What does the future hold for Italian students? An interview with the president of the Italian order of psychologists on the risks for children and young people as they return to school.
Listen to the podcast Banchi da uno. Storie di ragazzi alla vigilia del loro rientro in classe a cura di Tiziana Guerrisi e di Camilla Orsini. All episodes are in the section Orizzonte: scuola
Post-Covid Italian schooling is about to face its ultimate test, as it attempts to bring more than eight million students back to the classrooms they were forced to leave following the ministerial decree (dpcm) of 4 March 2020 — most of them returning by 14 September, before the end of the month.
The basic rules for returning to school are now clear: masks are compulsory only for children aged 6 and over, and not in the classroom if distancing can be guaranteed; surgical masks will be provided by schools — around eleven million are needed per day — and body temperature checks are the responsibility of parents at home. Anyone with a temperature of 37.5°C or flu-like symptoms will not be permitted to attend school: this means parents must draw on their sense of responsibility.
Then there is the management of the (more than likely) possible infections in the classroom. In the event of a positive case, it will be the relevant local health authority (Asl, Ats…) that traces contacts and decides whether or not to place the class in quarantine, along with sanitisation if the person who tested positive attended school during the previous week. Last comes dad — the much-debated distance learning — which is provided for in cases of quarantine or closure.
These are the basic rules agreed upon (among others) by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and the Istituto superiore di sanità. But the true protagonist of the return to the classroom will be school autonomy — the kind born with Presidential Decree (dpr) 275 of 1999, which gave every institution significant room for manoeuvre on internal organisation, educational pathways and timetables.
Loved and loathed, and very often ignored, it will be school autonomy that tells us whether Italian schooling — with all its differences from one institution to the next — is capable of coexisting with coronavirus. Italian head teachers objectively bear a great deal of responsibility. Many of them have put in place staggered entry times, alternating in-person and distance learning, and rotating timetables. Listening to their requests and their warnings will be central in the weeks ahead, in order to make corrections as we go.
With all these variables in play, what will this return to school in the time of Covid-19 look like? Here at LifeGate, we decided to cover this particularly unusual academic year with the four-part special Orizzonte: scuola, running from today until the end of the school year in July 2021, produced by Tiziana Guerrisi and Camilla Orsini. Each episode takes a deep dive into one of the key themes of school life, told through the eyes of students, teachers, psychologists, parents, head teachers and administrative, technical and auxiliary staff (Ata).
And since returning to the classroom is not merely a matter of logistics and risk management, in this first special we started with the psychological impact that going back to school can have on millions of children and young people, featuring an interview with David Lazzari, president of the Consiglio nazionale dell'ordine degli psicologi, and a podcast in which we asked young people about their opinions, hopes and fears for this new beginning.
School is not merely an obligation. For students at every level, it is a fundamental right that no pandemic can call into question. The imminent return to the classroom is a prospect that is as welcome as it is feared by the young people themselves. The time away from school, from teachers and from classmates has, in some cases, made part of that psychological unease typical of growing up — which has always existed and was sharpened during the lockdown — less visible to the school's radar.
"The problem of psychological distress among children and adolescents has certainly already been underestimated during the pandemic," Lazzari explains. "There has been little research on the subject. Among the studies that do exist, data from one Italian survey show that eight out of ten parents reported concentration difficulties in their children, four out of ten reported irritability, and three out of ten reported a sense of loneliness. Postponing the return to school any longer was simply not an option."
Children and adolescents express distress differently from adults — in a less direct way, Lazzari reminds us. "For them, social interaction is a fundamental element, because they grow through their relationships with others. But it is also true that we are returning to a strange kind of normality, one that is necessarily different from the one we know. And we can no longer operate on autopilot — adults and children alike. We cannot approach everyday life spontaneously, because it requires awareness and attention. It takes greater mental effort to manage all these rules, and for many people that becomes a source of stress and distress."
In this climate of uncertainty, fear of contagion does not help either. Now that we know that even the youngest can fall ill and themselves be a vehicle for infecting others, young people begin to feel the weight of social judgement. "We are talking about conformism, about adapting to group behaviour, which is very significant for children and adolescents," adds Lazzari. "Not fitting in often means being isolated and marginalised. With these new rules, there will also be the discomfort of trying to work out which behaviour is rewarded by peers. If not wearing a mask becomes the winning behaviour, it will be a battle we have lost."
There is no single solution: "It is important that parents talk about it at home and that teachers create opportunities for dialogue and discussion at school. It is also important that there are psychologists in schools, to provide answers and support for those experiencing these fears, for those who are afraid of being seen as strange or of being marginalised."
There are also the legitimate fears of teachers. "They too are on the front line in this situation of potential danger – he continues – they too need help. They must be able to count on the support of an expert." The role of psychologists and experts in schools is precisely this: to reduce the side effects of the rules, contain the negative aspects and put people in the best possible position to cope with these difficulties, minimising the damage.
"The first step is to get the message across that experiencing difficult situations is normal," concludes the president of the order of psychologists. "Having anxiety about going back to school, fear of the rules, fear of contagion, is normal. It doesn't mean we have to hold on to these problems, but that we shouldn't be ashamed to ask for help."
Help about which there is still no certainty, however: "The question of psychologists in schools is still very much up in the air; we haven't heard anything more about that well-known protocol of 3 August, which introduces the figure of the psychologist in schools. I really wouldn't want this whole story to remain a kind of myth. I understand that right now there are other, more practical emergencies, such as transport, desks and masks. Even during quarantine we highlighted the danger of growing psychological distress and called for psychological support to be provided, something that was not foreseen because priority was given to other situations. But I want to say that alongside the practical reorganisation there is also a need for a psychological reorganisation, especially when it comes to living in contact with others. This is a challenge that must be faced in terms of collective responsibility."