Pandemic Effects: Some Students in Bulgaria Refuse to Return to In-person Classes

Not only has the pandemic led children to lose their motivation to study, but that has also been compounded by a new phenomenon of students refusing to return to  in-person learning at school. Other than that, the pandemic has not led to a larger than usual number of mental complaints among children and youths. 

The loss of motivation is observed even among those who always had a positive attitude to school and learning, the psychologist  said. That is because school is not only where one gains knowledge but also where students' social life largely takes place and where they interact with peers, authorities (teachers), and institutions (the school). 

Teachers are another factor that influences motivation, and if they lose their motivation and desire to work, the students immediately sense that and it influences them.

It is more difficult to identify the reasons why some students refuse to be back to in-person schooling because often it is the  same students who also refuse to talk to a psychologist, making  the problem hard to study. What psychologists do is first try to find out whether or not it is a mental problem they are dealing with. If it is not, they find that two explanations are most common. 

One is that going to school is often not seen as an obligation but as a matter of personal wish (to go or not to go to school).
 Young people usually live in a world dominated by their connection with their parents, usually the mother.

"The connection with the mother dominates to an extent where the child manipulates the parent if they want to manipulate the reality. With such connections, what the reality and society require are of secondary importance," explains school psychologist. 

With younger students the...