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It started to spread like wildfire in Israel. No, I’m not referring to the coronavirus itself, but to the phenomenon of kids in isolation, or what is known in Hebrew as “bidud.” My daughters’ friends who lived in another city called to inform them of how they were preparing for a 14-day bidud after some classmates had tested positive for coronavirus. Some of these friends sounded excited as they described the mini fridge their parents moved into the attic stocked with treats and the internet devices they would be allowed to use. However, after the mandatory isolation was over, I noted a very different attitude when I spoke to those same friends who had completed their bidud. When I asked them about their experiences, they admitted that it had been “hard.” The enthusiasm they had expressed before entering bidud was gone.
The current policy of Israel’s Ministry of Health requires that anyone who is exposed to a person with coronavirus must spend two weeks in isolation. Therefore, many children have been required to go into bidud due to exposure to a classmate or fellow camper that had tested positive for coronavirus. This means the child must be sequestered in a room in the home (preferably with direct access to a bathroom) without any contact with other family members during the period of bidud. Food can be left at the door of the child’s room, but the child cannot join the family for meals. After the required 14-day period of isolation, the child is tested for coronavirus, and is allowed to finally leave bidud and rejoin the family if the results are negative. In cases were the child requiring bidud is too young to remain alone, a sibling or parent may isolate with the child for the two-week period. In many cases, the most practical approach is for the entire family to go into bidud together.
Although my own children have not required bidud, I heard from parents whose children underwent isolation just how challenging frustrating the ordeal was. Parents said the hardest part was not being able to hug their children goodnight, or physically reassure them with a pat or a kiss to alleviate worry or distress. Another particularly difficult element of bidud was the inability of the child to join the family for Shabbos meals. As a psychologist, I was interested in how this novel phenomenon of bidud was impacting the children. I also wanted to explore whether the impact of any negative feelings or associations experienced by children in bidud could be mitigated.
I therefore decided to conduct a survey in English for children aged 9 to 18 who have been in bidud. The survey, which began in July and is ongoing, collects data on a variety of variables. It includes background information as well as current feelings about having been in bidud. Given the psychological literature on the importance of reframing negative and traumatic experiences, the survey asks not only about negative feelings the children associate with their bidud, but it also gives them the opportunity to think about the positive aspects of being in bidud. The survey seeks to provide a longer term perspective on the experience by asking how they expect to regard the experience 10 from now.
The survey has been circulated through personal and professional contacts as well as social media outlets. To ensure that the survey is user friendly, it is limited to a simple checkbox/multiple choice format and can easily be completed in under two minutes. The results are still coming in. The more responses I receive, the better we can understand the experience of these children.
The goal of the survey is to provide these children with an outlet to express their feelings associated with bidud and allow them to form a healthy and balanced perspective on this unfortunate, albeit necessary, experience. In addition, the findings can assist in formulating policies and guidelines for mandatory isolation during the coronavirus pandemic or any future public health emergencies.
You can help achieve the above goals by circulating this survey to anyone you know who had children aged 9 to 18 in bidud. The link to the survey is: https://forms.gle/xgpVvPiMJ61XVsct8
Sarah Levy is a psychologist and neuropsychologist in private practice in Jerusalem, Israel. She can be reached via her website at sarahlevy.org.