COVID-19 and Parent-Child Interactions: Children’s Educational Opportunities and Parental Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease pandemic affected people's lives in different ways, including child education and parent-child interactions. The present study aimed to identify the educational opportunities of children and challenges of parents during this pandemic. This study was conducted using a qualitative and phenomenological method. The participants were 23 parents of children aged 7-12 years, selected by purposive sampling method. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews, which continued until data saturation was reached, and then classified and processed following Strauss and Glasser's approach. The findings were classified as parenting transformation, attachment challenges, and parenting challenges due to macro-systemic changes. Online education and changes caused by social distancing were the most significant parenting challenges. Moreover, children did not have the necessary space to be independent and self-sufficient. For many children, adapting to virtual education has been challenging; therefore, parents should change their parenting control and support. The emergence of such challenges has led to the creation of more opportunities in the field of child education.