As time seems to
\nhave frozen still, every day comes with more and more initiatives addressing
\nstudents, parents and teachers, in the hope of helping everyone better adapt to
\nthe crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and to its long-term effects.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In order to
\nsupport families in Romania, the Proacta EDU association in partnership with
\nthe Ministry of Education and Research, the Federation of Free Trade Unions in
\nthe field of Education and the Federation of Parents’ Associations in pre-University
\nEducation, have launched the first hotline for psychological counselling during
\nthe coronavirus pandemic, which will be available once the crisis has passed,
\nas part of a project called Ambassador for the Community. Psychologist Nicoleta
\nLarisa Albert, the founding president of the Proacta EDU Association, explains:
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It’s a wider
\nproject. Beyond the awareness-raising campaign, we are a team of teachers and
\nparents involved in a concrete project. We’re offering psychological
\ncounselling to the teaching staff and parents, depending on the case, together
\nwith our fellow psychologists, who collaborate with our association. We have
\nidentified the potential of employing teachers as messengers for the community.
\nIn the current context generated by COVID-19, we strongly believe in the
\nutility of this mission. Basically, teachers will become our allies, signaling those
\nfamilies that are at risk and redirecting them towards us. We will then provide
\npsychological counselling, social and judicial assistance, where required. On
\nthe other hand teachers can team up with us in finding assertive communications
\nalternatives for various situations. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Confident about
\nbeing able to help people remotely and that we are working to restore people’s
\nemotional balance, Nicoleta Larisa Albert also said: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ever since we
\nlaunched the association and to this date we’ve received emails, messages,
\nphone calls, people asking for psychological counselling. We redirect these
\npeople to the psychologists we work with. We received questions from 12th-graders
\nand requests from teachers who wanted to convey messages to the institutions we
\nwork with. They wanted recommendations about the current context. We have been
\nproviding everyone with educational and psychological materials. People have
\nunderstood our message, the fact that we are a community, and we’ve received
\nfriend requests on our Facebook group, Ambassador for the Community. The door
\nis open to everyone, and together with other NGOs and psychologists we will be
\nanswering all their requests. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Many questions
\nhave been asked from the very beginning by senior high school pupils, so
\nbecause of that, we have invited Nicoleta Larisa Albert to tell us what the
\nquestions are, coming from senior high-school students. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At any rate,
\nthe 12th grade poses a challenge to our teenagers, in the context we
\nhad before COVID-19. And that, apart from the baccalaureate exam, a great many
\nquestions occur, targeting what is about to happen in the social and economic
\nlife, so they somehow feel a little bit insecure, apart from their main
\npurpose, the Baccalaureate exam, they have a lot many questions about what is
\ngoing to happen afterwards. This context has sort of enhanced uncertainty a
\nlittle bit, a context we haven’t been asking for, actually, we have received it
\nand we deal with it. And their questions were like the tip of the iceberg,
\nsomething like that, what is going to happen with the Baccalaureate, when there
\nis also an underlying emotion, what will become of me, what shall I choose,
\nwhich direction shall I take, and suchlike. There were pupils who have been
\nasking for that, specifically, saying that in the beginning I thought I could
\nhave more time on my hands for study, then I saw the condition I have grows on
\nme, that of anxiety, I just can’t make any sense of what is going on, how I can
\ncontrol my emotions, so I might need to talk to a counselor.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Psychologist
\nNicoleta Larisa Albert, the president of the Proacta EDU Association, offered
\nsome suggestions as well. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I believe what
\nit mainly does is helping us improve our adaptability. I think that, anyhow, it
\nis the most important resource we have at our fingertips, and the only one robots
\ncannot copy from us. We can handle the information level as well, we can find
\nit everywhere, whether the COVID-19 has spread or not, for the times we live in
\nand for their dynamics. Of course we’re also advancing towards that area, the
\nonline in such a context and we are going to advance towards that even further,
\nbut we’re going to keep the offline domain, that’s for sure, we need human
\ncontact, we need to meet people, but they stay there, we have them in our inner
\nworld, they are still like some anchors and time will come when we’re going to
\nreturn, no one knows when. And then, in the context we cannot control what is
\ngoing to happen, a great many questions occur. And that’s why we are here. We
\nare a team and as a team, we learn to grapple with every day just as it is and
\nadapt according to the circumstances. Because, the present context may mean
\nvery different things to different people.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by
\nV. Palcu & E. Nasta)<\/p>\n
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