Discussion 2 | Week 3 | Pandemic

Henry Padilla was born on April 30, 2020-the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. His mother, who had suffered

a mild case of COVID-19 3 weeks earlier, was terrified that her baby would be affected. But in every way, it was a

routine delivery, and Henry, who weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces, was a totally typical newborn. On the very same day

in April that Henry was born, Mia Signorelli, 8 years old, was attending school remotely from her apartment in

Brooklyn, New York.

Her school had already been closed for weeks during the pandemic, and she communicated with her third-grade

teacher online. Although the teacher provided lesson plans, Mia's parents struggled to help her and felt totally

inadequate as instructors. As for Mia, although she missed playing with her friends in the park across from her

apartment building, she was glad school was closed. For Alex Milesky, age 16, being stuck at home in a suburb of Las

Vegas with his parents on that same April day was another day of torture. He felt confined, frequently complaining

loudly that he was a prisoner in his own home. His parents were always checking up on him, he missed going out

with his buddies, and, most of all, he missed getting together with his girlfriend, whom he had just started dating

before the pandemic had struck a month-and-a-half earlier. If he hadn't had his cellphone to stay in touch with his

friends, he felt he'd just go nuts.

What are some questions that developmentalists who study either physical, cognitive, or personality and social

development might ask about the consequences of living through the pandemic?