Two years of pandemic parenting have left many parents exhausted from the constant ups and downs of anxiety. With the start of the new school year, parents are also assisting their children in readjusting to in-person instruction and attempting to allay their concerns about the Delta variant. Additionally, they are attempting to continue “regular” activities like taking children to sporting events.
Parental stress is increasing amidst this mountain of duty. Some parents may feel their empathy reserves depleting. Burnt-out parents may feel tapped out and unable to handle one more stressor. Researchers believe that this emotion may be a symptom of compassion fatigue, a condition that has impacted front-line responders to the COVID-19 outbreak. Parents and frontline workers both experience compassion fatigue, with some similarities in symptoms.
Amidst all the new normal that each one of us is settling into, compassion fatigue in parents is also contributed by financial struggles that COVID-19 has left. Regaining financial health (as it was before the pandemic) is a priority on every family head’s mind to ensure a return to normalcy. However, not many are able to do it, leading to struggles in meeting all expenses, including the child’s educational fees and other education-related expenses.
Once physical school starts, every demand related to physical school needs to be fulfilled, which had taken a back seat during the pandemic. The pandemic caused price rises and inflation but not an increase in financial growth to meet the inflation. This is a major cause of compassion fatigue in parents.
Topping the anxiety matrix is that parents could see every step their child took forward in their education while classes were online. Parents were in close proximity to their children, ensuring all kinds of required and not-required help. Due to the pandemic and close proximity at home, parents forgot that at some point, the child would go back to normal school and need to work independently even during the lockdown to better prepare for the future. However, excess care and love were showered in most homes, ensuring absolute spoon-feeding and utmost care.
This has left children baffled in front of a teacher who has to take care of an average of 30-40 children in one class, making personal attention impossible at all times.
Parents had easy access to teachers via WhatsApp, LMS systems, emails, etc., and teachers were proactive in answering queries to ensure that the teaching-learning gap was minimized. However, once we return to physical school, we do not want to revert to the old system of communication between parents and schools but rather maintain the same personalized dialogue. Yet, parents are also back to their offices with not enough time to monitor their child’s progress, and teachers are in classrooms and not at home, unable to promptly reply to WhatsApp, LMS systems, emails, etc.
Here is where the next level of Parent-School Partnership is required. To ensure compassion fatigue does not hit parents or teachers, it is crucial that both can cater to the needs and growth of the children.
Suggestions for a Stronger Parent-School Partnership
- Regular Check-Ins: Establish regular virtual or in-person meetings between teachers and parents to discuss student progress and address concerns.
- Flexible Communication: Utilize various communication channels such as dedicated school apps, emails, and periodic newsletters to keep parents informed without overwhelming them.
- Support Groups: Create support groups for parents to share experiences and strategies for coping with stress and managing their children’s education.
- Workshops and Training: Offer workshops for parents on how to support their children’s learning and well-being, along with training sessions on effective communication with teachers.
- Collaborative Planning: Involve parents in school planning and decision-making processes to foster a sense of community and shared responsibility.
- Mental Health Resources: Provide access to mental health resources for both parents and teachers to address burnout and compassion fatigue.
- Student Independence: Encourage and teach students to be more independent in their learning, which will ease the pressure on parents and help students adapt to in-person schooling.
