How the Resumption of Level Adventure Camps and Excursions Can Be Beneficial to a Student’s Social and Emotional Growth
Social-emotional wellness is vital in people, especially for developing youths and children. How they learn to discover their personal identity, understand and express their feelings, and interact with others all boils down to their social and emotional growth.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) currently implements a framework called Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) specifically to focus on the social and emotional wellbeing of students, where the curriculum entails genres like enriching students with important social skills and responsible decision-making. This is carried out via activities such as Level Adventure Camps (LAC), excursions, sexual/mental health education, as well as cyber wellness programmes.
However, it is no lie that the recent pandemic has halted and delayed some of these activities. As with events like the ‘circuit breaker’ and the enactment of Safe Management Measures (SMM) to combat the spread of COVID-19, not only were regular academic classes affected but SEL programmes in school were also being thwarted.
For a period of time, students were unable to interact with each other as freely and many programmes were either brought online or stopped with good intentions, thus hindering the ability to nurture students’ social and emotional development and provide the support that a young person may need during these stressful times.
We are fortunate that with the relaxation of COVID-19 measures, the resumption of SEL activities (particularly outdoor and hands-on ones like learning journeys and adventure camps) have greatly boosted the chances of interaction and opportunities for in-person teaching and guidance with students.
Interactivity between students fosters attempts to increase physical and emotional closeness with each other: the students are not only pushed to step out of their comfort zone and embrace change, but it also encourages teamwork and sportsmanship during team activities.
They learn how to work past their adversities, utilise their fortes, and come together to achieve a common goal. Outdoor curriculums have heightened efficacy in tapping into students’ explorative natures, aiding them in discovering their strengths and weaknesses, and thus inspiring individuality, engendering a healthy understanding and acceptance of themselves.
These are paramount morals and values that will slowly cultivate within children and youths and drive them to be more socially and emotionally aware of themselves and the people around them, preparing them for adulthood and society.
Adolescence is an eventful and unpredictable phase of life. It is the process of maturing into the type of person they will be in the future and how they contribute back to society. Today’s youths are undeniably meshing seamlessly with social media and the internet.
Even young children are almost constantly being exposed to technology, what with every household owning at least one electronic device at home. We all know the pros and cons of being interconnected with each other via the use of social media, but the lasting influence of media on a vulnerable adolescent’s mind is certainly more frightening to think about.
Now with the rise of anonymity on the internet and ‘cancel culture’ breeding, we start to see more students fall prey to the hands of hypersensitivity, cyberbullying, low self-esteem, harassment, and societal anxiety. This issue has also been exacerbated by the pandemic since physical mobility has been considerably limited and online mobility is becoming progressively preferred rather than acting as an alternative.
This creates a crucial need to monitor and take care of the social-emotional wellness of students. Outdoor camps and excursions target and rectify this aspect by forcing students to break their digital habits and come out into nature. Devices are put away and students get in touch with the greenery and in-person activities instead of through a computer screen.
The effects of detaching from virtuality to reality are subtle but powerful: students are given the space to explore and engage with the environment, express ideas, and manage negative and positive feelings more easily. This sets a critical foundation for character development and directly impacts the quality of relationships with oneself and others.
In retrospect, although the internet itself offers a plethora of avenues for students to navigate on their own, the problematic nature of social media does set apart the intentions and outcome, ultimately doing more harm than good.
SEL activities, though impactful, should not be solely relied on to promote a student’s social and emotional health. It is incredibly essential that family and friends also work hand-in-hand to provide a wholesome and nourishing environment to nurture and cultivate social-emotional wellness in our youths.
DISCLAIMER: This article was prepared or submitted by a content contributor. The opinions expressed in this article are based on the author's view. They do not directly reflect the views of theAsianparent and its affiliates.
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