"Feel Your Feelings”: Coping Strategies for Children During COVID-19
It looked like any other day since the outbreak of COVID-19—except that it wasn’t. As if responding to the ringing of a school bell, some 1,300 youth and adolescents from different parts of Indonesia were dialing into a live Facebook session. The session’s theme: how to cope with the burgeoning reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dominant…, Navigating the new reality with UNICEF-supported online sessions, The Facebook session was part of a UNICEF-supported series of online sessions to help adolescents navigate this new, uncharted world. A joint programme between UNICEF, Riliv (a social start-up specializing in mental health), and Muhammadiyah (the second largest Islamic organization in the country), the focus was on helping youth identify and cope…, Taking care of body and mind: “Feel your feelings”, According to Ratna Yunita, a psychologist and coordinator for psycho-social support at Muhammadiyah, there is too much information available, too many difficult things put before youth every day, even in normal times. Filtering and limiting the time spent on watching the news is key, she said, to maintaining perspective. Another is helping…, Giving adolescents voice during and beyond the pandemic, As the pandemic rages on with no signs of letting up, the spectre of the emotional long-haul looms high. It will hit many adolescents unprepared as the shock and intense fear of the first few months fade. It might dull motivation and focus as home contracts, school shrinks to the size of the screen, and the world becomes smaller and more sanitized…, How You Can Help, Thanks to the generous contributions of individual donors, UNICEF has been able to work with dedicated counsellors, psychologists and well-being and mental health professionals across Indonesia to help youth cope with the trauma and uncertainty brought about by the pandemic. But the challenge is far from over, and the online sessions have to be…