A Friend in Need: Listening to Children's Voices During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore

• In Event: Children in Adversity: Social Support for School Bullying, Cumulative Risks and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 has brought about unprecedented global changes and disruptions. To understand the impact of COVID-19 on children, we analyzed the content of online chats initiated by children with Tinkle Friend (TF), a national befriending helpline and chatline that serves all children, aged 7-12, in Singapore.

A comparison of chat volume between 2019 and 2020 showed that there was a marginally significant increase in chats from January to August 2020 (N = 3,975) compared to the same time period in 2019 (N = 2,503), t(7) = -2.27, p = 0.06. A surge in chats was observed beginning in April 2020 (see Figure 1) – this coincided with a government-mandated “Circuit Breaker” measure to prevent community spread of COVID-19. During this period, all non-essential workplaces and schools were shut. Work-from-home arrangements and home-based learning were implemented.

Because publicity for the TF service also increased during this period, it was difficult to attribute the surge in chat volume solely to the increased needs of children during the pandemic. Therefore, we conducted a thematic analysis of the TF chats to understand whether and how COVID-related restrictions impacted children’s family- and peer-relationships. We aimed to identify the types of difficulties faced by children, the sources support they turned to, and barriers to seeking social support from children’s existing networks. We analyzed a randomly selected sample of 20% of the chats (N = 68) on issues related to children’s family and peer relationships between April and June 2020.

Analyses revealed that children experienced difficulties due to COVID-related restrictions. These difficulties included family conflict arising from increased parental work stress, a desire to connect with others (friends, teachers) alongside challenges of doing so within the confines of social restrictions, and challenges in adjusting to changes in daily routines. However, children also chatted with TF about wider difficulties that were unrelated to ongoing restrictions, including academic stress, family conflict, challenges in maintaining friendships, and harsh parenting.

Children cited their family, peers and other trusted adults (e.g. teachers, school counsellors) as sources of social support. However, children often faced difficulties in seeking support from family members owing to factors such as poor parent-child communication, and in some cases, parents’ trivializations of their difficulties. Children also commonly cited personal beliefs (e.g. that seeking help may make matters worse) and negative past experiences with seeking support from their networks as barriers to seeking current or future support from those sources. Such reasoning may have contributed to children seeking support and advice from TF instead of their networks.

Together, these findings revealed that children’s family and peer relationships were indeed impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, in addition to the broader difficulties and challenges they already faced on a day-to-day basis. These findings serve as an important reminder that whilst ongoing research studies and government policies have focused on understanding and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on adults, children’s voices and experiences should not be neglected. Continued analyses are underway to further examine the impact of COVID-19 on other aspects of children’s lives.

Authors

• Charlene S. L. Fu, Singapore Children’s Society
  Presenting Author

• Kuo Min Chew, others
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elysia Poh, Singapore Children’s Society
  Non-Presenting Author

• Noraini Veragoo, Singapore Children’s Society
  Non-Presenting Author

• Leela Narayana, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yating Xing, Singapore Children’s Society
  Non-Presenting Author