FKIP – Study Program Student Association (HMP) Education Teacher Education Early Childhood Education (PGPAUD) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Surakarta held an Educational Discussion activity entitled Early Childhood Mental Health. Discussion activities were carried out online through the Zoom Cloud Meeting on Saturday (11/12/2021).

This activity was carried out to understand the importance of mental health for early childhood. This is also influenced by the pandemic situation which makes children spend more time at home, so it is important to understand the mental condition of the child.

The activity was moderated by Nabila Azzahra Jayanti, a UNS PAUD Teacher Education student, and presented two speakers in the fields of Psychology and Education, namely Risa Suryanti, M.Psi., Psychologist and Rurin Istadinata, S.Pd. The first material was filled by Risa Suryanti. He explained about “Child Mental Health.”

“Mental health is a state of well-being, including the ability to manage stress, work productively and productively, and play a role in the community,” explained Risa.

Risa explained the forms of mental health and the importance of children’s mental health.

“The form of mental health in children is related to the situation of growth and development, for example, the environment for growth and development and so on. Mental health in children is important to strive for because in the future children will grow up with good mental health. The hope is that when they grow up, children will grow up to be individuals who are physically and mentally healthy, able to survive with the demands and circumstances,” said Risa.

Furthermore, Risa explained the mapping of the needs that children need to have, which refers to Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of needs. Based on Maslow’s view, children’s needs are divided into three, namely nutrition, stimulation, and security.

Risa explained that efforts for children’s mental health can be started from understanding the stages of the child.

“Understanding the stages of child development can be seen from the cognitive, motor, language, emotional, and social aspects. After knowing the stage of development, it is followed by understanding, recognizing, providing stimulus based on the stages of child development. Parents have a role to be able to explain the concept of abstract emotion so that it is easier for children to accept it in a more concrete concept,” said Risa.

The material was continued by the second speaker, namely Rurin Istadinata, S.Pd. He explained the material about the mental health condition of early childhood in school. The situation of children in schools is divided into two situations, namely before the pandemic and during the pandemic.

“The situation that occurs in PAUD Education is the condition of children having difficulty socializing with friends or new people at school,” explained Rurin.

Rurin added factors that influence the interaction and socialization of children.

“Children’s interaction and socialization are influenced by learning conditions offline or online. When learning online, children’s interactions are very limited. During offline interactions, the challenge is compliance with health protocols, which makes learning design limited to small classes,” concluded Ririn.

Reporter: Akhmad Mukhibun
Editor : Aulia Anjani

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