My daughter is starting school in a few weeks.
As a parent, I’m filled with pride and quiet questions. Will her emotional needs be noticed? Will her gentle voice be heard in a room filled with new faces? Will her feelings matter as much as her ability to recite the alphabet?
These reflections reach far beyond my own child. They point to a broader, often overlooked truth. In a time when education and child development are increasingly data-driven, digital, and AI-enhanced, the emotional world of children often remains invisible, unmeasured, and undervalued.
We celebrate the rise of artificial intelligence in classrooms, learning apps, and automated assessments. These tools promise innovation and broader access, but also risk replacing human connection with digital convenience. Amid this rush toward digitization, we risk sidelining what AI can never replicate: Emotional intelligence, empathy, and trust.
According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, over one million new neural connections form every second in a child’s early years, shaped not by screens but by consistent, loving interactions like eye contact, touch, responsive caregiving, storytelling, and play. Emotional safety isn't “nice to have” but foundational to cognitive, social, and physical development.
Yet emotional well-being remains a silent corner of childhood -- rarely budgeted for, seldom reported on, and often misunderstood.
In Bangladesh, according to Unicef’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS, 2019), nearly half (49%) of children aged 2-4 do not receive adequate early stimulation at home, and only 13% under five attend early childhood education programs. These figures highlight a quiet crisis: Millions of children growing up without the emotional scaffolding necessary for feeling safe, valued, and confident.
This gap widens further in vulnerable settings. A 2022 BRAC study in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar revealed that one in three children under six shows signs of emotional or behavioral difficulties, yet access to psycho-social support remains scarce. Though these children receive food and basic education, their emotional traumas often remain unnoticed and untreated.
This is not a crisis confined only to refugee camps or remote villages. Even in privileged urban households, where resources and technology are abundant, children’s emotional needs often go unmet. Mental health conversations remain uncomfortable. Children hear “be strong,” “stop crying,” or “focus on studies” rather than being encouraged to express and understand their feelings. Affection is often replaced with screen time; performance is prioritized over presence. Such children may experience material comfort but emotional isolation.
We often talk about intelligence and success, but rarely ask: Do we know how to feel, how to listen, how to care? These are taught in childhood or lost there.
Globally, the World Health Organization reports one in seven adolescents (aged 10-19) experiences mental health disorders. In South Asia, mental health services remain underfunded, with just 0.1 psychiatrists per 100,000 children and virtually no formal mechanisms for early childhood psycho-social care, including in Bangladesh.
It is time to shift this narrative. Emotional well-being must be re-framed as a core development outcome, not a luxury. This shift involves:
- Integrating emotional and social development into early childhood education policies, curricula, and caregiver training.
- Equipping teachers with tools to recognize and empathetically address emotional distress.
- Supporting parents, especially in low-resource households, to prioritize communication, play, and connection.
- Embedding psycho-social support across child-focused programs, from education and health to humanitarian aid.
Emotional well-being doesn’t demand high-tech solutions; it requires time, presence, and intention. It thrives in lullabies, silly games, bedtime stories, shared tears, and the simple safety of being understood.
In our pursuit of artificial intelligence, we must fiercely guard the emotional intelligence that defines our humanity, beginning with our youngest children. A child who feels safe, loved, and emotionally supported is more likely to thrive, not just in school, but in life.
The signs of emotional detachment in society today: Self-centeredness, reduced empathy, snap judgments -- are not just personality traits. They reflect emotional gaps often rooted in childhood.
Investing in children's emotional well-being today builds tomorrow’s confident learners, compassionate citizens, and resilient leaders. These children grow not merely as survivors of their circumstances but as assets to society and the economy.
We must not allow emotional well-being to remain the forgotten metric of childhood. Let’s give it the seat at the table it has always deserved, because the future we envision hinges profoundly on the children we nurture today.
Sharika Tafannum is a development practitioner and proud mother of two. She is passionate about early childhood development, emotional well-being, and reshaping systems to be more human-centred, both in policy and practice. Connect at sharika.t.111@gmail.com.