The impact of a pandemic on the development of children, adolescents and adults

At the moment, the world is fighting against an unseen enemy that is harmful to
many, namely Covid-19. Indonesia in particular has taken the policy for the last 3 months to
impose social restrictions to break the chain of distribution. This policy has an impact on
many sectors. In the economic sector, many companies have to close and lay off their
employees, traders cannot sell and students are required to learn from home, this certainly
impedes social interaction. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic also affected the development
of children, adolescents and parents.

As we know, adolescents are the age of transition from family members to social
interaction. They will put peers in that role. Teenagers will find out how to make friends with
people because they have something in common, not just closeness (Okezone, 2020).
According to Papalia and Olds (in Saputro, 2018) adolescence is a transitional period of
development between childhood and adulthood which generally starts at the age of 12 or 13
years and ends at the late teens and early twenties. Adolescents experience the period of trial
from childhood to adolescence, combative behavior, anxiety, unstable periods, often afflict
adolescents at this time (Umami, 2019).

Adolescence is a difficult time, not only for children but also for parents. Sidik
Jatmika (in Saputro, 2018) explained the difficulties experienced by adolescents, one of
which is, adolescents are more easily influenced by their friends than when they were
children. This means, that the influence of parents is getting weaker. Teenagers behave and
have different pleasure even contrary to family behavior and pleasure. The role of peer
groups is very dominant, they try to form groups, behave in the same way, look the same,
have the same language and code or sign (Batubara, 2016).

Adolescence, is the age of transition from family members to social interaction. If in

childhood, they are very close to their parents, then at this time, they are more interested in
social interactions outside the family environment, such as friends. Children will make the
process of finding identity by doing social interaction with their friends. However, due to the
pandemic that occurred in Indonesia, the government implemented a large-scale social
restriction policy which meant limiting crowding activities, one of which was schools.
Schools begin to carry out online learning from their homes. So that children's activities with
school friends will be limited. This will lead to conflict because the needs of adolescents for
social interaction with their friends become unfulfilled.
 Quoted from the page (Okezone, 2020) data obtained through a survey conducted by
the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) through the National
Children's Forum (FAN) shows that 58% of children dislike learning activities at home. This
is due to motivation that encourages children to keep learning when situations are different
from their daily lives. If the situation is normal then the child can meet friends, do
assignments together, get an explanation directly from the teacher so that when someone does
not understand, the child can immediately ask. Studying online makes it possible for children
to experience academic pressure, the high level of tasks assigned, the lack of explanation of
the material obtained plus the conditions that limit the child to do activities at home will
further add to the pressure felt by the child. At times like this, children really need the support
of parents, but parents also experience the same pressure of working from home, so that the
burden of parents increases, which is to become a teacher for children while at home. In
addition, the pandemic has caused many employees to be laid off, housed and paid for only
half of their usual salary. This certainly will increase the pressure experienced by parents, so
the risk of conflict between children and parents is high.

In the learning process, both children and adolescents really need the support of
parents, Skinner (in Hanafy, 2014) sees learning as creating opportunities with reinforcement
so that people will be sincere and more active in learning with rewards and praise for their
learning outcomes. The decline in children's interest in learning caused by a pandemic that
occurred in Indonesia, requires parents to be able to guide and offer motivation for
enthusiasm in learning. Parents can offer reinforcement by giving rewards when the child is
successful in doing the tasks given by the teacher such as making snacks, his favorite drink or
by giving a hug. The learning process must be fun, right