Abstract
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children is a developing worry. The United Nations and its agencies (the World Health Organization and UNICEF), the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and India's National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience all warn of the pandemic's broader effects on children and call for immediate action to help children around the world. The pandemic had an impact on children's physical, mental, social, and psychological wellbeing in every way. The vulnerable group of children was severely deprived of nutrition and protection, and the pandemic's protracted stress-triggered mental health, which requires prompt intervention. Children who dropped out of school, particularly in rural regions, were at a higher risk of child marriage, child labour, and teen pregnancies. Based on the research, the current chapter highlights the influence of COVID-19 on the lives, education, and general development of children aged 4 to 17, in India. The authors were able to examine the pandemic's effects on children's lives using the snowball sampling approach in conjunction with peer-reviewed research, reports, and government publications published between January 2020 and November 2021. The findings revealed a negative trend in temperamental qualities such as sadness (82.5%) & nervosity (73.5%) that accelerated during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic years. Also, children faced difficulties in receiving online education (53.6%). The chapter also highlighted the vulnerability of certain groups of children and presented numerous examples and recommendations that should be implemented as quickly as possible to mitigate the pandemic's negative impacts on children.