Children’s natural instincts for physical connection and closeness mean that The Dalai Lama Centre’s heartmindonline website offers five tips to help parents, teachers, and caregivers assist children with social distancing, when their biological wiring is designed for physical social connection.  encouraging or enforcing physical distancing among young people can be a major source of stress for parents, teachers, and caregivers alike.  Even adults can find it difficult to back away from a friend who crosses the social distancing barriers.

The website offers two significant reasons why it is so exhausting for adults to keep children 6 feet apart:

·      Our behaviours can be influenced by what we see others doing – even if we don’t think it is right.

·      The stress of keeping kids healthy during a pandemic can deplete our resources and lead to mental fatigues, making it harder to enforce the boundaries and limits necessary to keep kids apart.

They suggest:

·      Tell kids what you want them to do, rather than what you don’t.

o   Reminding children to “keep the space” or “back-up three steps” gives them a tangible directive they can feel good about achieving.

·      Get clear on your limits.

o   It can be helpful to write your context-specific limits down according to a “traffic light” system; red limits are absolute necessities, yellow are very important but can be relaxed in rare situation, and green limits are preferred but can more easily budge.

o   Having these limits laid out clearly in advance can help reduce the cognitive load encountered when under the stress of social distancing.

·      Simplify your life – or at least your mental load.

o   This can help with feeling more resourced and motivated to uphold the social distancing standards.

·      Get a reality check.

o   This can help bust perceived social norms that don’t reflect reality, and may open up new ways of thinking about and encouraging social distancing among children.

·      Rest & recharge without judgement.

o   Micro-investments in your well-being can help you sustain social distancing in the short run by combatting mental fatigue and in the long run by avoiding burnout.