During middle childhood, children are gaining more control over feelings and behaviors. They become less “me-centered” and more aware of others’ feelings, and form greater connections with family, friends, and school. Middle childhood is a critical time to engage children in building the major developmental milestone of this stage: a growing sense of self-efficacy. Simply stated, self-efficacy is the knowledge of what to do and the confidence and ability to do it. This ability becomes an essential life skill in adolescence as youth negotiate relationships, gender challenges, and multiple decisions affecting their future well-being. It is also a critical time to build social sensitivity and challenge traditional gender norms for both girls and boys.
Education is one of the most essential OVC programming areas for middle childhood. Approximately 90 percent of children ages 5 to 10 are enrolled in primary school worldwide. (1) Basic education includes a wide range of activities in various settings (formal, non-formal, and informal) designed to meet primary level educational needs. School settings also serve as a significant hub for social welfare interventions and referrals to core services such as health clinics, food and nutrition programs, psychosocial support (e.g., kids clubs and safe spaces for girls and boys) and community assistance.
It is important to recognize the significance of education and keeping children in school in achieving health outcomes. Increased education plays an important role in reducing child marriage, and educated women are more likely to choose to delay childbearing and/or have fewer children. Additionally, educated mothers make greater use of health care facilities and health services that prevent children from dying of diseases. “Worldwide, the risk of a child dying prematurely is reduced by around 8 per cent for each year that its mother spent in primary school.” (2)
Yet, in some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, many children do not complete primary school, and girls are significantly less likely to do so than boys. (3) Evidence shows that school access is highly correlated with economic status and affected by factors such as gender and age, particularly at secondary level. In HIV-affected communities, many orphans and vulnerable children must forgo school to take on the roles and responsibilities of parents who have died or are too ill to provide for the family. Young girls too often are forced to drop out of school to help at home. Poverty leads some girls to turn to early marriage or transactional sex in exchange for food, money, or other resources.
Given the economic challenges faced by most orphans and vulnerable children and their families, in high-prevalence settings, financial support interventions, such as block grants to all children in a community, or access to government-led conditional cash transfer programs can effectively increase primary school access and support transition to- and completion of- secondary school – a particularly important protective factor for girls.
Key activities to support middle childhood development
- Ensure that children have access to safe and child-friendly schools that provide them with a structured environment, social and emotional support and the supervision of adults. Support schools to adopt zero tolerance policies around gender-based violence in the classroom.
- Ensure that school settings serve as a “hub” to connect children with essential resources such as health care, food and nutrition services, social and child protection programs, and other available community resources.
- Sponsor and support Kids Clubs and safe spaces for girls that meet regularly after school and at other times to accommodate children who are not in school.
- Promote child-focused, family-centered, food support to include all family members. Ensure that food support is AIDS-sensitive and not AIDS-exclusive in targeting.
- Provide access to psychosocial support and mentorship programs to promote self-esteem and affirm life skills, healthy sexuality, and HIV prevention.
- In circumstances where children have dropped out of school, engage community resources and other informal educational networks to reach out to those who are “invisible” in the traditional school setting.
- Support efforts to reduce educational disparities among young and school-age children to both mitigate the impact of poverty and reduce the risk of HIV infection.
- Support child-sensitive social protection strategies that address risks and vulnerabilities children may face in middle childhood. Include children and their caregivers in the design of- and participation in- social protection programs that optimize children’s developmental outcomes.
- Engage both boys and girls in examining and challenging harmful gender norms around power, control, and decision-making.