Paul Heber from Unicef Luxembourg joined Tom on the Breakfast Show today to speak about the findings of the Covid-Kids II study that was conducted by Unicef in collaboration with the university of Luxembourg to assess the affect that the Pandemic has had on the lives of children living in the country.

The study surveyed a group of 600 children, asking them questions about their lives, what they were struggling with under the new education conditions that were introduced as a result of the pandemic and how their mental health had been impacted over the course of the last two years.

The results of the study produced a set of recommendations concerning the well-being of children that Unicef recommends should be taken into consideration by Education institutions and policy makers. These included:
- Whenever possible, keep schools open and have risk mitigation measures in place. Schools are places where children can socialise and learn, have meals, and get emotional and medical support.
- Help educational actors develop and implement social and emotional learning modules. These initiatives equip children with essential cognitive, behavioural, and emotional competencies. The amount of homework and the level of difficulty need to be appropriate and the content meaningful. Many children have learned less during the pandemic and may also have forgotten learning strategies and habits.
- Encourage the access to clubs, sports facilities, and extra-curricular activities and events, with social distancing measures in place, to counterbalance the trend towards more sedentary activities.
- Ensure that families receive adequate support: children are aware of their family members' emotions and worries and are influenced by them. This, in turn, may trigger behavioural, cognitive, and emotional responses.
- Roll out parenting programmes to promote positive parenting at key developmental milestones for their child.
- Invest in structures that enable meaningful consultation with children. Their ideas, concerns, fears, hopes
and solutions should be valued and heard.

More information can be found at www.unicef.lu/