vulnerable indoors than outdoors, it is necessary to present minimum and essential standards for children's physical activities and outdoor play to ensure safe outdoor play."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.