I would add that when we say “poverty”, I think what used to be low income has now become the middle class. It's not even just lower-income families anymore. This has become an everyday Canadian problem. People often write to me saying, “I make $100,000. That's a lot of money and I still can't make....” It used to be paycheque to paycheque, but now it's 10 days before paycheque.
That is trickling down to our kids. It's this anxiety, this worry, this fear, this burden and the long-term impacts of what's going to happen from COVID. Because the parents didn't have the tools in their tool belt to regulate their emotions, the stress comes onto the children and, bing, bang, boom, you have a domino effect. We're going to be seeing the impacts of this for decades, in my opinion.
We look at abandonment and coping mechanisms, or maladaptive coping mechanisms, for parents who just can't manage that stress. There's social media. We talk about kids being exposed to social media, but what about the parents who are on their phones trying to manage and self-regulate because they can? That's what we would call a maladaptive coping mechanism.
I would love your feedback. Maybe I'll throw it over to Michelle or Krystal-Jyl.
When I see what my kids do.... I think of myself, too, when I watch the news over and over again and how it starts to impact our mental state because it's negative. What do you think the impact of the media is on children?