(Stephanie Liu/ CTV News) — The latest round of pandemic closures and restrictions in provinces across Canada is continuing to put children’s mental health at risk, experts say, with many students attending school virtually and having limited access to extracurricular activities.
Since the start of the pandemic, children have seen a variety of schooling models: in-person, an in-person and remote learning hybrid, and learning that is completely done online. Sports and recreational activities for children outside of school have had to take similar approaches, with some organizations having to permanently close down.
With many provinces entering lockdowns and changing restrictions constantly, Alexandra DeLory, co-director and instructor at Sandra Amodeo Dance Studio in Markham, Ont., said that the “flip-flopping between open and closed” and the overall impact that the pandemic has had has made some of her students “unrecognizable from a year ago.” (…)